An intern opens up new views
Library student John Cole is scanning artifacts from the Wangensteen Historical Library in 3D, offering an advantage for very fragile items — as well as for virtual instruction.
The Secret Lives of Books
The Wangensteen Historical Library's new exhibit — "The Secret Lives of Books" — reveals the past and present secret lives of books and tells their captivating stories of health, illness, and the human experience. In an evolving exhibit experience, guest-curated exhibit vignettes will be changed each month to reveal more stories about rare books and their intersections with current events, historical experiences, and the research programs at the University of Minnesota.
Reflections from an artist-in-residence
Working with archival materials in quiet reading rooms for many hours during my spring residency at the UMN Libraries' Archives & Special Collections was a contemplative, productive, at times intense, surprising, and overall gratifying experience. I conducted research primarily in two collections: the Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) and the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine. My research objectives broadly included the Guatemalan Civil War, migration and trauma, historical conceptions of 'The Tropics,' mosquito-borne illnesses, indigenous treatments, and the confluence of race and disease.
The Best from Pen and Press: Exhibit sneak peek
Take a sneak video peek at our current exhibit at Elmer L. Andersen Library: The Best from Pen and Press, which includes 3,000-year-old cuneiform tablets, a 16th century "Remembrancer Scroll," and much more. The materials come from the James Ford Bell Library, the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, and the University Libraries' Rare Book collections.