Category Archives: ARB Library

Posts related to the archives and rare books category

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

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

In this issue of Source, Dean Xuemao Wang writes about his new role as vice provost for digital scholarship, which ties in with the article Introducing the Research @ Data Services Team.

The Libraries special collections are featured prominently in this issue with news of an exciting, surprise gift to the Neil Armstrong Commemorative Archives, promotion of a lecture series celebrating the digitization of the Albert B. Sabin Research Notebooks, and an announcement of a new UC exhibit featuring the Special Collections of four UC Libraries.

This fall brings new faces and new publications from the University of Cincinnati Press, along with the conclusion of the university’s Bicentennial celebration, which university archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library Kevin Grace uses as the occasion to recount a gift from William A. Procter that was instrumental to the libraries.

Lastly, we announce that the Cecil Striker Society Annual Lecture is now our first fully endowed annual lecture.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, 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.

Most UC Libraries Closed Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2

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labor dayUC Libraries will be closed Monday, September 2 for Labor Day, except for the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, which will be open 9am-5pm. This closing includes the Walter C. Langsam Library 4th floor space, which will close Sunday, September 1 at 11pm and re-open Tuesday, September 3 at 7:45am.

A complete listing of library hours can be found online at www.libraries.uc.edu/about/hours.html.

Enjoy the long holiday weekend.

A needle in a PDF haystack

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One of my research areas is examining the role of recordkeeping and documentation in environmental regulations. A research tactic I frequently use is to sift through hundreds of PDFs at once. Large numbers of PDFs are posted on many environmental regulatory websites, but there isn’t a lot of information about what’s in them or how big they are, or where the juicy stuff is. If this sounds daunting – well, it is! But I’ve come up with a few tricks to help me sort out what is useful and what isn’t.

Step 1: Download

The first thing is figuring out how to download a zillion PDFs at once. For this, I recommend getting a bulk downloader add-on for your browser (here is an example). This will scan through every URL on a page that ends with .pdf, which indicates that the URL is likely a downloadable PDF. A bulk downloader prevents the need from clicking on every single link, which can be a lot when you’re on a page with dozens of PDFs like this one from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Step 2: Text Recognition

Once you download all the files you want, I like to place them into a dedicated folder. This is because even though theoretically most government agency PDFs should have optical character recognition (OCR), the actual practice is very inconsistent. OCRed text is critical for PDF searching because it allows you to do a keyword search within a single file or across multiple files at once. Currently, there is not widely-available OCR functionality for cursive or handwriting, just typeface.

Adobe Acrobat has a useful function (under Tools > Text Recognition > In Multiple Files) where you can run the OCR function across everything in a specific folder. This can take a while, but at least there is a progress bar that’ll show you how long it takes – which could be a while, considering that many government environmental regulation records can be a hundred pages for each file. Using the Adobe Acrobat tool also allows you to keep or modify original file names. I like to downsample the files to 600 dpi – it takes longer than the lower dpi measures, but I think it enables better keyword searches later on.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Dig into the PDF files!

There is a free software program called PDF-XChange Viewer, which you can use to do keyword searches over large amounts of PDFs. You can also run a similar search within Adobe Acrobat, but I find that the searching takes far longer and the results are presented less tidily than with PDF-XChange Viewer. Supposedly you can also run batch OCR with this program, but I haven’t tried it.

The example demonstrates how I wanted to find PDFs from coal mine inspection safety reports that mention the word “map.” The results show me that of the dozens of documents I searched in my dedicated folder, there were 187 hits for the word “map” across 14 of the documents. I can get an idea from the left-hand preview pane what the keyword is like in context, and then click on that to see the actual PDF in the right-hand window.

This step helps me pull out the PDFs that I need to analyze more deeply, thus saving me the headache of opening up every single PDF in case it might have something of interest.

The Archives and Rare Books Library presents the 2nd annual German-Americana Lecture, which will feature Frederic Krome

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August, Hans and Adelaide Schiller

August, Hans and Adelaide Schiller

The second annual German-Americana lecture, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19, 3-4:30 p.m., in Annie Laws (407 Teachers/Dyer), will feature Frederic Krome, professor of history at UC Clermont College who will speak about his recent research on the unpublished memoirs of a World War I German soldier. “In Times of War: Hans Schiller’s Recovered Memoirs” will provide a fascinating window into the motivations and experiences of Hans Schiller during tumultuous times, without the extensive post war re-writing so common to what historians are starting to refer to as “Ego Documents.”

