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Articles by MIT Libraries
A new chapter for MIT Reads
As it marks its 10-year anniversary, MIT Reads is being reimagined for the age of artificial intelligence. Recognizing the need to foster social connection and a sense of our shared humanity, the popular MIT Libraries’ program will turn its focus to fiction and memoir, and to the particular power of stories to help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. “At MIT, we spend a great deal of time on imagining and building for the future.
Princeton-CDH/piffle: v0.9.0
Published June 11, 2026 | Version 0.9.0 Software Open Maintenance Release Revise git-flow configuration so releases and hotfixes merge to main instead of squash merge Update software release GitHub issue template Pin python version for development to 3.12 with .python-version file Add 7-day cooldown for uv Security Add pre-commit hook for zizmor a security-focused static analysis tool for GitHub Actions Pin GitHub repository references to full commit hashes for pre-commit and GitHub Actions...
Princeton-CDH/piffle: v0.8.0
Published May 15, 2026 | Version 0.8.0 Software Open Maintenance release Restored piffle.presentation unit tests from v0.6.1; separated tests for piffle.iiif_dataclasses presentation implementation Drop Python 3.8, 3.9 support and add Python 3.14 support Adopted uv support and package src layout Adopt git-flow-next for git-flow branching conventions Add custom hooks for git-flow workflow in gitflow-hooks Add custom script for configuring git-flow setup_gitflow.sh Add additional pre-commit...
‘Expertise’ shouldn’t be a bad word – expert consensus guides science and society
If people think scientists are trying to impose their political beliefs rather than expressing honest scientific judgments in the pursuit of truth, public trust in expert consensus will continue to erode. With recent events, such as Robert F.
Princeton-CDH/piffle: v0.7
New experimental dataclass interfaces in piffle.iiif_dataclasses thanks to @rwood-97 Add dataclasses for parsing IIIF Presentation and Image APIs. New collect_annotations method to collect annotations on a presentation Now supports IIIF Presentation API and Image API version 3. Adds load_iiif_image and load_iiif_presentation functions for loading IIIF into dataclasses. NOTE: new dataclasses do not yet replace the existing default API; interface and package structure may change in future releases.
More than just facts: Countering climate mis-and-disinformation with critical thinking and empathy
Loading metrics Citation: Rabe C, Paz A (2025) More than just facts: Countering climate mis-and-disinformation with critical thinking and empathy. PLOS Clim 4(10): e0000737. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000737 Editor: Jamie Males, PLOS Climate, UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND Published: October 24, 2025 Copyright: © 2025 Rabe, Paz.
Letterlocking: A new look at a centuries-old practice
For as long as people have been communicating through writing, they have found ways to keep their messages private. Before the invention of the gummed envelope in 1830, securing correspondence involved letterlocking, an ingenious process of folding a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope, often using a combination of folds, tucks, slits, or adhesives such as sealing wax.
New exhibits showcase trailblazing MIT women
This spring, two new exhibits on campus are shining a light on the critical contributions of pathbreaking women at the Institute. They are part of MIT Libraries’ Women@MIT Archival Initiative in the Department of Distinctive Collections. Launched in 2017, the initiative not only adds to the historical record by collecting and preserving the papers of MIT-affiliated women, it shares their lives and work with global audiences through exhibits, multimedia projects, educational materials, and more.
Rewarding excellence in open data
The second annual MIT Prize for Open Data, which included a $2,500 cash prize, was recently awarded to 10 individual and group research projects. Presented jointly by the School of Science and the MIT Libraries, the prize highlights the value of open data — research data that is openly accessible and reusable — at the Institute. The prize winners and 12 honorable mention recipients were honored at the Open Data @ MIT event held Oct. 24 at Hayden Library.
authors@mit presents "Diversity Dividend"
From entry-level to the boardroom, what works to create large-scale change in organizations looking to accelerate their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and reap financial benefits. Every leader endeavors to invest in and manage their key asset—talent—to be as high-performing as possible. Like a winning stock, successful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) actions pay back over time.
Books under attack, then and now
Richard Ovenden was dressed appropriately for the start of Banned Books Week. He proudly displayed the American Library Association’s “Free people read freely” T-shirt as he approached the podium at Hayden Library on Oct. 2.
Natural differential privacy-a perspective on protection guarantees
Differential privacy offers provable privacy guarantees (Wood et al., 2018) but has been criticized as difficult to integrate into existing data production systems and requiring substantial utility loss (Blanco-Justicia et al., 2022). We introduce natural differential privacy (NDP)—a framework for guaranteeing differential privacy for arbitrary computations by leveraging features of existing hardware architectures and natural sources of entropy.
