Author Archives: Melissa Cox Norris

Two UC Libraries staff members selected as part of cohort to earn a Digital Curation Certificate

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The State Library of Ohio is pleased to announce the 2026 cohort selected to complete coursework to earn a Digital Curation Certificate from Library Juice Academy. Through a competitive application process, a State Library review committee selected the following 15 participants, and will manage their enrollment in the six-course series:

  • Alexis Ferguson, Galion Public Library
  • Amy Beam, Terra State Community College
  • Anna Helming-Sampson, Wright State University Special Collections and Archives
  • Ashlyn Grubb, London Public Library
  • Aurora Charlow, Ohio University
  • Christian Davell, Wright Memorial Public Library
  • Hannah Kemp-Severance, University of Akron
  • Holly Burdoff, Euclid Public Library
  • Julie Carr-Trebelhorn, CEAS and Science Libraries, University of Cincinnati
  • Katie Gable, College of Wooster
  • Lindsay Miraglia, Wayne County Public Library
  • Mary McKinley, Green County Records and Archives Center
  • Michael Sherfly, Public Library of Mount Vernon & Knox County
  • Nester Rave, Sandusky Library
  • Rachel Rembold, Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of Health Professions, Health Sciences Library, University of Cincinnati

“I’m delighted to see such a varied cohort, representative of all types of institutions, selected for this year’s Library Juice Academy Digital Curation Certificate program,” expressed Evan T. Struble, associate state librarian. “The State Library strives to ensure that library staff around the state have the tools and training necessary to digitally preserve their collections, and that takes on even greater importance in 2026 as we head into the U.S. Semiquincentennial and the history-focused celebrations that are sure to take place.”

This program uses federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded to the State Library of Ohio to cover the cost of enrollment. This award-winning Digital Curation Certificate is designed to build skills for work in digitization, digital preservation, metadata creation and more, and is suitable for those interested in the work whether they have prior experience or not.

Questions regarding the Library Juice Academy Digital Curation Certificate cohort may be addressed to library consultant, Penelope Shumaker, at pshumaker@library.ohio.gov.

Learning 3D imaging in the Preservation Lab

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On a cold, snowy Friday at the end of the semester,The Preservation Lab hosted a 3D imaging workshop where two professors from UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning (DAAP) taught 3D imaging techniques to a small group of imaging colleagues from Ohio and Michigan labs.

jordan tate demonstrating 3d imaging

The instructors, Jordan Tate and John-David Richardson, both teach photography in DAAP. Previously, Jordan cross-collaborated with Jessica Ebert from the Preservation Lab on imaging the Assyrian Cornerstone, found in the collection of the Archives and Rare Books Library. Jordan demonstrated 3D imaging techniques and Jessica demonstrated how to do Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).

Participants in the Friday, Dec.12th workshop were:

  • Jessica Ebert – UC Libraries, Preservation Lab
  • Catarina Figueirinhas – UC Libraries, Preservation Lab
  • Erin Wilson – Ohio University Libraries, Preservation & Digital Initiatives
  • Matt Carissimi – The Ohio State University Libraries, Digitization
  • Sidney Gao – UC Libraries, Digital Initiatives Team
  • Biz Gallo – Library of Michigan, Digitization Initiatives
  • Dustin Wood – New South Associates/Veterans Affairs History Office (Dayton), Digital Archives & Museum Imaging Specialist
The Yoruba, Luba or Luluwa/Lulua Statue (circa 1800—1900)

The object photographed came from the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions.

The Yoruba, Luba or Luluwa/Lulua Statue (circa 1800—1900) was presented by “the Interns & Residents Wives Club, 1974” to the University of Cincinnati Hospital. The statue’s distinct shapes and facial features match most closely to the sculpture style of the Yoruba, Luba or Luluwa/Lulua. The figure appears to be working with a mortar and pestle, and was made for sale, rather than ceremonial or cultural use.

The Preservation Lab provides the full suite of preservation services to the University of Cincinnati Libraries. The Lab’s expertise is in book and paper conservation, with services available in general circulating materials repair, single-item conservation treatment, housing, exhibition prep and preservation consulting.

The use of 3D imaging in preservation is crucial as it creates an accurate visual record of an object before and after treatment. It allows conservators to examine often fragile objects in close detail without touching, and possibly damaging, the structure. In addition, 3D imaging provides a visual record for students and researchers to view and study.

UC Libraries will open at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, except for HSL which will open at 7:45 a.m.

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Due to inclement weather, University of Cincinnati campuses are closed from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. Visit Commencement and Registrar’s pages for additional details. This closure applies to all UC Libraries locations except for the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, which will be open at 7:45 a.m.

snowy campus

Langsam Library offers extended hours during exams

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Need a place to study for exams? Working late on a class project? The Walter C. Langsam Library has extended building hours now through exams. Sunday – Thursday, the building is open until 3am. The Desk@Langsam will maintain regular hours. The Exam hours are listed on the Libraries website.

students studying in Langsam Library

UC Libraries closed December 2, except for HSL

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Due to inclement weather, the University of Cincinnati campus will close from 7 a.m. Dec. 2, 2025, until 7 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2025. This closure applies to all UC Libraries locations except for the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, which will be open Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.

snowy campus

Join us Nov. 19 for an afternoon of poetry at the next Poetry Stacked event

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The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:



Kim Jacobs-Beck is the author of Luminaries and a chapbook, Torch. Her poems can be seen in Museum of Americana, Great Lakes Review, West Trestle Review, Nixes Mate, Gyroscope, SWWIM, and Apple Valley Review, among other journals. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Milk & Cake Press. Kim is professor of English at UC Clermont College.

