From the Virtual Desk of … Lauren Wahman

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

I’m Lauren Wahman, Information Literacy and Instruction Coordinator, and here’s a virtual tour of my home office spaces.

: The front room is a nice spot where I attend meetings and webinars.

: The kitchen nook is my home office now with lots of natural light and lunch is only a few steps away.

: Stack of readings that moved from my campus office to home office with goal to finally get to them!

: With warmer weather on the way (I hope), the sun room may be my new favorite spot for meetings/webinars.

From the Virtual Desk Of … Elizabeth Hartlaub

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

Today’s tour is hosted by Elizabeth Hartlaub, Library Operations Manager.

My work from home “office” is several different places depending on my mood or the day!

Everyone moves around during the day to a few main areas of the house, the art studio on the second floor, the front room of the first floor, and outside to the patio when the weather permits.

Thanks for joining me on my work from home tour!

: The front room has a record player and lots of music to listen to while we work. It also gets the best morning light. The sun helps us warm up on cold mornings!

: A different view of the front room.

: I share my workspace with three family members: my two children who are 8 and 4, and my significant other who is also working from home. We also have three young cats who have become co-workers whether they like it or not! They provide lots of moral support and snuggles during the day while we focus on school and work activities.

: The art studio is at the corner of the house and gives a great view of the activities on the street below. I usually sit at the desk on an exercise ball while I attend virtual meetings. We set-up a folding table for the kids to work if we are going to stay in that room for a long period of time.

: Finally, the outside patio gives us the opportunity to watch the spring plants and flowers emerge. We get visited by little chipmunks and birds from time to time.

From the Virtual Desk Of…Pam Adler

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

This week, we visit Pam Adler, Public Services Assistant and her tiny co-worker, Jackson.

: This is my desk I work at from home, lots of space and light. A little history about the table. This table was made by my grandfather and used as my mother’s dinner table growing up.

: This is my new desk mate Jackson. Working hard with his cars.

: Hard at work making roads for his cars.

: As you can see Jackson uses the entire desk working on his many projects.

: Thanks for stopping by. As much as I love working from home with my grandson, I do miss my work desk at school. Looking to when we can all be on campus. From the desk of Pam Adler, miss you all.

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet Linda Wunderley

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our  Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

Linda Wunderley | Assistant Professor, Adjunct | Business & Economics
Presentation: The Real Truth About What Determines Our Professional Performance

Linda Wunderley discusses her research.

Research Project
Today’s frenetic pace of market change and stressful organizational environments have the business world struggling with not only redesigning their professional development efforts to address this new normal, but also attempting to understand why past practices have repeatedly proven so ineffective! At the same time, Neuroscience research may have uncovered a critical correlation (between an individual’s significant life experiences and their repetitive thoughts, feelings and behavior) which could provide the very insight and direction needed for a professional development reinvention. But empirical data specific to the business world is needed. This research study is attempting to provide that data.

collage of famous people in a powerpoint slide

A slide from Linda Wunderley’s The Real Truth About What Determines Our Professional Performance presentation. Source: Linda Wunderley

What excites you most about your research?
Top management across the U.S. today, as well as the likes of Deloitte and McKinsey, report little or no behavior change on the part of the ‘trained’ or the ‘coached.’ But the need for improved soft skills such as better communication, persuasion, team building and creativity is huge and growing. This research could provide the empirical data for a potential sea change in our approach to such Professional Development.

What are your next steps with your research?
Continue to recruit participants to increase sample size.

Past Publication

Wunderley, L. J., Reddy, W.B. & Dember, W.N. (2006). Optimism and Pessimism in Business Leaders. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 28 (9) 751-760.

Additional Resources
* Library copy currently unavailable to request at this time

*Dweck, C. S. (2007). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random Books.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2017). The Talent Delusion: Why Data, Not Intuition, Is the Key to Unlocking Human Potential. Great Britain: Piatkus
Felitti, V. J. et.al. (1998). Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 14, 4, 245-258.
Kellerman, B. (2012). The End of Leadership. New York: HarperCollins.
*Lipton, B. (2005). The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Publishers.
Merzenich, M. (2013). Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life.

San Francisco: Parnassus Publishing.

*Pert, C. P. (1997). Molecules of Emotions: Why You Feel the Way You Feel. New York: Scribner.
*Siegel, D. J. (2011). Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation. New York: Bantam Books.
*Shapiro, F. (2012). Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy. New York: Rodale, Inc.