MIT Libraries staff honored with 2023 Infinite Mile Awards
The MIT Libraries celebrated the exceptional contributions of its employees in June with its 2023 Infinite Mile Awards ceremony. Hosted on campus for the first time since 2019, the awards brought together library staff for arcade game-themed fun and a spirited performance by the libraries' band, The Dust Jackets. Awardees were nominated by their library colleagues in the categories listed below; individuals and team recipients are listed along with excerpts from the award presentations.
Understanding viral justice
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the word "viral" has a new resonance, and it's not necessarily positive. Ruha Benjamin, a scholar who investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology, advocates a shift in perspective. She thinks justice can also be contagious. That's the premise of Benjamin's award-winning book " Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want," as she shared with MIT Libraries staff on a June 14 visit.
Tiera Fletcher ’17: Finding the purpose that propels us
In describing her path from Mableton, Georgia, to working on NASA’s Space Launch System, Tiera Fletcher ’17 confesses to having a case of imposter syndrome. After a high school career full of honors and accolades, she arrived at MIT filled with hesitation. “The grades started coming in, and I thought maybe I needed to move back to Georgia,” she says. Then Fletcher got a tip from a fellow student to study in Barker Library.
Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization & the Fight for Racial Justice
authors@MIT presents a conversation with the authors of Waiting to Inhale. This event is hosted by the MIT Press Bookstore and the MIT Libraries. From the start, the War on Drugs targeted Black, Brown, and Indigenous Americans already disadvantaged by a system stacked against them.
Celebrating open data
The inaugural MIT Prize for Open Data, which included a $2,500 cash prize, was recently awarded to 10 individual and group research projects. Presented jointly by the School of Science and the MIT Libraries, the prize recognizes MIT-affiliated researchers who make their data openly accessible and reusable by others. The prize winners and 16 honorable mention recipients were honored at the Open Data @ MIT event held Oct. 28 at Hayden Library.
authors@mit presents "Inclusion on Purpose" with Ruchika Tulshyan
Few would disagree that inclusion is both the right thing to do and good for business. Then why are we so terrible at it? If we believe in the morality and the profitability of including people of diverse and underestimated backgrounds in the workplace, why don’t we do it? Because, explains Ruchika Tulshyan in this eye-opening book, we don’t realize that inclusion takes awareness, intention, and regular practice. Inclusion doesn’t just happen; we have to work at it.
MIT Libraries staff honored with 2022 Infinite Mile Awards
The MIT Libraries celebrated the exceptional contributions of its employees in June with its 2022 Infinite Mile Awards ceremony. Cleverly orchestrated around a mystery theme, the virtual ceremony featured video skits, a riddle contest, and performances by the libraries' band, The Dust Jackets. Awards were presented to individuals and teams in the categories listed below; recipients are listed along with excerpts from the award presentations.
Emilie Songolo named head of Distinctive Collections
Emilie Songolo has been named head of the Department of Distinctive Collections (DDC). Reporting to the Associate Director for Collections, the head will work across the Libraries to transform the use of MIT’s archival and unique collections and share them with the world. Songolo will begin serving in her new role on July 1, 2022.
Immersive video game explores the history of women at MIT
A new video game, "A Lab of One’s Own," creates an immersive environment in which players discover archival materials that tell the stories of women from MIT’s history. Created by multimedia artists Mariana Roa Oliva and Maya Bjornson with collections from MIT Libraries’ Women@MIT archival initiative, the project aims to create a multi-sensory, choose-your-own-adventure-style experience that challenges the idea that the past is behind us.
Featured video: A musical encore for a re-imagined library
When MIT’s Hayden Library was originally dedicated in 1950, Czech-born composer Bohuslav Martinů was commissioned to write his “Piano Trio in D Minor” to mark the occasion. The piece received its world premiere in a performance by MIT professors Klaus Liepmann on violin and Gregory Tucker on piano, and George Finckel of Bennington College on cello.
MIT Libraries digitizes materials from Mary Rowe
Mary Rowe, former MIT ombudsperson, has donated professional papers to the MIT Libraries’ department of Distinctive Collections as part of the Women@MIT archival initiative, which highlights the contributions of women at the Institute by acquiring, preserving, and making accessible their personal archives. Rowe is a conflict management specialist whose work contributed to MIT having one of the world’s first anti-harassment policies and one of the first organizational ombuds offices.
Online hub for research and teaching brings digital humanities to the fore
Computing touches every aspect of teaching and learning at MIT, and the humanities are no exception, with scholars across disciplines using computational tools to answer critical questions in humanistic research. MIT is uniquely positioned to innovate in the digital humanities, with widespread skills in coding and deep engagement in the humanities. Bridging the gap — creating a “bilingual” community, as MIT President L.
