Libraries for everyone, by everyone, shared with everyone, about everything
Below is the text of the lightning talk I gave at Code4Lib 2026 earlier this week, on March 3. The conference venue where I delivered it is located at 1 Dock Street in Old City Philadelphia. Links below go to Continue reading
The catalog of free online books and serials at The Online Books Page continues to grow and improve every week. You can watch our new books listings, or subscribe to our RSS feed, to see what books we ve newly cataloged Continue reading
I m glad we ve reached a new Public Domain Day, and that the works I ve been featuring in my #PublicDomainDayCountdown, and many more, are now free to copy and reuse. I ve been posting about works joining the public domain in the Continue reading
Ninety-five (or 100) years is a very long time for copyrights to last. But Olaf Stapledon saw a much longer future for us in Last and First Men (reviewed here and here). His book tells a story of successive human Continue reading
Yale s 1905 commencement ceremonies included a honorary doctorate for British composer Edward Elgar, and a portion of his first Pomp and Circumstance march. It s been a staple of graduation processions ever since. The full suite of five marches that Elgar Continue reading
David Seubert writes that more than 2500 records from 1925 digitized by the UC Santa Barbara Library will soon be freely downloadable there. A full listing of these recordings is online (though note that recordings made in 1925 but not Continue reading
Marlene Dietrich enjoyed success on stage and screen in 1920s Berlin, but became an international star in 1930. That year she came to the United States to star in Morocco alongside Gary Cooper. Her performance was nominated for an Academy Continue reading
Struggle over academic freedom in Texas state universities has a long history. Today it s often over race and gender; in the 1940s, it was over things like John Dos Passos s USA trilogy. When the University of Texas Board of Regents Continue reading
The Penn Libraries, where I work, has first editions of many of the works featured in my #PublicDomainDayCountdown . From today through Public Domain Day, the Libraries social media will feature photos of some distinctive books from 1930. One of Continue reading
In 1925 the Associated Glee Clubs of America put on a concert like no other. 15 choral groups, with over 850 singers in all, came together in New York s Metropolitan Opera House to sing a program broadcast on radio across Continue reading