Matt Hart is the author of 12 books of poetry, including most recently FALLING FINE: Selected & New Poems. His poems, reviews and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous print and online journals, including American Poetry Review, Big Bell, The Kenyon Review and Poetry, among others. From 1993-2019, he was a co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety. Currently, he lives in Cincinnati where he plays in the post-punk/indie rock band NEVERNEW and edits, solders, and publishes the poetry journal SOLID STATE.

Bella Gordo is a creative writing student at UC, where she is an intern for Short Vine Literary Journal and the vice president of Cincinnati Poetry Collective. She edits the zine Cincinnati Girlfriend with her roommate in hopes to spread awareness of the revolutionary potential of bug life in the Queen City. 

In addition to reading their poetry, each poet will speak briefly on their experience as an editor.

Continue reading →

New online collection features caricatures of notable scientists

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When William B. Jensen (1948-2024), the Ralph E. Oesper Professor of the History of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati from 1986-2024, was a student at the University of Madison-Wisconsin taking the History of Chemistry class, he sketched caricatures of the chemists he was learning about. While Aaron Ihde lectured, Jensen would select a chemist and caricature them based on the portraits found in Ihde’s textbook, “The Development of Modern Chemistry” (1964).

Line drawing caricature of Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald balancing on a delta G-shaped teeter-totter while the sun rises above the mountaintops behind.
Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Now available online via JSTOR, the UC Libraries online collection contains the 33 original, hand-drawn caricatures of notable chemists and physicists Jensen penned between 1970 and 1974. They are held by the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry. The collection was scanned and digitized by the UC Libraries Digital Initiatives Team.

Line drawing caricature of Alfred Werner standing in the middle of a giant three-dimensional chemical structure.
Swiss chemist Alfred Werner. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Throughout the years, Jensen would submit the caricatures to appear in scientific journals and publications, and reported that there was interest in reproducing them on t-shirts, coffee mugs and even an album cover. Jensen eventually published the caricatures in a 2010 booklet, “Chymists: That strange class of of mortals: Caricatures of famous chemists with a few physicists and biologists,” which was recently published digitally.

Upon Jensen’s death in 2024, the collection was acquired by the Oesper Collection in April 2025.

Line drawing caricature of Albert Einstein wearing a sweater that says "E=mc(2)" on the front
Albert Einstein. Caricature by Dr. William Jensen, Courtesy Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

The Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry is a nationally recognized collection of scientific artifacts, books, journals, photos and prints related to the history of chemistry. They are a joint venture of the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the UC Department of Chemistry. They were founded in 1986 by William B. Jensen.

Check out two new exhibits on display in Langsam Library

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Two new exhibits have been installed in the Walter C. Langsam Library.

On display on the 4th floor lobby, Bronson v. Board of Education: Cincinnati Desegregation Efforts in the 1960s and 1970s chronicles the work of project archivist Julianna Witt as she completed the archival processing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s, Bronson v. Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati records. This collection contains material related to the class-action lawsuit Bronson v. Board from 1974-1984 and consists of legal documents created for court submission and records that originated from the Cincinnati Board of Education. The collection itself, housed in the Archives and Rare Books (ARB) Library, provides a detailed history of race relations in Cincinnati. A finding aid is available for more information.

Last November, the University of Cincinnati Libraries announced the award of an Archives Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to ARB.

bronson v board of education: Cincinnati desegration efforts in the 1960s and 1970s

On display on the 5th floor lobby is an exhibit promoting The Libraries of UC. The exhibit includes images and descriptions of each of the nine University of Cincinnati Libraries, along with the fan-favorite Triceracopter. A map of the libraries is available for take away at the exhibit.

the libraries of UC. come learn about all nine of our amazing libraries and their spaces

Both exhibits were designed by UC Libraries design co-op student Ashleigh Stout.

Poetry Stacked presents the workshop: Masques & Personas, Thursday, Oct. 30

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Join Poetry Stacked for the fall workshop: Masques & Personas, led by Kristyn Garza, Poetry Stacked alumna and PhD student in poetry at the University of Cincinnati. 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 6:30pm ~ Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Learn about persona poetry over spooky snacks. Come in a costume and compete to win fun prizes!

poetry stacked workshop flyer

A semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the mission of Poetry Stacked is to celebrate poetry and raise awareness of the collections of both UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room.

Announcing the Esports Zone @ Langsam

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Available now on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Esports Zone @ Langsam includes five computer stations with pre-installed, free-to-play video games. Stations are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Log in with UC credentials to access the full game collection.

esports zone @ langsam

Join us for the Indie VR Games Showcase

Monday, October 27, 2025 ~ 12:30-4pm ~ Esports Zone @ Langsam and Langsam 410

Presented by the UC Game Lab, in collaboration with UC Libraries, and in honor of the new Esports Zone @ Langsam and activities of the Immersive Learning and Emerging Technologies group, the UC Game Lab will showcase some recent and classic indie VR games, with an eye for innovative titles that spark the imagination. Come play or watch others play, and learn more about these new technologies.