Emergence of the suburban school districts in Bronson v. Board

Last November, the University of Cincinnati Libraries announced the award of an Archives Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to the Libraries’ Archives and Rare Books Library (ARB). This grant supports the archival processing of records related to the lawsuit Bronson v. Board of Education of the City School District of the City of Cincinnati maintained by the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and donated to the University of Cincinnati in the 1980s.      

Map of Hamilton County School Districts provided by Metropolitan Association Religious Coalition of Cincinnati, undated
Map of Hamilton County School Districts provided by Metropolitan Association Religious Coalition of Cincinnati, undated

The suburban school districts 

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Patrick Bois joins UC Libraries as evening and weekend supervisor

We are delighted to announce that Patrick Bois joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on May 12 in the role of Langsam Library evening and weekend supervisor. Patrick will be working Sundays – Thursdays, providing critical staff coverage for Langsam’s seven-day-a-week schedule during the academic year. 

Patrick is a UC alumnus in history and is currently working on his MLIS at Kent State, with a concentration in archival studies. Before coming to UC, he worked in the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Libraries since 2021, and this experience will be a great asset in his new role. He is excited to work in an academic library that he experienced as a student.

Welcome back to UC, Patrick!

patrick bois

Renovation Alert: CECH Library 4th Floor

We’re excited to share that the 4th floor of the CECH Library will undergo a renovation beginning Tuesday, May 27. The space will be closed for the summer and is set to reopen at the start of the fall semester.

This transformation is designed to better support our students and academic community by creating a more dynamic, flexible, and welcoming environment.

Architectural rendering of planned improvements to the CECH Library reading room.

What’s coming:

  • Reconfigured layout for enhanced study, collaboration, and events
  • Modern study tables with integrated power and lighting
  • Comfortable seating, refreshed study room, new carpet, and paint
  • A thoughtful blend of modern design and the existing classic architectural elements

The main level (3rd floor) will remain open, and materials will still be accessible by request.

This project reflects our ongoing commitment to student success and innovation in academic spaces. Stay tuned for updates — and have a fantastic summer.

Katie Foran-Mulcahy (she/her)
Head, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) Library

Silent no more. PBS’s “The Art Show” to feature Theda Bara, Archives & Rare Books and The Preservation Lab

theda bara

Theda Bara, born Theodosia Burr Goodman on July 29, 1885 to a local Jewish family, attended the University of Cincinnati from 1906-1908 before leaving to pursue an acting career. Bara became one of the biggest stars of the silent film era making 40 films between 1914 and 1926. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname “The Vamp.”

While most of the films Theda Bara starred in were destroyed in a studio fire, her name lives on at UC with the T. Everett Harré Manuscript on Theda Bara, which is housed in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

This weekend’s episode of CET and ThinkTV’s “The Art Show” will feature Theda Bara and the manuscript in Archives and Rare Books. View it Saturday, May 17 at 6pm on CET or Sunday, May 18 at 5:30pm on Dayton’s ThinkTV. It will also appear on the PBS App and is currently viewable on YouTube.

Included in the episode, Chris Harter, university archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library, talks about the 450-page typewritten manuscript that documents Bara’s life. It was intended to be a memoir ghostwritten in collaboration with Bara, but was never published. Holly Prochaska, preservation librarian and head of the Preservation Lab, talks about how they worked to ensure that the manuscript and letters between Bara and Harré are protected and will remain available for study and research long into the future, thus cementing Theda Bara’s legacy.

chris harter being interviewed by CET

What’s a record?

Librarians, archivists, and records managers can say “record” to one another and know it means document, catalog record, three-dimensional object, or digital file. But this wide net can confuse those who create and manage records but do not consider them central to their jobs. Ask and they may reply “What’s a record?”

Credit: Pixabay

At the University of Cincinnati, a record, whether it’s created, received, or managed by university employees represents an action taken to complete a task. Many documents, paper or digital, can be considered records. But not all for various reasons. Records exist in many places, from filing cabinets to the cloud. Email is a curious case, being both a record and a means for transmitting them.

Record is a ubiquitous term that casts a wide net. Any confusion is understandable. But at UC, a record can be any document, device, or item, physical or digital, regardless of its purpose. Whatever its form or the purpose it was created for or received by UC, a record serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, and other activities at UC.

At the same time, not every document, device, or item constitutes a record. Examples include rough notes, drafts, or copies kept for reference which do not contain information requiring preservation or duplicate information found in documents deemed official records. Because they are not considered records, they may be discarded whenever the creator or user deems it appropriate.

