Author Archives: Melissa Cox Norris

Dean’s Corner: Welcome Back UC!

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I am currently visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress along with some of my colleagues from UC Libraries, but I’m excited to return to UC and greet our new and returning students and faculty.

At IFLA’s World Conference with Library Chief Technology Officer May Chang and Global Services Librarian Hong Cheng. Behind us is Kuala Lumpur’s famous Petronas Towers.

Before we dive into the fall semester, here’s a brief overview of the last few months at UC Libraries.

Several key library positions were filled over the summer, including: associate director of business affairs Jeremy Berberich; business and data analytics librarian Maggie Patel; associate dean of library services Brad Warren; and content analyst Dorcas Washington. The Digital Scholarship Center also continued to grow, welcoming digital scholarship library fellow Erin McCabe and data visualization developer Ezra Edgerton. They joined software developer Zhaowei Ren, with the support of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

UC Libraries joined HathiTrust, a national and international partnership of research institutions and libraries.

The Winkler Center Advisory Board hosted the annual Cecil Striker Society Lecture, “Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Impacting the Health of Children in Our Community and the World: The Past, Present and Future,” with co-lecturers Michael K. Farrell, MD and Bea Katz, PhD.

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Join Us for the 2018 Books by the Banks Poster Launch Featuring Artist Courttney Cooper

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books by the banks poster launchUC Libraries is an organizing partner of Books by the Banks: Cincinnati Regional Book Festival. Join us for the 2018 Poster Launch on Thursday, Sept. 13 from 5-7pm at the Visionaries + Voices’ Visionarium at 3054 Madison Road in Oakley.

This year, Books by the Banks collaborated with Visionaries + Voices and artist Courttney Cooper on the creation of the poster art (a snippet of which is included on the invite at the top of this page). The launch will include refreshments, introductions by V+V and Books by the Banks, the poster reveal, and then remarks and a short Q&A with Courttney Cooper. Copies of the 2018 poster will be available for sale at the launch.

Courttney Cooper creates intensely detailed maps from his physical and psychological experiences in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using everyday materials of a Bic pen and re-purposed paper, Courttney methodically pieces fragments of his life experiences together. Established in 2003, Visionaries + Voices is a non-profit organization that provides exhibition opportunities, studio space, supplies and support to more than 125 visual artists with disabilities. V+V artists actively contribute to the greater arts community through creative, educational and strategic partnerships with local and regional artists, schools and business leaders. For more on Courttney Cooper and Visionaries + Voices, visit https://visionariesandvoices.com/courttney-cooper/.

The Books by the Banks festival is schedule for Saturday, October 20, 10am-5pm in the Duke Energy Center.

ProQuest Downtime on August 18

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Update on our August 18 product downtime
Dear Valued Customer:

To maintain the currency and security of ProQuest products, we are performing maintenance on many ProQuest products beginning on August 18, 2018 U.S. Eastern Time. During the maintenance window, the following products will be temporarily unavailable.

Books products: Saturday, August 18 at 12 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. Maintenance will conclude within 5 hours.

  • Ebook Central

All other products: Saturday, August 18 at 10 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. Maintenance will conclude within 8 hours.

Research databases

  • ProQuest Platform (search.proquest.com)
  • ProQuest Congressional (search.proquest.com/congressional, congressional.proquest.com)
  • Chadwyck-Healey databases (U.S. customers only)
  • ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Open
  • ProQuest Dissertations & Theses OAI Repository

Reference management/Research support tools

  • RefWorks

 

UC ‘Life of the Mind’ Series Accepting Nominations

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Life of the Mind is an annual lecture series featuring interdisciplinary conversations with UC faculty from a variety of disciplines around a one-word theme. The fall lecture, scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, will focus on the theme of “next.”

Life of the Mind lectures feature one faculty member presenting his or her work and expertise in concert with the prescribed theme. The presentation is not simply a recitation of the presenter’s work, but promotes a point of view. A panel of three faculty members responds to and discusses the lecture from diverse perspectives, and a moderator encourages audience engagement.

