iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Rare Books & Ancestral Machines is out soon from Carnegie Mellon University Press. It features one hundred books & early calculating machines from the collection alongside eight interpretive essays. Thrilled to see this out in the world! More here: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

press.uchicago.edu

Rare Books & Ancestral Machines

Spotlights a treasured collection of objects from Carnegie Mellon’s special collections to mark the reopening of the Posner Center.Rare Books & Ancestral Machines is a portable guide to the Posner Cen...

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

A generous and thorough review of The Four Shakespeare Folios in PBSA this month

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Reposted by Sam Lemley

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries @library.cmu.edu · 01/05/2025

Inspired by the two WWII Enigma machines in our Special Collections, @cmu.edu Electrical & Computer Engineering students designed a working, modernized model. 🔐 Their open-source device runs on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), featuring a custom Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for input/output.

CMU Electrical and Computer Engineering students Nancy Anderson, Amelia Lobo, and Tanisha Sethi designed a working, modernized model of the Enigma.

WWII Enigma machine in Special Collections

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Reposted by Sam Lemley

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries @library.cmu.edu · 17/04/2025

The recording of Fine & Rare V is now available. 📽️ In this special event, Curator of Special Collections @samlemley.bsky.social discusses areas of collection strength, ongoing research, and instructional programs in @cmu.edu's Special Collections. 💻 Watch it here: youtu.be/EBBeiuGRpJU?...

youtu.be

Fine and Rare V: New Acquisitions in Libraries Special Collections

YouTube video by Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

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Reposted by Sam Lemley

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries @library.cmu.edu · 26/02/2025

Join us for an inside look at new and unique highlights from our Special Collections, presented by Curator of Special Collections @samlemley.bsky.social. Fine and Rare V Thursday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. ET This is a virtual event. Please register to receive the link to attend: cmu.is/Fine-Rare-V

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Thrilled to share that the Posner Center @cmulibraries.bsky.social will be reimagined as a dynamic & accessible space for research, teaching, and public engagement with Special Collections — thanks to a generous gift from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh and the Posner Family. bit.ly/4j1MQyj

bit.ly

Posner Foundation Commits $8 Million to CMU Libraries Special Collections | CMU Libraries

The Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh has announced an $8 million commitment to support the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Special Collections — the university’s repository for rare books, manuscr...

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Shakespeare: 1 Infinite Monkeys: 0 Could Monkeys Really Type All of Shakespeare? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/s...

nytimes.com

Could Monkeys Really Type All of Shakespeare?

Not in this universe, a new study concludes.

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

A favorite acquisition last year is this very meta portrait of Jacquard woven in silk on a jacquard loom. It’s scarce: only three copies listed in OCLC. The @cmulibraries.bsky.social copy is also massive: LoC’s copy measures only 59cm in height, ours 84! cmu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/perma…

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Showing The Stephen Greenblatt @cmulibraries.bsky.social Shakespeare Folios a year ago this week — read more about the Libraries' wildly successful 2023 Shakespeare Folio exhibitions & programs here www.library.cmu.edu/exhibits/sha...

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

A centuries-rich buffet of computational devices, mathematical instruments, and rare books this semester with @carnegiemellon.bsky.social students @cmulibraries.bsky.social Special Collections: Napier’s rods, the Leibniz calculator, a set of Japanese nine-nine cards, and the ever popular Enigma M3.

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Reposted by Sam Lemley

Keith Webster @cmkeithw.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

We're inviting applications for our open science primer training program. Closing date for applications 3 Jan 2025. Events will run across the country during 2025 - details at guides.library.cmu.edu/opensciencep... As always grateful thanks to our friends at IMLS inc @james3neal.bsky.social

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

I dig the inbuilt optimism of the name 'Bluesky' — a blue-sky future for knowledge exchange in social media's dumpster-fire era? One can only hope. I'm here now, if infrequently. Working to archive my Xitter feed meanwhile.

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Sam Lemley @samlemley.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Cataloged some oddities, like this triode vacuum tube packed in horsehair — one obsolete technology nestled in the debris of another. MARC and RDA are blunt instruments for describing artifacts, but a keyword search for "triode" now returns delightful results on the Libraries' catalog!

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