MeFi Projects

This is an online version of an exhibition held at Houghton Library in the summer of 2022, set in a virtual recreation of the library's exhibition space. The exhibition highlights 40 examples from Houghton collections of early modern portraits of named people of color from around the world.
posted by Horace Rumpole on Dec 22, 2022 - 1 comment

Hello! The (5 min) youtube video (with speaker notes linked in the description) is an executive summary of my final project for a class called Organizing Information. The project was to design an index for a collection of existing work. I chose podcast episodes within the Radiotopia network. An index is an organized list of terms that link to all the items that have that term (like this on metafilter). Indexes (1) allow users to find all of the items connected by a term in one place and (2) describe items by considering their "aboutness" --- a concept that can be quite the rabbit hole! [more inside]
posted by CMcG on Aug 5, 2019 - 1 comment

'Change the Subject' is a documentary about working to change how libraries label immigrants. Here's a trailer (and a second trailer). In 2014 a Dartmouth College student researching undocumented students in the U.S. repeatedly encountered the term “Illegal aliens” as a subject heading in the library catalog. Dismayed by this use of biased language she worked with CoFIRED (a student run undocumented immigrant rights group at Dartmouth) and rallied college librarians, and ultimately librarians across the United States, to challenge how the Library of Congress categorizes books and other materials about undocumented people. This 55 minute film features interviews with students, faculty, librarians and congressional representatives involved in this instance of campus activism that entered the national spotlight (NYT link). As of this posting, the Library of Congress has yet to 'Change the Subject' and 'Illegal aliens' remains the authorized cataloging term for issues related to undocumented immigrants. [more inside]
posted by soy bean on May 7, 2019 - 0 comments

The Library of Congress contains vast troves of digital resources. LOC Serendipity is a website that simulates the experience of exploring a library and skimming eye-catching or interesting titles. From books like, "Dainty dishes for slender incomes," which contains a delicious recipe for beignets, to the oddball early-1800's "Memoirs of the notorious Stephen Burroughs of New Hampshire" to "The forgotten book," published in 2018, this tool enables serendipitous and deeply engaging discovery every day. [more inside]
posted by metasunday on Mar 10, 2019 - 3 comments

I don't have much of a background in programming, but I do have a bit of one in libraries. This was my final paper for a graduate course from last semester. I'm curious to hear from other people in the library and programming fields about the viability of the idea. Is it useful, feasible, doable? The basic idea is to automatically attach search terms to library items that end up being used because of those search terms. I'd love to hear what you think!
posted by holmesian on Feb 14, 2017 - 1 comment

Ever read a web page and think, "I would like to read a book about that – for free!" Well, if you live in the greater Boston area, you can highlight some text on a web page then click this one weird old button to get a relevant book. [more inside]
posted by ignignokt on Mar 23, 2016 - 5 comments

Beyond the Stacks is an interview podcast in which librarians, archivists, and information science professionals talk about the coolest experiences of their careers, and how they got there. [more inside]
posted by One Second Before Awakening on Oct 1, 2015 - 2 comments

So, my friend and I, (both librarians and enthusiastic eaters) who did a previous food-related project, have a new one where we make things we've always wanted to eat from our favorite books. We are far from the first to have this idea, but we get kind of intense about it. [more inside]
posted by exceptinsects on Aug 11, 2015 - 9 comments

My attempt at putting together a very simple javaScript plugin for creating dialog trees and interactive fiction games, complete with some javaScript hooks so you can tie it into other stuff. GitHub link, examples.
posted by Artw on Jun 9, 2015 - 7 comments

Villanova Tech Trifecta Superfecta Team, Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University is once again proud to announce a series of events, nicknamed the Tech Superfecta, taking place during the week of October 14th, 2013 in Villanova PA. [more inside]
posted by mfoight on Aug 30, 2013 - 0 comments

Esotouric turns the notion of guided bus tours on its ear with excursions like Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles and Pasadena Confidential. Now you don't have to get on the bus to get the skinny. Each week on the You Can't Eat The Sunshine podcast, join Kim Cooper and Richard Schave on their Southern California adventures, as they visit with fascinating characters for wide-ranging interviews that reveal the myths, contradictions, inspirations and passions of the place. There’s never been a city quite like Los Angeles. Tune in if you’d like to find out why. [more inside]
posted by Scram on May 12, 2013 - 0 comments

Spotmaps is an on-going project to map the colour footprints of different films. The website was designed to show off the completed image library. [more inside]
posted by urbanwhaleshark on Jan 1, 2013 - 2 comments

"Dear Mama, [...] We had a riot here about a week ago, the people ran out the Hindoos..." The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) aims to document, preserve and provide access to the history of the South Asian American community through a digital archive. [more inside]
posted by BugsPotter on Sep 21, 2011 - 0 comments

Experience a 19th century American city through Charles Fontayne and William S. Porter's world famous panorama. This site combines the superior clarity of daguerreotypes, made from the first practical method of photography, with 21st century technology, making it possible to enlarge the Cincinnati Panorama of 1848 and see details that even the photographers could not have seen from their camera location across the Ohio River in Kentucky. Navigate and zoom in for a glimpse of life along the riverfront. Enter the Panorama through Points of Interest, vividly illustrated with portraits, newspapers, advertisements, early documents, and maps. [more inside]
posted by Mick on Jul 16, 2011 - 2 comments

It occurred to me that some of the best conversations I’ve had lately revolve around the question - why are you a librarian? I thought it would be fun to collect these stories in a central place so that we’d have a snapshot of all the different reasons people join the information science profession but more importantly, why we’ve stayed in libraries. I’m collecting anecdotes from Twitter (tweet with hash tag #ilibcause), via email (ilibcause@gmail.com) and via a submission form on the website ilibcause.com/submit. More information available at ilibcause.com/about. [more inside]
posted by ginagina on Apr 21, 2011 - 1 comment