Author Archives: Melissa Cox Norris

UC Libraries seeks books good enough to eat for the International Edible Books Festival

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Know of a good book to eat?! Create an Edible Book for UC Libraries International Edible Books Festival!

It’s time once again for the fan-favorite International Edible Books Festival scheduled for Monday, April 3, 2023, 11 a.m. on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library. UC Libraries is seeking people interested in creating an edible book for the enjoyment of all in attendance. There are few restrictions – namely that your creation be edible and have something to do with a book – so you may let your creativity run wild.

crazy plant lady edible bookAs in previous years, entries will be judged according to such categories as “Most Delicious,” “Most Creative,” “Most Checked Out” and “Most Literary.” Those awarded “Best Student Entry” and “Best Overall” will win UC swag.

If you are interested in creating an edible book, e-mail melissa.norris@uc.edu by Friday, March 24 with your name and the title of your creation.

Looking for inspiration? Visit UC Libraries on Facebook to see photos from the previous festivals.

Nimisha Bhat joins UC Libraries as assistant librarian

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nimisha bhatNimisha Bhat joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 as assistant librarian and liaison to the departments of History, Anthropology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Students.

Nimisha holds an MS in library and information science from Pratt Institute, School of Library and Information Science.

She comes to UC from Smith College where she was the visual arts librarian, planning and implementing research, instruction and reference support for faculty and students, as well as developing and managing collections in print, electronic and other formats for the visual arts, architecture, film and media studies. Prior to Smith College, Nimisha worked at Columbus College of Arts and Design and The Ohio State University Libraries.

Welcome, Nimisha!

Join us Wednesday, March 8 for an afternoon of poetry…and dance

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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, March 8 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their work.

march poetsFelicia Zamora is the author of six books of poetry including, I Always Carry My Bones, winner of the 2020 Iowa Poetry Prize (University of Iowa Press, 2021) and the 2022 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry, and Body of Render, Benjamin Saltman Award winner (Red Hen Press, 2020). She won the 2022 Loraine Williams Poetry Prize from The Georgia Review, a 2022 Tin House Next Book Residency, and a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, AGNI, The American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2022, Boston Review, Georgia Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, Orion, Poetry Magazine, The Nation and others. She is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for the Colorado Review.

Caroline Plasket’s work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including, Gulf Coast, Sycamore Review, Pleiades, Copper Nickel, The Cortland Review and Threadcount Magazine. She was a mentee in the AWP Writer to Writer Program. She currently teaches writing at Northern Kentucky University. She is working on three books and is fulfilled sharing her love of writing (and the power that lies within it) with others. She lives in Northern Kentucky.

Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. His poems are featured in AGNI, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, A Public Space, The American Poetry Review and elsewhere. He is a winner of the 2022 Orison Poetry Prize, 2022 finalist for the University of Wisconsin Press’s Brittingham Prize and Felix Pollak Prize poetry competition, 2021 Semi-finalist Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and several others. He is the author of a chapbook “Harp in a Fireplace” (Newfound, 2021) and a debut collection “Soliloquy with the Ghosts in Nile” (Black Ocean Press, 2022). He is currently an Editorial Assistant for Seneca Review and Cincinnati Review. Continue reading →

Langsam Library exhibits installed in honor of Black History Month pay tribute to trailblazers and display the enormous loss in the Middle Passage

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On display in the Walter C. Langsam Library are two new exhibits created and installed for Black History Month. The first pays tribute to Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers – Lucy Oxley and O’dell Owens. The second exhibit displays the enormous loss of life in The Middle Passage.

Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers

On display on the 4th floor lobby of Langsam Library, this exhibit features materials from the collections of UC Libraries about Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color to receive a medical degree from the UC College of Medicine, and O’dell Owens, renowned physician, former Hamilton County coroner and the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.

cincinnati african american medical trailblazers

The Middle Passage

On the 5th floor lobby of Langsam Library is a large map depicting the Middle Passage, which commonly refers to the experience of enslaved African people as they traveled across the Atlantic Basin to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. Illness, insanity, hunger, dehydration, torture, revolt, suicide and ship wreck led to the death of ~1.8 million Africans at sea during their Middle Passage.

The exhibit corresponds with the Uncommon Read of the book “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” by Sowande’ M. Mustakeem. A Lunch and Learn with the author is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.

the middle passage graphic

Both exhibits were curated by UC Libraries faculty and staff: Meshia Anderson, Susan Banoun, Sidney Gao, Tiffany Grant, Gino Pasi and June Taylor-Slaughter. It was designed by UC Libraries communications design co-op Jakob Elliott.

Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy joins UC Libraries as Science & Engineering Global Services Librarian

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Aja Bettencourt-McCarthyAja Bettencourt-McCarthy joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on February 1, 2023 as the science & engineering global services librarian.

Aja holds an MLIS degree from University of Washington and Bachelor’s degrees (French, community and regional development) from the University of California, Davis.