Scene at MIT: Setting up camp under the Dome
It sounds like a prank — a tent pitched under the Great Dome in the middle of the Barker Library Reading Room. But this tent was all library business, erected to provide the Institute community access to materials critical for teaching and research.
MIT Libraries and Faculty Committee on the Library System on UC-Elsevier Deal
MIT Libraries and Faculty Committee on the Library System on UC-Elsevier Deal By MIT Libraries on March 18, 2021 in All news As a community committed to the open sharing of knowledge, we at MIT stand in solidarity with our University of California colleagues in the broad goal of advancing openness and equity in scholarly communications, and have been following their negotiations with the publishing giant Elsevier with great interest.
“Virtual Unfolding” - Scientists Read 300-Year-Old Sealed Historic Letter Without Opening It
Computer-generated unfolding animation of sealed letter DB-1538. In our paper we describe how “virtual unfolding” was used to read the contents of sealed letterpackets from 17th-century Europe without physically opening them. Credit: Courtesy of the Unlocking History Research Group archive History unfolds as an interdisciplinary research team uses computational tools to examine the contents of “locked” letters.
Researchers virtually open and read sealed historic letters
An international team of scholars has read an unopened letter from early modern Europe — without breaking its seal or damaging it in any way — using an automated computational flattening algorithm.
MIT, guided by open access principles, ends Elsevier negotiations
Standing by its commitment to provide equitable and open access to scholarship, MIT has ended negotiations with Elsevier for a new journals contract. Elsevier was not able to present a proposal that aligned with the principles of the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts.
Open access task force releases draft recommendations
The Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research has released a set of draft recommendations that aim to support and increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software, and educational materials. They are available for public comment until April 17.
Harvard Library and MIT Libraries provide recommendations for Plan S implementation
Plan S is an initiative for open access that was launched in September 2018. It requires that, from 2020, scientific publications that result from research funded by cOAlition S members must be published in compliant open-access journals or platforms, or deposited in compliant open-access repositories.
MIT Open Access Task Force releases white paper
The ad hoc task force on open access to MIT’s research has released “Open Access at MIT and Beyond: A White Paper of the MIT Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT's Research,” which examines efforts to make research and scholarship openly and freely available. The white paper provides a backdrop to the ongoing work of the task force: identifying new, updated, or revised open access policies and practices that might advance the Institute’s mission to share its knowledge with the world.
Grand Challenges Summit
#mitgrandchallenges MIT will host a working summit on the Grand Challenges in Information Science and Scholarly Communication March 19-23, 2018. Inviting experts from across disciplines and sectors, the summit aims to identify critical problems in information science that are solvable within 10 years and which have broad implications across the scholarly community.
“EarthArt” exhibit at Hayden Library
See your art and data displayed on the illuminated iGlobe. This fall Hayden Library is hosting an interactive exhibit called “EarthArt” in partnership with the MIT Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). An iGlobe, an illuminated sphere, will have a rotating display of maps and data visualizations related to climate and environmental concerns. It will also be available for students and community members to upload their own data and artwork.
MIT convenes ad hoc task force on open access to Institute’s research
MIT’s provost, in consultation with the vice president for research, the chair of the faculty, and the director of the libraries, has appointed an ad hoc task force on open access to MIT’s research. Convening the task force was one of the 10 recommendations presented in the preliminary report of the Future of Libraries Task Force.
Reality Bytes - Utilizing VR and AR in the Library Space- a Brownbag with Matt Bernhardt
Terms like "virtual reality" and "augmented reality" have existed for a long time. In recent years, thanks to products like Google Cardboard and games like Pokemon Go, an increasing number of people have gained first-hand experience with these once-exotic technologies. The MIT Libraries are no exception to this trend. The Program on Information Science has conducted enough experimentation that we would like to share what we have learned, and solicit ideas for further investigation.
New England Chapter of the Music Library Association (NEMLA) meeting
Friday, June 02, 2017 New England Chapter of the Music Library Association (NEMLA) meeting Time: 9:00a–5:30p Location: 4-270, 14E-109 Spring 2017 meeting of the New England Chapter of the Music Library Association (NEMLA) Open to: NEMLA members and guests Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries For more information, contact: Peter Munstedt 617-253-5636 pmunsted@mit.edu This event is categorized as: music, lectures/conferences Add to my calendar (in beta) MIT's iCalendar format can be used with the TechTime...
