Harvard Library is in the process of digitizing and releasing all known archival and manuscript materials in the Harvard Library that relate to 17th and 18th century North America. More information HERE.
Image of Paseo Cayala, Guatemala
New Urbanism, or “living urbanism“, is a planning philosophy that strives to incorporate land use to create communities that foster the most desirable characteristics of human habitation (e.g. neighborliness, environmental sustainability, historic preservation, civic participation, etc.). Much urban design that styles itself as “newly urban” is crudely done, but when done correctly the design fosters a place and setting that is distinctly comfortable and human. Public (and academic) libraries in towns and urban communities that are interested in being a part of change, should consider new urbanist principles when designing or re-modeling physical spaces. For more information about new urbanism, the lecture by Andrés Duany at the Chicago Humanities Festival is a great start (see below).
Digital Humanities Books
A group of colleges and universities are exploring ways to share expertise and services through a Digital Liberal Arts Exchange (DLAX). The DLAX is currently seeking participants.
Georgia Tech Library
Emory University and Georgia Tech launched plans recently to build shared collections. Pics and more information at renewal.library.gatech.edu
Wiener Library in Camden Town, London, UK
The design firm Sasaki Associates released a 2015 survey, of more than 400 librarians at nearly 200 institutions, on their work spaces and here’s what they found.
Image credit to flickr.com/photos/cdevers/5702488800/
Under new direction, the Libraries and the Press are revisiting their own missions and core values, and have converged in part around the principle of adaptability. Namely, both organizations share the aims to actively engage in the changing technologies, practices and policies around creating and sharing information; embrace an entrepreneurial ethos that welcomes thoughtful risk taking and is not afraid to learn from failures; and adapt continually to the changing needs of the communities they serve…Read the rest.
Image credit to flickr.com/photos/endymion120/5431739711/
Houben’s most quoted line on libraries is that they are the “cathedrals of the 21st century.” I ask her what she means by that and she says, “I think that they’re the most important public building nowadays, for everybody.” In fact, she has arrived in New York from the Netherlands just in time to be a pivotal figure in a culture war, an unwinnable argument about what these crucial institutions are, who they’re for, and how they should best deploy their resources. Read the rest.
Photo credit to https://www.flickr.com/photos/beyondaccessinitiative/
An older piece by Grant McCracken that provides an important reminder on how libraries (and other organizations) can create value from their seemingly outmoded systems.
Joshua M. Avery 