By Lauren Wahman

National Library Week – Flashback Friday

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

We’re wrapping up our National Library Week celebration with a Flashback Friday slideshow of our time spent in the UCBA Library, both old, temporary and new spaces, over the last several years. We can’t wait to reconnect in person again.

: Michelle McKinney (L) and Heather Maloney (R) co-present a Poster Presentation on Working with Wiki at the 2007 Academic Library Association of Ohio Annual Conference.

: Lauren Wahman (L) and Heather Maloney (R) in the pre-renovation library space. October 2009.

: Lauren Wahman teaching a library instruction session. April, 2011.

: (L-R) Stephena Harmony, Lauren Wahman, Heather Maloney and Michelle McKinney on a hard-hat tour of the library space during the renovation. April 2013.

: The Library Staff fully committed to the workout gear through the decades theme which includes a bookcart. October 2013

: The Library may have been haunted for the college-wide Halloween celebration, but it’s never a scary place. October 2013.

: Librarians Lauren Wahman and Heather Maloney take part in the 2015 Commenncement Ceremony.

: Heather Maloney (left) and Michelle McKinney (right) posing with the Bearcat at the UC Serves Kick-Off. May 2014.

: When the lights/power go out…take a librarian selfie. (L-R) Kellie Tilton, Michelle McKinney and Lauren Wahman. 2014.

: Faculty members Heather Maloney, Lauren Wahman and Kellie Tilton during an Extraordinary Excellence workshop. 2014.

: Library Director Heather Maloney and Student Assistant Stacey Marshall staff the library table during the Resource Fair. September 2015.

: Heather Maloney and Kellie Tilton with their UC Serves team. May 2015.

: Library Faculty celebrating National Library Week 2016 and serve as host to the library’s Whiteboards and Wine event.

: The library staff get a bit stir crazy sometimes. April 2020.

: UCBA Library faculty and staff celebrating National Library Week 2017.

: Lauren Wahman with Rockdale Academy students during UC Smiles event. November 2017.

: Pam Adler celebrates 20 years of service at UC. September 2018.

: (L-R) Kellie Tilton, Heather Maloney, Michelle McKinney and Lauren Wahman take their meeting outdoors. May 2017

: Heather Maloney (left), Director of the UCBA Library and Jen Ellis, Associate Professor of Nursing, pose with the items collected during our Spread the Warmth Drive. December 2017.

: “I was told by the photographer that this is her view when she passes by my office. I am quite tall.” -Christian Boyles, February 2018.

: Lauren Wahman and Christian Boyles and the Tournament of Titles and decked out in PJs for National Library Week’s Sleep In and Read theme. April 2018.

: In honor of National Boss’s Day (October 16, 2018), the UCBA Library faculty and staff celebrates Heather Maloney, UCBA Library Director. She found her office door decorated and was presented with flowers and snacks to enjoy throughout the day. October 2018.

: Artists and their spinart work (left to right): Christian Boyles, Lauren Wahman, and Michelle McKinney. August 2019.

: The library’s newest team member, Elizabeth Hartlaub, has yet to fall victim to the team’s photo escapades so she shared this photo. She was featured in the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s “Worker Wednesday” that highlighted staff around the system. March 2019.

Celebrating Our Library Cats, Dogs and Fish

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

There are many libraries that serve as home to library cats. Now that we’re working remotely from home, our furry friends and four-legged family members have been given a promotion to co-worker and library cat/dog. In honor of National Library Week, we’d like to introduce our newest colleagues. They have made our work-from-home environment much more fun (and maybe a little more frustrating at times?).

: Seamus (right) and Fiona (left). These are our loving, energetic border collies. They are absolutely thrilled we’re home with them so much now but would still like more play time. – Heather Maloney

: Grey Cat is excited about her new role as co-worker, ready to jump into any task. She, however, will only tolerate about an hour of meetings before she begins howling for more attention. We’re working with HR on these issues. – Kellie Tilton

: Jake, Pete and Ozzy. They have been very entertaining co-workers! It’s not everyday at work that you have someone sit on your computer, try to eat your ear buds, and then take a nap in your lap! 😄 Fun fact: All three were adopted together from The Ohio Alleycat Rescue on the same day thus tripling our cat population overnight. – Elizabeth Hartlaub

: Yuri and Gabby. Gabby is 21 years old, scrawny as a twig, but very loving and tough as nails. Yuri is our 7 year old one eyed dynamo who has the biggest personality of any pet I’ve ever had. They’re OK as co-workers, a bit demanding for attention and food. They do encourage me to order new books about tuna, laser pointers, and the benefits of sleeping 21 hours a day. – Christian Boyles

From the Virtual Desk of…Heather Maloney

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

The latest From the Virtual Desk Of…Heather Maloney, leads us to our Library Director’s virtual workspace.