The Life of the Mind Steering Committee seeks nominations for the featured UC faculty presenter. Each featured UC faculty presenter possesses:

  • Accomplished UC faculty member with national/international reputation.
  • Proven record of scholarship or creative works.
  • Recognized as an expert in their field of study, research or creation of works.
  • Experienced at presenting their work to an audience outside the classroom.
  • Excellent and engaging speaker able to relate to a non-specialist audience.
  • Provocative topic of study/research/creative work.

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UC Libraries’ Mark Konecny is Participating in Summit to Examine Affordable Learning Initiatives

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Mark Konecny, scholarly communications and digital publishing strategist and a member of the OhioLINK Affordable Learning group, is an organizer of the Affordable Learning Summit at the University of Akron on Aug. 1 & 2. This summit is a gathering of Ohio institutions to share how faculty, library staff, instructional designers and administrators are addressing affordable learning initiatives.

In announcing the summit, Mark writes, “A recent Florida Virtual Survey of over 22,000 students found that 66.5% of students did not purchase the required textbook / course materials solely due to cost. Recently, Inside Higher Ed shared how the University of Georgia has saved students 3.2 million in textbook cost since 2013 by utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER). In addition, they found that switching to OER increased the number of A and A-minus grades students received by 5.50 percent and 7.73 percent, respectively. The number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (known as the DFW rate) fell by 2.68 percent.”

Mark is presenting a round table discussion with Kelly Broughton (Ohio University) on the integration of the library with press services. He is also participating in a panel discussion with Sean Kennedy (Ohio University) on authorship, discussing the following topics: how OER creators can partner with their local university press for assistance, issues with creating OERS, common stumbling points and realistic timetables for authoring.

“We know that not having the required course materials directly impacts student success, and the OhioLINK Affordable Learning Initiative is dedicated to addressing this problem,” said Mark.

To learn more, visit https://uakron.edu/affordablelearning/events/. The summit is being live tweeted with the hashtag #alohiosummit.

Jeremy Berberich joins UC Libraries as the Associate Director of Business Affairs

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Today, Jeremy Berberich joined UC Libraries as the associate director of business affairs.  Jeremy comes to UC from Northern Kentucky University where he was the business officer for the College of Health Professions. He previously served as associate vice president for Knowledge Management at Gateway Community and Technical College and prior to that as a reference librarian and associate director for library and information services at Gateway. Jeremy holds a BA in political science with a minor in economics from the University of Louisville, an MLIS from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from Northern Kentucky University.

Jeremy will be a member of the Dean’s Cabinet and will lead the Business Office and HR operations.

Welcome, Jeremy, to UC Libraries.

Visit the Exhibit “Native Voices: Native People’s Concepts of Health and Illness” on Display Now in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library

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Native Voices ExhibitNative Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness, a traveling exhibition to U.S. libraries, is on display now through August 30 on the main level of the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library.

Native Voices explores the interconnectedness of wellness, illness and cultural life for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Stories drawn from both the past and present examine how health for Native People is tied to community, the land and spirit.

Through interviews that can be listened to via iPads located throughout the display, Native People describe the impact of epidemics, federal legislation, the loss of land and the inhibition of culture on the health of Native individuals and communities today.

 

Related Events

suzanne singerIn association with the Native Voices exhibit, related events have been scheduled to explore the topic of Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness.

The first scheduled event is keynote speaker Suzanne L. Singer who will speak on Intersections of Energy and Wellness from 5-7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 26, in the CARE/Crawley Atrium (Medical Sciences Building, 231 Albert Sabin Way).

Throughout August, lectures that cover such topics as “The Contribution of Native Voices to Medicine through Botany,” “Breaking Bread: A Perspective of Fry Bread and Native Health” and “Preventing Tuberculosis while Regulating Indigenous Bodies” have been scheduled in the Stanley J. Lucas, MD, Board Room, E level of the Medical Sciences Building near the Kresge Circle.

