UC Libraries will be closed Thursday, November 23 and Friday, November 24 for Thanksgiving, with the exception of the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, which will be open Friday, November 24 from noon – 5:00pm. Regular library hours will resume Saturday, November 25. This closing includes the Langsam Library 4th floor space, which will close Wednesday, November 22 at 6pm and re-open Saturday, November 25 at 10am.
Happy Thanksgiving!
UC Libraries will be closed Friday, November 10 in observance of Veterans’ Day, except for the Health Sciences Library, which will be open 9am to 5pm. Normal hours will resume Saturday, November 11. This closing includes the Langsam Library 4th floor space, which will close Thursday, November 9 at 11pm and re-open Saturday, November 11 at 10am.
GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and is a powerful technology for data analysis, visualization and interpretation to understand spatial patterns and trends.
Sponsored by A&S Department of Geography & GIS and UC Libraries –
You are invited to the 2017 GIS Day Celebration November 15, 2017
in the beautiful Nippert Stadium West Pavilion North Lounge.
The event is free and open to all.
Event Program:
11 – 12 pm Professional talk
“GIS in Local Governments – A Decision Making Framework”
– Raj Chundur (Cincinnati Area GIS Administrator)
12 – 1 pm Lunch
1 – 2 pm Academic talk
“Crowd-sourcing the Smart City: Big Geosocial Media Data, Ethics and
Urban Governance”
– Dr. Zook (University of Kentucky)
Raj Chundur is the CAGIS Administrator for the City of Cincinnati
Cincinnati Area Geographic Information System (CAGIS)
Matthew Zook PhD is Professor of Economic Geography at University of Kentucky. His research focuses on how the geoweb is produced (particularly the practices surrounding user-generated data) in order to better understand where, when, and by whom geo-coded content is being created. He is a well published researcher and a contributor to the research blog FloatingSheep.
Questions? E-mail Amy Koshoffer, science informationist, at ASKGIS@UC.EDU for more information.
Flyer – GISDAY_2017_1
Formation of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh by the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. Photograph taken by Eira Tansey, October 2017.
What’s in the water?
Ohio’s status as a “water-rich state” has meant that it has long been a flashpoint for concerns over how to ensure protection of our water resources, particularly as Ohio’s waterways have played a significant part in regional industry. One of the most famous images of the environmental movement was Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catching on fire in 1969 – it was not the first time, as it had caught on fire several times before, going back to the mid-1800s. If you want to learn more about the political atmosphere of Cleveland during this event, UC history professor (and friend of the Archives and Rare Books Library) David Stradling has written a book about it.
One of the landmark federal laws that was placed under authority of the newly established EPA was the 1972 Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act actually traced its origins to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, and was the result of many amendments to the 1948 law. The Clean Water Act requires significant recordkeeping and information systems in order to support implementation of the law. Much of the Clean Water Act’s powers are delegated to state environmental protection agencies (for example, Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency, or Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection). One of the major parts of the Clean Water Act is a permitting system known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The NPDES system “regulates discharges of pollutants from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, sewer collection systems, and stormwater discharges from industrial facilities and municipalities.”
As a system of bureaucratic recordkeeping, the NPDES system reveals much about how we have attempted to take hard-to-quantify aspects of our environment, and pack it down into standardized documentation about human impact.
For example, reviewing a recent draft permit for a wastewater facility in the greater Cincinnati area, this permit will last for five years. It requires the wastewater facility to self-report sampling levels of their discharges to one of the tributaries of the Ohio River. Sampling must take place Monday through Friday but the time of day doesn’t have to be reported, and the permit holder must retain records for three years. One can imagine arguing for modifying any of these recordkeeping requirements upwards or downwards, based on your orientation towards deregulation or to environmental protection.
Recordkeeping is not a neutral act. What is reported and recorded reflects information necessary for regulatory fulfillment. Choices about recordkeeping – what to record, when to record it, who should record it, how often to record it, where to store it, and public vs proprietary access, reflect competing values attached to environmental information.
By: Kevin Grace
Infernal Gods, who rule the shades below,
Chaos and Phlegethon, ye realms of woe,
Grant what I have heard I may to light expose
Secrets which earth, and night, and hell inclose.
