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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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.

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Books on the Move: Changes in the Van Pelt Stacks

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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

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May 2019

Walt Whitman put on trial for his 200th birthday

Source: WHYY
Published:

Walt Whitman bicentennial celebration kicks into high gear for his birthday

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Published:

May 2019

Penn Museum Library Shares Rare Books in Monthly Pop-Up Exhibits

Two people review a display of rare books on a table

When Deb Brown Stewart became Head of the Penn Museum Library in December of 2016, she discovered a trove of rare books among the Museum Library’s 145,000 on-site volumes. Stewart also found that many faculty were unaware the Museum Library possessed rare books beyond the famed Daniel Garrison Brinton Collection.

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Black Thought and Culture

Posted on May 2019 by Nick Okrent
Cover page from "Black Music" by Imamu Amiri Baraka

Collection of non-fiction writings by American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, and others—covering 250 years of history. In addition to works by major figures such as W.E.B. Dubois, Malcolm X and Ida B.

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Marion Leary: VR Visionary on Libraries and Innovation

Marion Leary with student in VR headset

“I’m a huge fan of the Penn Libraries!” says Marion Leary, RN, MSN, MPH, FAHA. The Penn School of Nursing’s very first Director of Innovation, Leary conducts advanced research in resuscitation science that frequently entails collaboration across disciplines — including strategic partnerships with libraries and librarians. “Innovation requires everybody’s knowledge and experience,” she explains.

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Now Available: Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union Web Archive

Website with cartoon girl running and Cyrillic writing

The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation has launched the Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union Web Archive. The archive — which is now freely available for public use — preserves at-risk web content determined to be of lasting scholarly interest and includes websites published by a diversity of Slavic sources such as NGOs, artists, activists, intellectuals, and political parties.

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Featured Books Display: Food & Cooking

Bookshelf

“First we eat, then we do everything else,” renowned foodie MFK Fisher once wrote. In celebration of the cultural significance of food, May’s Featured Books Display in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center will spotlight titles related to “Food & Cooking.” The exhibit features both cookbooks as well as a broad selection of food-related holdings, with sub-topics ranging from cinema to Judaism to railroads to Shakespeare. 

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Whitman at 200’s Look-alike Contest Draws Multitudes to Philadelphia Brewing Company

Walt Whitman lookalike

The Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center is hosting a year-long series of events celebrating the 200th birthday of Walt Whitman collectively titled “Whitman at 200: Art and Democracy.” The series organizers consider Whitman’s 200th birthday an opportunity for Americans to reflect on the relation of Whitman’s work to the politics of his day — and of ours.

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CNN and BBC Streaming Video

Posted on May 2019 by Nick Okrent
Michelle Obama

Two new collections have been added to our Academic Video Onlinedatabase.  The CNN video collection includes feature programming on business, technology, environmental studies, health, women’s studies, and human rights.  Launching with 450 videos, this collection will continue to grow. Highlighted content includes:

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