A full schedule of events is listed online.

 

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed and produced Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in partnership with NLM, tours the exhibition to America’s libraries. Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness was displayed at the NLM in Bethesda, Maryland, from 2011 to 2015. To learn more and view content from the exhibition, visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices.

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And don’t miss the exhibit “The Kretschmer Collection of Native American Children’s Literature donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer” on display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library. The exhibit features children’s books with Native American themes, written and illustrated by Native Americans and donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer and housed in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services Library.

New Exhibit Features Children’s Books About and Created by Native Americans

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Kretschmer Collection ExhibitOn display in the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the exhibit “The Kretschmer Collection of Native American Children’s Literature donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer” features children’s books with Native American themes, written and illustrated by Native Americans. The books are part of a collection of over 275 books donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer and housed in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library.

Also included in the exhibit are Native American history and culture resources from the collections of UC Libraries. Included are movies, e-journals and online digital collections and databases.

The exhibit was designed by Sophia Xu, design student in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and UC Libraries’ Communications Department design co-op student, and curated by Cheryl Ghosh, head of the CECH Library. The exhibit is done in conjunction with the traveling exhibition “Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness,” on display in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library July 23-August 30.

Health Sciences Library Positions Available – Please Apply

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The Health Science Library is currently accepting applications for student assistants.

Positions are now open in the following Departments

  1. Circulation
  2. Winkler Center

Positions require a commitment of at least 6 – 15 hours per week.  Some positions require a Federal Work Study Grant.

The library is located, near the main elevator banks, on the E level of the Medical Science Building, on the Medical campus.

Please fill out the Library specific application.  Be sure to mark HSL as a preferred job site.

 

For questions concerning the Circulation Department,

Email: bacheldn@ucmail.uc.edu

 

For questions concerning the Winkler Center,

Email: pasigo@ucmail.uc.edu

Digital Scholarship Center Welcomes a Digital Scholarship Library Fellow and Data Visualization Developer

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Erin McCabe

Erin McCabe

The University of Cincinnati Libraries is happy to welcome the next two hires in the Digital Scholarship Center (DSC) supported by the Mellon Catalyst Transdiscipinary Teams grant.

The digital scholarship library fellow, Erin McCabe, comes to the DSC from Ithaka-JSTOR, where she was a publisher service associate. She previously held positions at Baruch College, Long Island University, and is a member of the NASA Datanauts. She received her MLIS with a specialization in digital humanities from the Pratt Institute in New York, and her BA in French studies from Concordia University in Montreal. She has worked on a wide range of digital projects and at the DSC, Erin will be responsible for organizing and leading the research efforts of our 10 new “catalyst teams” support by the Mellon grant.

Ezra Edgerton

Ezra Edgerton

The new data visualization developer, Ezra Edgerton, has worked as an independent visualization contractor since 2015, and received his B.A. with a double major in computer science and studio art from Grinnell College. Ezra has a rare blend of formal training in both art/design and computer science, and has experience with machine learning, interactive and static data visualization, user experience and user interface design, and front-end web development. Ezra will work in partnership with software developer Zhaowei Ren, who began work in the DSC on May 29, in deploying and refining our Mellon-supported machine learning and data visualization platform for digital scholarship across disciplines.

Zhaowei Ren

Zhaowei Ren

Welcome, Erin, Ezra and Zhaowei!

The University of Cincinnati’s Digital Scholarship Center, located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, is a joint venture between the College of Arts and Sciences and UC Libraries. On campus and in the community, they serve as a catalyst for hybrid forms of research and teaching, bringing together humanistic methods with technical innovations to test paradigms and to create new knowledge at the boundary between disciplines as they are conventionally imagined in humanities.

For more about the Digital Scholarship Center, visit their website at http://dsc.uc.edu.