50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

Last Thursday we had a wonderful turnout for the monthly 50 Minutes-1 Book lunchtime talk.  Greg Hand, UC’s Associate Vice President for Government Relations and University Communications, spoke on the 1943 Cincinnati Guide in the federal Writer’s Project program.  It was an excellent presentation that put this seminal Cincinnati book in the context of the Great Depression, national politics, and local history.

Please join us next month, January 19th, to hear Jerry Newman talk about a key book in Western literature, Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote. February’s presentation will be on Oscar Wilde’s Salome. The 50 Minutes-1 Book lunch talks are held in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library, Archives & Rare Books Library from 12-12:50.

LiBLOG Considered Among the Best in Cincinnati

How pleased we bloggers at UC Libraries were to learn that our very own LiBLOG, the UC Libraries blog, made Cincinnati Magazine’s “Best of Cincinnati, 2011” list. Below is the entry:

Peek into the Archives – OK, we’re geeks. We love LiBlog, the UC libraries blog. When Kevin Grace shared a postcard from his personal collection showing the original University Building on the eve of its demolition, we were charmed beyond reason. Why? As Kevin writes: “Before demolition, a UC alum with fond memories of his alma mater requested of a friend that some bricks be sent to him. When he received them, Joseph Strauss placed them in a pylon of a bridge he was building. So, there is a little bit of UC’s heart in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.” Go ‘cats, indeed.

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50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

The first 50 Minutes – 1 Book lunchtime talk for this academic year will be held Thursday, December 8, in the Archives & Rare Books Library, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

Greg Hand will discuss the book variously known as “The Cincinnati Guide” or “The WPA Guide to Cincinnati,” although its actual title is Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and its Neighbors, published in 1943 and written by the workers of the Federal Writers Project. In the seven decades since publication, it has become an essential starting point for historians of Cincinnati. For this discussion, Hand will talk about the Great Depression and the WPA in Cincinnati and Ohio. He will review the development of the guide, its reception on publication, and a great deal about the post-WPA life of its editor.

Last year, the 50 Minutes – 1 Book series featured presentations on the world’s smallest book, a book bound in human skin, the work of local bookbinder and designer Gabrielle Fox, and Barry Moser’s magnificent Pennyroyal Caxton Bible.  As we renew the lunchtime presentations, we look forward to more wonderful discussions about books.  January’s talk will be on Cervantes’ Don Quixote, presented by Jerry Newman.

Please join us on December 8 for another casual noon get-together.   Bring your lunch, order in, or just come to listen, look, learn, and converse.  All students, faculty, and staff are very welcome.

Netwellness Collection Now Available in ARB

By Lauren Fink

What is hemochromatosis?

Do children get migraines?

Why is sleep loss linked with obesity?

What are the holiday blues? And do I have them?

Finding valid answers to these medical questions is easier, and closer to home, than you might think…

Over 15 years ago, a government grant allowed the University of Cincinnati to create the Ohio Valley Community Health Information Network (OVCHIN) which later evolved into NetWellness.  NetWellness, then a collaboration between UC, The Ohio State University, and Case Western Reserve University, is a non-profit consumer health website devoted to high quality, unbiased, scientifically sound information. Professionals from all three universities create and evaluate all of information found on the website and offer an “Ask the Expert” feature, as well as descriptions of and links to myriad health and research topics.

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50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

The first 50 Minutes – 1 Book lunchtime talk for this academic year will be held Thursday, December 8, in the Archives & Rare Books Library, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

Greg Hand will discuss the book variously known as “The Cincinnati Guide” or “The WPA Guide to Cincinnati,” although its actual title is Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and its Neighbors, published in 1943 and written by the workers of the Federal Writers Project. In the seven decades since publication, it has become an essential starting point for historians of Cincinnati. For this discussion, Hand will talk about the Great Depression and the WPA in Cincinnati and Ohio. He will review the development of the guide, its reception on publication, and a great deal about the post-WPA life of its editor.

Last year, the 50 Minutes – 1 Book series featured presentations on the world’s smallest book, a book bound in human skin, the work of local bookbinder and designer Gabrielle Fox, and Barry Moser’s magnificent Pennyroyal Caxton Bible.  As we renew the lunchtime presentations, we look forward to more wonderful discussions about books.  January’s talk will be on Cervantes’ Don Quixote, presented by Jerry Newman.

