Penn Libraries News

Main content

Blog post search

Diversity in the Stacks: Central American Political and Social History

Posted on by Brie Gettleson
Two books are stacked on a table. The top book says "Los indígenas también queremos ser guatemaltecos..." and shares author name of Alberto Esquit Choy.

Recognizing the importance of Central American Studies, the Penn Libraries recently acquired a substantial collection of ephemera, books, and audiovisual materials from the region. 

...Continue reading

Penn Libraries Establishes Lecture Series on Global Subjects

The pavilion in the Kislak Center has a full audience, with some people clapping.

The newly endowed Park-Choi Lecture Series supports the Penn Libraries’ ongoing commitment to meaningful engagement with individuals, institutions, and communities through scholarship support and programming.

...Continue reading

University of Pennsylvania Libraries Announces Brian Vivier as Inaugural Director of the Center for Global Collections

Posted on
Brian Vivier

In his new role, he will provide strategic vision, leadership, and oversight for the Center in building world-class distinctive global collections and engaging programming. 

...Continue reading

Making Science Labs Safer at the University of Pennsylvania

Posted on by Rebecca Ortenberg
A computer screen showing a spreadsheet on the left and a page from the PubChem website on the right. Most of the text is unreadable, but on the PubChem website you can see warning symbols in red boxes.

It’s the job of Penn's Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EHRS) to develop, implement, and manage the systems that keep the university's many science labs as safe as possible. But in the last few years, the team has begun turning to chemistry librarian Judith Currano as a vital partner in these processes. 

...Continue reading

Summer Featured Books and DVDs: For the Love of Food

Posted on by Amanda Alexander
DVDs lined up in a row with "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" in the front

Some of us eat to live, and some of us live to eat. For some of us, making and eating food can also be a rich source for cultural analysis and storytelling. This month’s featured materials show some of the many ideas and values food can represent. 

...Continue reading

New eBook Subscription: Harvard Business Publishing Collection

Posted on by Cynthia Cronin-Kardon
Covers of three books from the eBooks package: Collision Course, Compassionate Leadership, and Beyond Collaboration Overload.

Just in time for summer reading season, the Penn Libraries has subscribed to the Harvard Business Review ebooks package from EBSCO.

...Continue reading

Books on the Move: Changes in the Van Pelt Stacks

Posted on
A masked individual moves books from a shelf to a rolling cart

Through Summer 2023, the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center stacks are undergoing a multi-phase refresh and reorganization.

...Continue reading
Diversity in the stacks

Diversity in the Stacks: Highlights from the Penn Sexuality Collection

Posted on by David Azzolina
The cover of the first issue of the magazine Blue on the front cover, showing a man with dark hair looking at the camera in a sultry manner

The Penn Sexuality Collection will add materials to the Penn Libraries that fall outside the usual purview of academic libraries, helping to make the Libraries a destination for sexuality researchers. 

...Continue reading

Rebuilding Rare Books in a Virtual Space: A Conversation with Curator Dot Porter

Posted on by Rebecca Ortenberg
Two people stand at the edge of the frame reaching out towards a large book sitting in a box in the middle of the table

We recently sat down with curator Dot Porter to talk about how she tries to bring very old books to life in the digital world.

...Continue reading

June Featured Books and DVDs: Pride Month

Posted on by Amanda Alexander
DVDs in top row are Moonlight, The Celluloid Closet, Ammonite, and Pariah. Bottom row is Rock Hudson's home movies, The Signifyin' Works of Marlon Riggs, A Fantastic Woman, and Welcome to Chechnya.

Penn’s LGBT Center will be kicking off their Pride activities with a Queer Dance Class on Friday, June 3 , and will be hosting special events throughout the month. In the meantime, LGBT Center staff provided the Penn Libraries with the following recommendations, each of which offers an an inspiring and enriching reading or watching experience

...Continue reading

March 2019

Sandars Lectures 2018-19

Source: Cambridge University Library
Published:

March 2019

Penn Libraries Announces the 2019 Lorraine Beitler Collection Lecture, “The Politics of Paranoia and Nationalism in the Age of Trump”

Posted on March 2019 by Sara Vilanova
French poster

The Penn Libraries is proud to announce the 2019 Lorraine Beitler Collection Lecture by former Chief Washington Correspondent for Politico and current staff writer at The Atlantic, Edward-Isaac Dovere. The lecture, “The Politics of Paranoia and Nationalism in the Age of Trump,” will take place on Wednesday, April 17 at 5:30 pm at the Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts.

...Continue reading

Associate University Librarian for Collections Brigitte Burris to Join Project MUSE Advisory Board

Posted on March 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Brigitte Weinsteiger

The Penn Libraries values its commitment to celebrating the professional achievements of its employees. It is in this spirit that we are proud to announce that Associate University Librarian for Collections Brigitte Burris has been selected to be a member of the Advisory Board for the scholarly humanities publishing platform Project MUSE.

...Continue reading

Featured Books: Women's History Month

Bookshelf

On March 1st, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center premiered its Featured Books display. Featured Books will showcase rotating selections from the Libraries' vast and varied collection. Though the stacks department is in charge of curating each installation, they will regularly solicit recommendations and ideas from all Libraries staff. The end result of each Featured Books display will be a motley reading list tailored by people who love books.

...Continue reading

Penn Libraries to Play Important Role in 94th Annual Medieval Academy of America Meeting

Posted on March 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Old map

Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Constantia Constantinou is proud of the Penn Libraries’ long tradition of supporting medieval studies at Penn. “From a dedicated medieval studies resource room on the fourth floor serving students and faculty for over forty years to the 2013 donation of the Lawrence J.

...Continue reading

Digital Archives of the New York Academy of Sciences

Posted on March 2019 by Nick Okrent
Photo of Albert Einstein

The New York Academy of Sciences collection contains a vast range of original sources that has shaped two centuries of scientific progress.  Including both the institutional records–bylaws, minutes, correspondence, administrative files, etc.–of the NYAS and the records of associated projects and scholars, this material reveals how a world class scientific society supported and shaped several disciplines, including medical research, botany, zoology, and climate science.

...Continue reading

Penn Libraries’ Innovative Digital Humanities Collaboration, “Scribes of the Cairo Geniza,” Enters a New Phase

Posted on March 2019 by Sara Vilanova
Fragment from Cairo Geniza

This spring represents an exciting advancement in our Judaica Digital Humanities group’s innovative collaboration with Zooniverse, a citizen science web portal, that brings the Cairo Geniza to a mass audience online. “Scribes of the Cairo Geniza,” a project that classified and sorted over 10 percent of the entire Cairo Geniza in its first phase, will soon launch its second phase.

...Continue reading

Digitization of Historic German-American Newspapers Collection is Now Complete

Posted on March 2019 by Sara Vilanova
German newspaper

German-American Newspapers from the pre-World War I era provide rare insight into the everyday life as well as the social and political aspirations of one of the leading ethnic minorities in the U.S. at the time. Now, scholars will be able to peruse digitized copies of a historic collection of nine German-language newspapers published in Philadelphia at the turn of the twentieth century thanks to the industrious team at Penn Libraries’ Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image.

...Continue reading

Recent Posts