: This is my second at home desk. My desk was upsized after the first week (our bedroom dresser used to be in this space) to a former Lego table. Because we’re going through a home renovation and everything is temporary right now, we’re going for the “let’s make it work for now” design style.

: Keeping it all pretty simple. Yes, that’s an enormous jar of almonds, my favorite work day snack. It’s a little harder to snack healthy when working from home, and there are homemade cookies in the kitchen. Also, at the base of my large monitor is a small flower my oldest daughter picked for me, and I can’t seem to part with it.

: A few of my favorite things….chocolate and books! Oh, and always trying to drink a lot of water to balance out that chocolate intake.

: At work, I have pictures of my daughters on my desk but at my home office, I get to see them every day. I think they have a whole new respect for their teachers now that they’ve had to deal with mom coordinating and checking in on all the home school work.

: This was my first work from home desk just on the other side of the room from my current desk. Way too small but an awesome view and great light! This is now my husband’s work from home space. The morning of this picture he saw a bat on the roof so the girls are getting the full story.

by Heather Maloney

National Library Week: Our favorite S.W.A.G.

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

The UCBA Library continues to celebrate National Library Week. The library staff pulled out, and in some cases, dusted off, some of our favorite library S.W.A.G. (souvenirs, wearables and gifts). These items have been collected from various library conferences, purchases from our favorite bookish vendors and gifted to us by our friends and loved ones.

: I love tote bags. The tote on the left is from Lane Library and is used to haul books to/from home. The tote on the right was picked up at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference. I will not admit to the number of totes I’ve uncovered since being home. I will say, that when the world opens up again, I plan on including tote bags in my Little Free Library donations. – Michelle McKinney

: I may only have this one librarian tshirt, a gift from my mom, but it sure is awesome. -Lauren Wahman

: I love enamel pins but I don’t like to wear them on my clothes. I picked up the Slay pin from the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and the other two were gifts from fellow book friends. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to display them and will be creating a framed cork board for the pins I keep at home. – Michelle McKinney

Special Edition: From the Virtual Desk of … UCBA Student Assistants

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

The library faculty and staff are not the only ones working from home. Our student workers have also been working remotely in addition to continuing their studies online from home.

Bre’s study and work space.

Student Worker: Bre

Major: I am an electronic media technology major

Time at UCBA Library: I’ve been with the library for about 11 months

Description: Unless weather permits sitting outside, I work at my desk, surrounded by a few of my favorite things.

Casey’s study and work space.

Student Worker: Casey

Major: I am double majoring in English and History.

Time at UCBA Library:

Description: Unless weather permits sitting outside, I work at my desk, surrounded by a few of my favorite things. My dog’s name is Kibo. I thought Kibo was a cool name and later learned that it means “hope” in Japanese.

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet David Freeman

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Michelle McKinney

The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

David Freeman| Associate Professor of Mathematics| Math, Physics & Computer Science Department
Presentation: Geometry from Symmetry

David Freeman discusses his research.

Research Project
My research has been focused on the concept of symmetry. Here I use the word “symmetry” to denote a way to transform an object into itself (e.g. a reflection or rotation). My goal is to understand all possible objects that admit certain types of symmetries.

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
Yes, at least to some extent. I am very interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and I am hoping to eventually contribute to the ongoing debate about the ontology of mathematical objects (such as the ones I study). I am also quite interested in mathematically-inspired artwork. I believe there are many opportunities to express mathematical ideas through visual (and other types of) art.

What are your next steps with your research?
My long term goal is to prove a conjecture that has motivated the work I’ve already been doing. This conjecture pertains to the classification of certain mathematical objects that exhibit a high degree of “coarse” symmetry. For all I know the conjecture may end up being false, but I am somewhat optimistic that it is true. I’m not sure if a proof is within reach, but I’m willing to give it a shot. In general, this is the nature of many mathematical research projects: one group of mathematicians will pose a conjecture, and then some other group will prove (or disprove) the conjecture.

Forthcoming Publication

David Freeman, Enrico Le Donne. (Forthcoming). Toward a quasi-Möbius characterization of Invertible Homogeneous Metric Spaces. Revista Matemática Iberoamericana.