The verse comes from an 18th century book in the Archives & Rare Books Library that purports to document true accounts of the supernatural, most of them from the Scottish highlands. Of course, every country and culture has its own ghosts and witches, and Scotland has a wonderfully rich heritage of “long-leggedy beasties.” Which notion, of course, points to the spookiest of goodnight prayers, the Scots’ traditional plea for safety in their beds:
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!
This small poetic digression aside, our book of spectres and succubi came from the press of Robert Taylor of Berwick-on-Tweed. Berwick was one of those towns caught between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England during the frequent border wars, but finally became a part of England in 1482. Located in Northumberland, it is the northernmost town in England, but centuries later it still maintains a strong Scottish identity. Taylor was active as a printer in Scotland and England from 1717-1779, and is credited with setting up the first printing press in Berwick in 1753. In 1775, he published The History of Witches, Ghosts, and Highland Seers: Containing Many Wonderful Well-Attested Relations of Supernatural Appearances, Not Published Before in Any Similar Collection Designed for the Conviction of the Unbeliever, and the Amusement of the Curious.
One wonders a bit about that “Not Published Before…” statement in regard to Taylor. Copyright was still a fluid concept in some English courts, and Taylor sometimes stood accused of pilfering from fellow printers. Ten years after History of Witches was printed, Taylor would lose a lawsuit brought 
against him by another printer on his publishing of a poetry book, The Seasons by James Thomson. Nevertheless, the full weighty title gives weight to the content. These were ghost stories intended to frighten the reader. And, to put the fear of God in the souls and minds of non-believers who, in the words of Taylor, say such tales “are the invention of enthusiasm, and a crazy disordered imagination.” There are 86 stories in his gathering, several of them from the Continent and many of them accounts of witches, of “second sight,” and of appearances by apparitions. There are titles such as “The Daemon of Glenluce, in Galloway, in Scotland” and “The Dream of Lauchlan McKinnon.”
The tradition of witchcraft and ghosts in Berwick was a very long one. In 1590, there were notorious witch trials in North Berwick that lasted for more than two years and involved more than 70 accused people. According to the trials, the witches held their covens on Auld Kirk Green near the harbor. Taken to the Old Tollbooth in Edinburgh and tortured, many of the accused were forced to confessed to consorting with the Devil. The trials became quite famous and William Shakespeare even adapted some of the supposed “rituals” brought out in court for his play Macbeth.
All in all, Taylor printed a lovely little book! The copy in the Archives & Rare Books Library (call number SpecCol RB BF1411.H4 1775) is from the Robert Clarke Collection, the first collection of books that formed the University of Cincinnati Libraries and it has been nicely rebound in red cloth. Taylor finished his preface to the book with this statement: “Let the aetheists, if there are any, the deists, free-thinkers, and infidel rakes read it and tremble.”
And we conclude here with another little verse:
Say, can you laugh indignant at the schemes
Of magick terrours, visionary dreams,
Portentous wonders, witching imps of Hell,
The nightly goblin and enchanting spell?
Happy Halloween!
By: Kevin Grace
As we are continually building the collections of the Archives & Rare Books Library in our areas of strength and making them more accessible for teaching and research, we know there are vital monographs or documents we would always like to acquire. In some cases, our rare book budget will accommodate some special items, but when it comes to archival materials – and many rare books – we depend on the kindness of friends and strangers. Our most current desiderata outlines some of the books and papers we are seeking, everything from documenting everyday lives in our German Americana Collection through cookbooks and organizational archives to rare books that strengthen our Shakespeare collection and our illustrated myth and legend holdings. And of course, we always welcome 
the records of University of Cincinnati student organizations.
The items we list as desired acquisitions are primary resources in areas that are heavily used not only by UC students and faculty but by global scholars and the general public as well. To view the list, go to http://libraries.uc.edu/arb/collections/desiderata.html and to learn more about the collections of the Archives & Rare Books Library and how to effectively use them in the classroom, in research, or in publications, call us at 513.556.1959, email ARB at archives@ucmail.uc.edu, have a look at our website at http://libraries.uc.edu/arb.html, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ArchivesRareBooksLibraryUniversityOfCincinnati, or visit us on the 8th floor of Blegen Library.