Please join us on December 8 for another casual noon get-together.   Bring your lunch, order in, or just come to listen, look, learn, and converse.  All students, faculty, and staff are very welcome.

Our Bearcat Image Library is Growing Again!

By Janice Schulz

Two new images have been added to our Bearcat exhibit. The photographs, taken by ARB Student Assistant Lauren Fink, depict the Bearcat making a stand around campus. The first is one of two statues guarding the Clifton Avenue entrance to McMicken Hall. Just find Mick and Mack and look up to see these fellows dutifully scanning the horizon. The second is a large inflatable bearcat currently holding ground in the UC Bookstore. He stands confidently and proudly welcoming customers to the Bookstore’s upper level.

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Fall 2011 Records Quarterly Now Available

By Janice Schulz

The Fall 2011 edition of Records Quarterly is now available on the records management website. Articles in this issue include:

  • Hybrid Records Environments – Learn how to efficiently manage both paper and electronic records in your business processes.
  • Retention Requirements for Patient Medical Records – Gain insight into some of the key legal statutes that need to be considered when deciding on retention policies for patient files.
  • Disposing of Electronic Records – Discover the unique challenges associated with disposing of electronic records and how to do so in a compliant and secure manner.

Records Quarterly is distributed electronically via the Records Management website. Subscribers to the Records Management Listserv will receive notification of new issues automatically. You can sign up for the listserv by going to the subscription page, or by sending an email to Janice.Schulz@uc.edu. Please include your name and email address and use “listserv sign-up” in the subject line.

T. M. Berry Project: A Fond Farewell

By Laura Laugle

It’s been just over a year since I began working with the Theodore M. Berry papers and in that time this collection has become a part of me in a way I never guessed it would. I have learned about 20th century American history and the black experience in a way that no history book or classroom setting could ever duplicate; I have gotten an insider’s look at the US government during the civil rights movement; and I have come to know a man whom I never had the opportunity to meet but whom I greatly admire. This will be my last blog post for this project and, though I am sad to be leaving, I know that this collection will always be with me in its contribution to my education and understanding of the world. Continue reading

Speaking of Lotspeich. . .

By Lauren Fink

Seven Hills School LogoA new, 11-box installment has been added to the Seven Hills School collection which is housed at the Archives and Rare Books Library.

In 2002, the library processed a collection of archival materials belonging to the Seven Hills School. This collection contains photographs, yearbooks, and other memorabilia documenting the school’s history and evolution from 1908-1999 and can be viewed by visiting the following link http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/inventories/seven_hills.pdf. The new accession of materials is a continuation of the 2002 collection. However, it spans the years 1953-2011 and pertains mainly to the Lotspeich School.

Print materials – self-studies of the Seven Hills School, mailings, newsletters, class lists, directories, and annual reports – are included, as are photographic materials. Professional school pictures, principals’ albums, yearbooks (right), faculty photos, and candids all document the myriad of people and happenings at the Lotspeich School throughout the years. Events like Halloween, “Shearing ‘Lot Sheep’ at Lotspeich, and May Fete, are certainly of interest and nostalgia to alumni of the Lotspeich School. Continue reading

Darwin Sesquicentennial Celebration Records Now Available

By Lauren Fink

Two years ago, University of Cincinnati students and faculty celebrated the sesquicentennial anniversary of Charles Robert Darwin’s seminal work, On the Origin of Species. The celebration was a collaborative community educational program for greater Cincinnati that included not only UC but also Xavier, NKU, Mt. Saint Joseph, and Thomas More College, as well as the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.  Now, the Archives and Rare Books Library holds the collection documenting this unique celebration’s planning and realization.

On the Origin of Species, published November 24th, 1859, was a groundbreaking work that posited concepts of evolution, natural selection, and common descent. Much of the research presented in the text comes from Darwin’s HMS Beagle expeditions and is readable by both scientists and non-scientists. Widespread interest in Darwin’s work has ensued since its publication, leading to religious debates about creationism vs. evolution that, two centuries later, still continue. This debate, among others, like whether Darwin withheld publication of Origin for 20 years (his basic theory was developed in 1838) intentionally or circumstantially, was discussed at the Darwin Sesquicentennial. Continue reading