Jan. 27, 2025

What happened at Princeton University Library (PUL) in 2024? From students reimagining pre-film devices in Special Collections to launching an exhibit featuring Princeton’s first female associate professor, here are PUL’s top 10 stories of 2024.

Unlocking Creativity: Making Data Physicalizations

Sarah Reiff-Conell watches an in-progress 3D print with a session attendee, Ariel Ackerly shows attendees how to use a smart cutting machine, and Ofira Schwartz-Soicher works with Bertrand Reau on his physicalization. Photo credits: Brandon Johnson.

Three images from the Data-Driven Creativity Workshop in the PUL Makerspace.

PowerPoint or instructional video? Bar graph or pie chart? Choosing the right tool to present data is important, but what about bringing that digital data into the physical world? The “Data Driven Creativity: Making Data Physicalizations” Wintersession explored just that by taking participants through the complete process of bringing their data to life.

The Selene Photometric Stereo System uncovers the history of PUL items

The underside of the Selene Photometric Stereo System.

The underside of the Selene Photometric Stereo System. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson.

PUL’s digital imaging technicians are helping researchers look beyond the surfaces of PUL Collections using a piece of technology inspired by the way scientists capture images of the moon. The Library acquired a Selene Photometric Stereo System, a non-contact and ultra high-resolution recording system and workflow designed to capture the color and three-dimensional topography of low-relief surfaces.

HBCU Students visit as part of REACH program

Two REACH participants look through a folder of 1910-1930 items in Special Collections in Firestone Library. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson.

Two REACH participants look through a folder of 1910-1930 items in Special Collections in Firestone Library. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson.

“What does it mean to be ethical stewards of archival materials?” Emma Sarconi, Reference and Outreach Specialist, asked 23 HBCU students and their mentors on Monday, June 17. 

The students visited PUL Special Collections as part of the Research, Equity, Archives, Curation, and History program, a week-long, hands-on look into the work of librarians and archivists at both PUL’s Firestone and Mudd Library branches. 

Ph.D. candidate completes graduate fellowship at PUL

For Charmaine Branch, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art & Archaeology pursuing a graduate certificate in African American Studies, her work is committed to social equity and community care, both of which she believes can be supported by libraries. During her GradFutures University Administrative Fellowship, Branch pursued an independent research project investigating the intentionality behind using challenging materials in the classroom. 

Haptic Lab in Special Collections 

Alessandra Faccone demonstrates her design with Joe Scanlan during a meeting of the Haptic Lab in Special Collections.

Alessandra Faccone demonstrates her design with Joe Scanlan during a meeting of the Haptic Lab in Special Collections. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson.

A skirt made of mirrors, an animated strip of Super Mario, and a digital representation of the Fibonacci sequence were among the ways students in Professor of Visual Arts Joe Scanlan’s Haptic Lab reimagined 19th century visual media devices in 2024. 

Offered to students through the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Haptic Lab is a hands-on studio course in which students investigate and critique analog and digital technologies while also taking inspiration from that tech to create something new. For two class periods this fall, Scanlan’s students visited Princeton University Library’s Special Collections to learn about pre-film devices.

PUL curates Lenape Collection

PUL patrons looking for materials on Lenape people have a new curated collection to browse at Firestone Library. “For people doing Lenape studies, this collection is advantageous because the books cover a variety of topics — history, anthropology, language, folklore, religion — and are now collocated in a single location,” said collection curator and Librarian for History and African American Studies Steven Knowlton.

PUL co-sponsors gender and sexuality colloquium 

Briona Simone Jones during her keynote speech. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

Briona Simone Jones during her keynote speech. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson


 

PUL co-sponsored the fourth installment of the Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium (GSISC) in June 2024, which featured talks and workshops from a variety of librarians, archivists, researchers, and educators from around North America. “The goal for GSISC is to respond to the challenges posed by critical perspectives on gender and sexuality in our field,” said Sara Howard, Librarian for Gender and Sexuality Studies and Student Engagement and GSISC committee chair. 

Mudd Library exhibition: Credit Line, Please

Palmer Memorial Stadium photographed by Elizabeth Menzies.

Palmer Memorial Stadium photographed by Elizabeth Menzies. 

In 1936, three years out of high school and working from her home darkroom on Prospect Avenue in Princeton, Elizabeth Menzies (1915-2003) sold her first cover photograph to the Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW). That photo and many others went uncredited. The back sides of the prints document an evolution –from the lightly penciled “Menzies” to a polite “Credit Line Appreciated” to her rubber stamp insisting “Credit Line, Please.”

Princeton’s first female associate professor featured in exhibition

Librarian Charissa Jefferson arranges an exhibition case.

Librarian Charissa Jefferson arranges an exhibition case. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

The story of Helen Baker isn’t simply about her role as the only woman faculty member in Princeton University’s Economics Department. Nor is it about becoming the first woman to hold an associate professor position at the University. As Labor Economics Librarian Charissa Jefferson told it ahead of her exhibition on Baker, she “was working on labor research just in time for the federal government to need it.” 

Stokes Library VR Headsets used in applications across campus 

Marina Fedosik instructs a student during her class, Technogenesis in the Engineering Library's Collaboration Hub.

Marina Fedosik instructs a student during her class, Technogenesis, in the Engineering Library's Collaboration Hub. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

PUL’s Stokes Library has also entered the digital space through its Meta Quest 3 headsets. Available for use by Princeton students, staff, and faculty, the headsets have seen applications in coursework, research projects, and campus events alike.