Aja may be a familiar face to many as she comes to UC Libraries from the Faculty Enrichment Center, located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, where she was the manager of special projects and programs.  Aja brings a wealth of experience in science and engineering academic librarianship, including previous positions in instruction and public services. Prior to arriving at UC, Aja was the STEM instruction librarian at the University of Kentucky (UK). Before UK, she worked as instruction coordinator / head of public services at the Oregon Institute of Technology’s Library.

Welcome, Aja to UC Libraries!

Scholar@UC and the New NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

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Join us for Scholar@UC and the New NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

Event: Scholar@UC Informational and Chat

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023

Time: 1-3:30pm

Location: Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, 231 Albert Sabin Way

Did you know that Scholar@UC enables the UC community to share research and scholarly works with a worldwide audience? Do you how it can help you with the new NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy?

Come interact with Scholar developers and learn how you can simultaneously meet grant and publisher requirements while also contributing to the intellectual output of UC.

The Scholar Team will present for ~15 minutes at 1:30pm and 2:30pm. The rest of the time will be reserved for individuals to dialog with team members about Scholar.

Need more incentive, join us during this time and receive a free Scholar@UC coffee mug filled with Lindor Truffles!

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Announcing the 2021/22 UC Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…

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Announcing the 2021-22 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…a year that saw the broad return of students, faculty and staff to campus for fall semester. The transition from virtual to in-person was an extensive process as library spaces were re-evaluated to allow for a safe return to working and studying on campus. We welcomed students, faculty and staff back to campus with refreshed spaces, enhanced safety protocols for social distancing and a revived appreciation for working together in person.

The year also saw the announcement of our renewed Strategic Framework: NEXT Directions. The University of Cincinnati’s NEXT Lives Here Strategic Directions focus on the core areas of Academic Excellence, Urban Impact and the Innovation Agenda in order to engage people and ideas – and to transform the world. The University of Cincinnati Libraries is key to what’s NEXT.

In this Annual Report, we look back at the top News & Events, applaud Staff Accomplishments & Milestones and look at the Libraries By the Numbers and Financially.

While we celebrate the accomplishments of the past academic year, we also continue to move forward in pursuit of our vision of being the globally engaged, intellectual commons of the university – positioning ourselves as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation and scholarly endeavor on campus and beyond. I invite you to be a part of our journey – a journey led by our Guiding Principles of Investment in our People; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and Digital Transformation.

The Annual Progress Report is available online via Sway. Happy Reading!

UC Libraries resources in celebration of Black History Month

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UC Libraries presents resources and collections in celebration of Black History Month.

black history month graphic

Louise Shropshire: An Online Exhibition
An online exhibit featuring Louise Shropshire a Cincinnati Civil Rights pioneer and composer.

Theodore M. Berry Papers Project
An exhibit highlighting the 2010 project to completely process the papers of Theodore Moody Berry, Cincinnati’s first African mayor.

Marian Spencer: Fighting for Equality in Cincinnati
An alumna of the University of Cincinnati (Class of 1942), Marian Spencer fought for Civil Rights in Cincinnati for nearly seventy years. This exhibit examines her career and her papers at the Archives and Rare Books Library.

The Colored Citizen
Published in Cincinnati sporadically from the height of the Civil War in 1863 until approximately 1869, The Colored Citizen was edited by a group of African American citizens from Midwestern cities, including Cincinnati. It was a paper with general news, but with a focus on the political, economic, and cultural affairs that had an impact on African Americans of the age. The Archives and Rare Books Library hold one issue of this paper.

Phillis Wheatley
In 1773, at the age of 20, Wheatley published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, making her the first published African-American poet.

Lucy Oxley
Source article highlighting Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color ever to receive a medical degree from the College of Medicine. Continue reading →

Join UC Libraries’ RESPECT group in reading and discussing “Slavery at Sea”

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slavery at sea book coverThe University of Cincinnati Libraries Racial Equity Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team (RESPECT) and the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library are hosting a book discussion and Lunch and Learn with Sowande’ M. Mustakeem, author of “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.

How to get the book:

“Slavery at Sea” Book Giveaway

RESPECT has purchased 20 copies of “Slavery at Sea” to give away free to the first 20 individuals who request a copy via the form.

OR Unlimited e-book access to “Slavery at Sea”

UC Libraries has acquired unlimited e-book access to “Slavery at Sea” for those wishing to read the book online. It can be accessed via the Library Catalog.

Join us for weekly Book Discussion Chats

RESPECT will sponsor weekly opportunities to discuss “Slavery at Sea.” These discussions will take place virtually via Zoom and will be held Thursday, February 2nd, 9th and 16th from 11am – noon. Register to attend one or more of the sessions.

RESPECT’s “Slavery and Sea” book discussions and Lunch and Learn are part of a larger Un-Common Read event being held throughout the university in celebration of Black History Month.

slavery at sea flyer