Category Archives: ARB Library

Posts related to the archives and rare books category.

Check Out the Latest Issue of the Libraries Newsletter, Source

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sourceRead Source, the online newsletter, to learn more about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

This latest issue of Source includes interviews with Xuemao Wang upon his reappointment as dean and university librarian as well as with Mark Konecny in the newly created position of scholarly communications and digital publishing strategist. Other articles include the announcement of UC’s first Digital Scholarship Center, and features of two new websites – one about the Jacobite Collection in the Archives and Rare Books Library and the other highlighting the book Looking East: William Howard Taft’s Diplomatic Mission to Asia. Speaking of journeys, there’s an article about librarian Rosemary Franklin’s recent trip to Cuba. Read these articles and more.

Source is available on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

Behind the Scenes with UC’s Digital Archivist: Making Sense of It All

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By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

When archivists first make contact with a large group of records, they often perform some form of appraisal. You might think of appraisal as being the calling card of the much-loved PBS television show Antiques Roadshow, in which average people realize that Great Aunt Milly’s painting is a valued masterpiece – or a total dud.

Unlike appraisers, when archivists appraise something they generally aren’t assigning a monetary value, but seeking to articulate the value of the records and the information they contain. The Society of American Archivists defines (http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/a/appraisal#.V2hA1jXERmM)  appraisal as:

  1. ~ 1. The process of identifying materials offered to an archives that have sufficient value to be accessioned. – 2. The process of determining the length of time records should be retained, based on legal requirements and on their current and potential usefulness. – 3. The process of determining the market value of an item; monetary appraisal.

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Dean’s Corner: IFLA Revisited

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Welcome back!

It was a long and busy summer here at UC Libraries with several exciting projects that kicked off just in time for the start of the fall semester.  August in particular was full of library sponsored events, including the Grand Opening of the Langsam Starbucks the first week of school. Several other events took place right before the start of the semester that centered on the International Federation of Library Associations and Institution’s (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress. Continue reading →

Behind the Scenes with UC’s Digital Archivist: Much Ado About Digital

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By Eira Tansey, Digital Archivist/Records Manager

Within the archives profession, “Digital Archivist” is one of the fastest-growing job titles (http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/provenance/vol31/iss2/5/). The Society of American Archivists offers a Digital Archives Specialist curriculum and certificate (www2.archivists.org/prof-education/das).   And library and archives conferences abound on topics of an electronic and digital nature – like Saving The Web (https://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/news/save-web-2016.html), the Digital Library Federation (https://www.diglib.org/), and the Software Preservation Network Forum (http://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/spn-forum/).

So what does a digital archivist do? Every digital archivist’s responsibilities will look slightly different depending on institutional mission, priorities and resources. As the first link indicates, there isn’t even professional consensus whether a digital archivist is one who works with digitization of analog material (like paper documents and manuscripts, rare books, maps, etc), or someone who works with “born-digital” materials. In many institutions, both of those responsibilities may be within the Digital Archivist’s charge. As UC’s Digital Archivist/Records Manager, my responsibilities center on working with born-digital archives, digital preservation, and overseeing UC’s Records Management program. I also work closely with my colleagues in Digital Collections on digitization projects (http://digital.libraries.uc.edu/).

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A New Rackham-Illustrated Volume in the Rare Books Collection

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By: Bridget McCormick

Hans Christen Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark on April 2, 1805. Hans Andersen Sr. died in 1816, leaving his son and a wife, Anne Marie. While Andersen was not born into wealth, he was finely educated, which has led to speculation that he was secretly an illegitimate child of the Danish royal family. These rumors have never been confirmed.

Cover of Andersen's Fairy TalesInner Cover of Andersen's Fairy Tales

By 1819, Andersen returned to school supported by a benefactor named Jonas Collin. At the time, he was working as an actor.  However through Collin’s encouragement, Andersen began to write. Despite the support, during this period of Andersen’s career, his work was often discouraged by teachers. Continue reading →

ARB’s “50 Minutes” Series Return Next Week

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By:  Kevin Grace

The Archives & Rare Books Library will usher in its 7th year of the “50 Minutes” lunchtime talks this August with “A Skeleton, Some Lions, Pigeons, and Gods! The Seldom-Noticed Art in UC Architecture.”

The talk is scheduled for Thursday, August 25, at 12 noon in 814 Blegen and as always, the “50 Minutes” presentations are very informal and conversational.  Bring your lunch, relax, ignore the clock on the wall which is invariably an hour behind (though we may climb on top of the piano beneath it and change the battery this year), and enjoy a look at the history and culture of the “hidden” campus.  Not advertised in the title, we will also be looking at semi-naked people in the architecture.

50 minute talk, August 2016

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Of Provosts and Our Past Year: A Couple of New Lists on the ARB Website

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By:  Kevin Grace

ARB Annual SummaryAs part of its work in documenting the heritage and ongoing changes at the University of Cincinnati, the Archives & Rare Books Library maintains a number of useful lists on its University Archives page in addition to finding aids and exhibits, http://www.libraries.uc.edu/arb/collections/university-archives.html.  We keep up with the heritage of deans in our various colleges, http://www.libraries.uc.edu/arb/collections/university-archives/deanslist.html, as well as annual reports, the Board of Trustees, UC presidents, and campus history.

With the recent resignation of President Santa Ono, who became the new president of the University of British Columbia, there were a number of changes as Provost Beverly Davenport became UC’s interim president and CCM dean Peter Landgren became Interim Provost.  We’ve added to our lists with one of the University of Cincinnati’s provosts and chief academic officers throughout UC’s history, http://www.libraries.uc.edu/arb/collections/university-archives/provosts.html. Continue reading →

UC’s First Thesis Comes Home to UC Libraries

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Dean Wang and Eaton Family

Dean Xuemao Wang accepts gift from the Eaton Family.

Eaton family gives historic documents, including letter from Thomas Jefferson, to UC Libraries

CINCINNATI – Thursday, July 21, 2016 – The University of Cincinnati Libraries today received the thesis of John Hough James, the first graduate of Cincinnati College, now the University of Cincinnati. In addition to the thesis, UC Libraries also received associated research materials, including an 1820 letter from Thomas Jefferson. The rare gift comes from siblings Russell Eaton III, James M. Eaton and Frances Eaton Millhouser, the great-great-grandchildren of John Hough James.

“My siblings and I are pleased to present to the University of Cincinnati our cherished family possessions of John Hough James (JHJ), our great, great, grandfather, the valedictorian of the university’s first class. These possessions include an 1820 letter from Thomas Jefferson to JHJ containing requested source material for his senior thesis, his hand written thesis booklet and his membership in a local volunteer fire company,” Russell said. Continue reading →

Updated Room! Making Sense of Biomedical Literature, a Clinical & Translational Research Training Workshop

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Given the popularity of this workshop, “The Making Sense of Biomedical Literature – a Biostatistician’s Perspective” Clinical & Translational Research Training Workshop will be held in MSB 5051

Registration for the workshop can be completed here. | For more information, please contact Emma Jones (Emma.Jones@uc.edu)

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