Creative Data Literacy: Bridging the Gap Between the Data-haves and Have-nots - a Brown Bag with Catherine D???Ignazio
Communities, governments, libraries and organizations are swimming in data???demographic data, participation data, government data, social media data???but very few understand what to do with it. Though governments and foundations are creating open data portals and corporations are creating APIs, these rarely focus on use, usability, building community or creating impact.
Starr Forum: Somaliland (Sneak Preview)
CIS Starr Forum A public events series on pressing issues in international affairs, sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies. Film screening of Somaliland: The Abaarso Story Feature-length documentary about five Somali Muslim students pursuing dreams of education in America.
SolarSPELL: The Solar Powered Educational Learning Library - Experiential Learning and Iterative Development a Brown Bag with Laura Hosman
Access to high-quality, relevant information is absolutely foundational for a quality education. Yet, so many schools across the developing world lack fundamental resources, like textbooks, libraries, electricity and Internet connectivity. The SolarSPELL (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library) is designed specifically to address these infrastructural challenges, by bringing relevant, digital educational content to offline, off-grid locations.
Documenting Cultural Heritage as an Act of Resistance
The Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT) is a research center dedicated to collecting, creating, and disseminating material and visual culture of Muslim societies. At a time when government policy iinhibits international cultural and educational exchange, the activities of a center like AKDC@MIT take on increased importance, even as we face new impediments to our efforts.
WORLD MUSIC HANGOUT: Music Across Borders (part of MIT Day of Engagement, Day of Action)
Share your culture's music through song or voice, with your instrument, or with the library's piano...or feel free to bring your friends for a jam session! You are also more than welcome to just listen. Light refreshments will be served.
Make Change, Make Zines! A Day of Action Zine-Making Space
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 Make Change, Make Zines! A Day of Action Zine-Making Space Speaker: Anna Boutin, Alena McNamara, Sofia Leung, Rhonda Kauffman Time: 1:30p–4:30p Location: 7-238, Rotch Library Map Space MIT Day of Action Join together with MIT librarians Alena McNamara, Rhonda Kauffman, Sofia Leung, and Anna Boutin to channel your thoughts, feelings, and ideas from the Day of Action into zines! Prompt questions and materials will be provided, but you can also bring along your own, so...
World Music Hangout: Music Across Borders
Tuesday, April 18, 2017 World Music Hangout: Music Across Borders Speaker: Cate Gallivan Time: 12:00p–1:30p Location: 14E-109, Lewis Music Library MIT Day of Action This is an informal, open mic format for MIT community to gather and share music from around the world. Participants are invited to perform, talk about their instruments, use our piano, or bring recorded music to share. We will provide light refreshments.
MIT INSPIRE 2017 Closing Ceremony
Join MIT INSPIRE for the third annual national research competition in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for high school students. Key speakers at the closing ceremony include Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and Ms. Lillian Chin, Jeopardy College Champion, MIT ???17. Awards will be presented to high school student winners.
An evening with author Ken Liu
MIT Reads ... an all-MIT reading experience that aims to build community and foster understanding. Join us for a discussion with Ken Liu, author of "The Paper Menagerie", a collection of fantastical fiction and this year's final selection for the MIT Reads program. Too busy to read the whole book right now?
MIT INSPIRE 2017 Public Viewing of Posters
Join MIT INSPIRE for the third annual national research competition in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for high school students. Come and meet the high school student Finalists, hear about their cool research and vote on your favorite project to receive the INSPIRE 2017 Lincoln Award sponsored by MIT Community Service Fund.
MIT INSPIRE 2017 Opening Ceremony
Join MIT INSPIRE for the third annual national research competition in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for high school students. Attend keynote by Prof. Bengt Holmstrom, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, and a panel on Perspectives on Careers in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences featuring MIT faculty and alumni.
Prokopoff violin music concert
Thursday, April 06, 2017 Prokopoff violin music concert Time: 12:00p–1:00p Location: 14E-109 The 15th annual Prokopoff violin music concert: come enjoy some wonderful music in an attractive setting! Open to: the general public Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries For more information, contact: Peter Munstedt 617-253-5636 pmunsted@mit.edu This event is categorized as: music Add to my calendar (in beta) MIT's iCalendar format can be used with the TechTime Desktop Client, Microsoft Outlook, Macintosh iCal,...
Institute Announces New Open Access Policy for All MIT Authors
Optional license allows students, researchers, and staff to make scholarly articles freely available. Thanks to the efforts of Cara Manning PhD ’16, the MIT Libraries, and many others across the Institute, MIT is launching a new way for authors of scholarly articles to legally hold onto rights to reuse and post their articles, and for others to more easily build on that work. As of this month, all MIT authors, including students, postdocs, and staff, can opt in to an open access license.
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