Library Blogs

Summer term has begun, and with it our reduced hours of operation. We'll be open Monday - Friday 1-5pm through August 18th, when the term ends. Then we'll be closed for the intercession, and will reopen with the start of the Fall term. So enjoy the outdoors, and don't forget to play some video games during the afternoon heat while you still can.

There's a moment of suspense every time I remove the lid of an archival box. What will I find inside? Folders of nineteenth-century correspondences in French? A civil war diary with a bullet hole in its leather cover? A pile of pamphlets about applying makeup for transwomen? A random letter signed by J.R.R. Tolkien? (Yes, I really did find one!) After five weeks in the archives unit of the Special Collections Library, I have come to realize that I never really know what I will find...

The manuscript currently preserved in our library under the shelfmark Isl. Ms. 350 has a fascinating history that can be traced in internal owners’ marks and external documentary sources. Produced in Delhi, the manuscript was acquired by the library in 1924 along with several hundred other manuscripts from Istanbul that came to be known as the "Abdul Hamid Collection." How did the manuscript end up in Istanbul? Read the intriguing story in this first of two posts!

The June 2017 Data Bites Forum provided an opportunity for librarians to share what they had learned from attending the Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP), IASSIST and other data related conferences.

The heat wave we're having outside is the perfect time to hang out in the air-conditioned CVGA to check out the new games that just arrived for the PlayStation VR that we got towards the end of the Winter term.

Copyright and Preservation workshop, Monday, 6/19, 11:00 am-12:00 pm
How does copyright law treat preservation by libraries, archives, and museums? When does copyright law permit you to provide access to a preservation copy, or to create a replacement copy? This workshop from Ana Enriquez of the the U-M Library Copyright Office will explain how copyright law applies to preservation work. All are welcome.

The Deep Blue Data development and service teams have been hard at work incorporating feedback from our diverse community of users. Development is ongoing and we are rolling out many small changes, but we are excited to highlight a few new features that we have released recently.

Last week a groundbreaking workshop on the topic of Japanese Text Mining was held at Emory University. U-M Japanese studies folks were a strong presence there.

Contributing to software projects can be harder and more time consuming than coding customized solutions. But over the long term, writing generalized solutions that can be used and contributed to by developers from around the world reduces our dependence on ourselves and our organizational resources, thus drastically reducing our technical debt.

Researcher Mark Bocek will join us this Thursday, June 8th at 4:00pm in the Hatcher Gallery for a lecture focusing on actress, puppeteer, and U-M alumna Ellen Van Volkenburg and her role in co-founding Cornish College of the Arts’ Theater Department at Cornish College of the Arts.