Credit: Element5 Digital

Those that are records can be found in many locations. Physical ones include boxes, filing cabinets, and folders. Digital locations include computers, shared drives, databases, the cloud, and email servers.

But email as both a record and a location? The answer is yes. Those considered records contain information that falls under the campus-wide General Records and Retention Schedule (GRS), which determines how long records are retained. This does not mean that all emails constitute records. These typically include meeting reminders, courtesy copies, listserv notices, drafts, or a means to transmit documents (e.g. attachments or OneDrive links). They may be deleted.

The definition of a record at UC means that it documents an activity. Not all documents and items, physical or digital, are considered records. Those deemed records can be found in many places from filing cabinets to Teams. Emails serve as both records and means for transmitting them. With this knowledge, UC faculty and staff can exercise greater confidence in knowing what records are and are not and their uses.

Welcome Debao Chen, GIS research consultant for Research and Data Services

UC Libraries welcomes Debal Chen, PhD student in Geography & GIS as our new GIS research consultant.

Debao is a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Cincinnati. Originally from Hunan province, China, he earned his master’s degree in Human Geography from Guangzhou University. His research focuses on crime geography and spatial analysis of crime, with particular interests in the dynamics between gentrification, Google Street View imagery, and the life cycles of urban retail stores.

Also, Debao has published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Applied Geography, and Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. As a GIS Collab consultant, he looks forward to supporting others while continuing to expand his analytical toolkit in GIS-related analysis.

Check out his ORCID and Google Scholar profiles

The Data & GIS collab is now located in 460 Langsam due to renovations in the new Science Library.

Debao’s hours will be

  • Tuesday 11 am – 4 pm
  • Wednesday 11 am – 4 pm
  • Thursday 11 am – 4 pm

ERIC Updates, May 2025

In March 2025, journal publishers received the following notice from ERIC. This information was also detailed in a prior LiBlog post in April:

The Department of Education is working with the Department of Government Efficiency to “reduce overall Federal spending” and “reallocate spending to promote efficiency” (EO 14222). As a result, the number of records added to the ERIC collection will be significantly reduced going forward. The number of actively cataloged sources will be reduced by approximately 45% starting April 24, 2025. Subject matter was not considered during the process to identify which sources would be made inactive.  Please note that all records currently in ERIC will remain available.

On April 28, 2025, the acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) announced a contract renewal with the AEM Corporation and the continuation of ERIC. The announcement also stated that “no content has been removed or deleted from ERIC” but characterized the future as a “new phase” with a “refined scope”. 

With a 50% cut to its annual budget, the future of ERIC remains uncertain. For up-to-date information on ERIC, see the ERIC Updates page of our Education Complete LibGuide.

Further Reading

Barshay, J. (2025, April 28). Education Department restarts online library ERIC. The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-restart-eric-ed-library/  

Fitzgerald, S. R., Weaver, K. D., & Droog, A. (2025). Selecting a specialized education database for literature reviews and evidence synthesis projects. Research Synthesis Methods, 16(1), 30–41. doi:10.1017/rsm.2024.11 

Join us for the Ethical AI Symposium, Thursday, May 22

UC Libraries Research & Data Services is hosting an Ethical AI Symposium, exploring the responsible use of AI, its benefits and risks, and ethical considerations for the UC community. Scheduled for Thursday, May 22, from 10:30am-1:30pm in the Medical Sciences Building (MSB) 5051, the event is open to all interested in learning more about AI’s dual role as both an innovative tool and a potential source of harm.

The symposium will feature a keynote address by Emile Loza de Siles, assistant professor of law of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. Following is a networking lunch and a panel discussion where UC thought leaders will share their perspectives on ethical AI practices and the future of responsible innovation.

Symposium Agenda

  • Keynote                           10:30am – 11:30am
  • Lunch                               11:30am – 12:15pm
  • Panel Discussion           12:15pm – 1:30pm

Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/DmesAj0Jj0

ethical ai symposium
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CECH voted!

This semester the CECH Library wanted to know your thoughts. You helped us name fidget slugs, determine the best book-to-screen adaptation, and even answered burning questions like ‘is water wet?’ Check out all the ways CECH Voted this Spring Semester:

March Madness

Popular books battled it out throughout the month of March to determine: what is the best book-to-screen adaptation? With surprising early round eliminations of fan favorites like Holes and Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games claimed the prize, narrowly beating out Harry Potter. Disagree? Check back next March for the next round of CECH Library March Madness!

Large yellow poster showing a voting bracket with books and their movie adaptation.
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