On Nov 4th, The Red Cross will hold a Missing Maps Mapathon at UC Libraries in 475 Langsam from 10 am to 2 pm. The information collected from a Mapathon helps the Red Cross identify the best locations to bring in emergency supplies, where to house emergency operations and what local resources they can collaborate with in emergency response efforts. In order to participate, you do not need extensive mapping experience. The maps are creating using the Open Street Map platform and you can learn quickly by watching a training video.
If you are interested to participate, please register here – https://goo.gl/forms/Ln4LdEKcFNc7CUTt2 and watch the training video.
Please contact Amy Koshoffer – ASKGIS@UC.EDU if you have questions about the event.
More information in the attached flyer. GIS_LC_20171011_MissingMapsFlyer
Eira Tansey
Eira Tansey, digital archivist/records manager in the Archives and Rare Books Library, will deliver a keynote address at the Digital Library Federation’s (DLF) Digital Preservation Forum from 4-5 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 25. DLF keynotes feature speakers doing work around contemporary issues in librarianship and cultural heritage (see 2016’s speakers). Eira’s talk, titled “The Necessary Knowledge,” will focus on the connections between record keeping and environmental protection, using Pittsburgh’s environmental history – where DLF is taking place – as a backdrop.
Logistical details:
Wednesday, October 25, 4-5 pm. This is the opening keynote for National Digital Stewardship Alliance’s Digital Preservation 2017: “Preservation is Political,” which is hosted by the Digital Library Federation and taking place in Pittsburgh.
Live stream link: https://forum2017.diglib.org/livestream-recordings/
Speaker page: https://forum2017.diglib.org/speakers/eira-tansey/
Eira Tansey is the digital archivist and records manager at the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library. She has previously written about Cincinnati’s public libraries, the visibility and compensation of archivist’s labor and the effects of climate change on archival practice. She is currently collaborating on a Society of American Archivists foundation grant to develop a comprehensive data set of American archives locations in order to aid future spatial analysis of the field, and researching environmental regulatory record keeping.
The National Digital Stewardship Alliance, hosted by the Digital Library Federation, is a consortium of more than 220 partnering organizations, including universities, professional associations, businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations, all committed to the long-term preservation of digital information. Members work together to preserve access to our national digital heritage.
By: Savannah Gulick, ARB Student Assistant
In my Honors seminar, “The Culture of Books and Reading,” we were asked to choose a rare book from the holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library to analyze and write about, and the book I chose was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (a personal favorite of mine). Our first task was to analyze the physical features of our chosen books. Prior to this class, I really never cared to thoroughly look over a book; rather, I would just dive right in to the story. It truly is surprising how much you can learn from just examining a book. What I found about my book, just by looking, was that it is a limited edition (only 1500 copies produced), published in 1942 by The Limited Editions Club. The book is hardcover and bound in a typical library buckram that is colored mustard yellow. Considering it was issued in 1942, the printing is very clean and still in good condition on sturdy, white pages. This limited edition contains 45 illustrations done by the Americana artist Thomas Hart Benton and they’re beautiful, fitting right in with the theme of Twain’s novel. Overall, the book contains 396 pages and is still in good condition. Continue reading
By: Alia Wegner, ARB 2017-2018 Intern
The Third German Protestant Church located at 829 Walnut Street, photo taken in the 1920s.
One of my internship projects this year is developing a digitization plan for the Cincinnati German Third Protestant Memorial Church Collection (Accession number GA-09-03). Acquired a decade ago, the Third German Protestant Memorial Church was formerly known as the Third German Protestant Memorial Church of Cincinnati, the German and Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church, and the North German Lutheran Church. This collection spans 1814 to 1982 and includes records of births, marriages, deaths, confirmations, along with financial records and a few photographs. For the most part, it has been used by family historians but once it is digitized and available as a global resource, the records can be used by urban historians, religious scholars, ethnicity and immigration researchers, and many others, as well as providing excellent primary resources in teaching.
The collection forms an important part of the University of Cincinnati’s German-Americana holdings but poses some challenges for digitization. The TPMC collection is composed primarily of handwritten German documents that need to be transcribed as well as scanned. Since transcribing foreign language documents adds an additional layer of processing, it is important to get a clear sense of the extent and composition of the collection. One of my first tasks in this project was creating a collection overview. Continue reading