Enlisting in the German Army in the fall of 1914, Hans Schiller fought on the Eastern, Italian and Western fronts during the war, and with the Freikorps in the Baltic from 1919-21. Sometime in 1922, as he was recovering from Scarlet Fever, Hans Schiller collated his notes and wrote a memoir of his military service. The handwritten memoir was then placed in a box, where it lay as Schiller married, had a family, and in 1939 was recalled to active duty as an occupation administrator in Eastern Europe. In January 1945 he committed suicide and his manuscript, still in the box, came to his younger daughter, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s. It was re-discovered by Karin Wagner, Schiller’s granddaughter, shortly before her mother’s death.

frederic krome

Frederic Krome

Frederic Krome, (Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 1992) taught at Northern Kentucky University (1992-98) before becoming the managing editor of the American Jewish Archives Journal at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Since 2007 he has taught at the University of Cincinnati. His publications include The Jews of Cincinnati (with John Fine), The Jewish Hospital and Cincinnati Jews in Medicine (2015), and Fighting the Future War: An Anthology of Science Fiction War Stories, 1914-45 (2012), along with numerous articles and book reviews.

Organized by the Archives and Rare Books Library, the German-Americana Lecture is free and open to all, but reservations are requested to jennifer.mackiewicz@uc.edu or by phone at (513) 556-1394.

The German-Americana Lecture is generously supported by The Charlotte and Edward Unnewehr Fund for the German-Americana Collection made possible by the Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation.

Announcing the Redesigned UC Libraries Website

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redesigned libraries homepage

Check out the redesigned Libraries website scheduled to launch Thursday, Aug. 15.

Some of the new features and upgrades of the UC Libraries website redesign include:

  • updated look and feel and an uncluttered homepage
  • refreshed, user-centric content under the categories of: “Find, Request, Borrow,” “Special Collections,” “Research and Teaching Support,” “Spaces and Technology,” “About” and “My Accounts”
  • tabbed search box located prominently front and center at the top of the homepage, allowing users to search for articles, books, journals and databases much more quickly and easily
  • ability to search Research Guides by subject via the homepage
  • call-outs for Special Collections, Digital Technologies & Innovation and Library as Place
  • library news and links to information such as the Strategic Plan, Progress Report, Staff Directory and more.

Included in the redesign are all college and departmental (C&D) library web pages from the Archives to Rare Books Library to the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, as well as the Clermont College Library and UC Blue Ash College Library web pages.

While the starting web address of the site remains the same – www.libraries.uc.edu, the navigation and content within the site has changed, so update any links or bookmarks you may have to the site. And while great care was taken to be accurate, if broken links or missing content are discovered, contact Team Dynamix.

A New Accession To The Holdings of Cincinnati Ballet

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By:  Savannah Gulick, Archives & Rare Books Library Student Assistant

Nutcracker Program from 2001-2002 seasonIf you have lived around Cincinnati, most likely you’ve heard of Cincinnati Ballet, more specifically Cincinnati Ballet’s annual Nutcracker performance at Music Hall. Every holiday season, the ballet company performs this classic and it truly is a breathtaking. However, there is so much more to the company than just the Nutcracker! For example, when it was founded in 1958, Cincinnati Ballet became the first ever company to exist west of the Alleghenies. It is a fascinating history of this local cultural institution and our holdings of its archive includes a wealth of photos of their productions as well as costume designs and choreography. This most recent accession includes programs for Carmen, The Nutcracker, The Come Together festival, and Swan Lake; costume sketches, choreography, and pieces for Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.  The Archives & Rare Books Library holds the ballet’s records extending from 1960 to 2017. and this recent acquisition, accession number US-19-03, consists of 8.75 linear feet and covers 1991 to 2017.  Earlier acquisitions in 2010, 2012, and 2016 have the accession numbers of US-10-03 and US-12-07, and US-16-02 and overall the collection consists of 40.32 linear feet of documents, posters, Come Together Festival Program from 2005-2006 seasonphotographs, and programs.  The finding aids for the earlier accessions, with details on the contents, can be found online on the UC Libraries Finding Aid website.  ARB’s Suzanne Reller has been the contact person for the ballet and she assisted local arts writer David Lyman in his 2013 commemorative history, Cincinnati Ballet Celebrates 50: 1963-2013, from which many of following facts have been taken.  The volume is available in ARB’s reference collection and has the call number of GV1786.C5 C55 2013.

Continue reading →

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

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

In this issue of Source, Dean Xuemao Wang writes about the invaluable support of library donors, volunteers and faithful advocates that make events such as the inaugural Adopt-A-Book event, held this past March, a success. We celebrate the latest three publications from the University of Cincinnati Press and the graduation of the second cohort of 56 students from the Joint Co-Op Institute.

Students feature in three articles – one about a pilot program that integrates new technology into the Critical Care Nurse Residency Program (CCNRP) curriculum, a second from a former graduate assistant discussing her experience working in the Digital Scholarship Center, and the third where a student assistant in the Archives and Rare Books Library writes about The Irish Fairy Book.

Lastly, we highlight the mixed materials collection available in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, 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.

The Irish Fairy Book by Alfred Perceval Graves

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By: Savannah Gulick, Archives & Rare Books Library Student Assistant

Cover of the Irish Fairy BookCeltic lore has always been fascinating to me and to readers worldwide, but oftentimes it is overlooked by Greek and Roman mythology so I thought I would highlight a few of the tales that exemplify Irish mythology and that are part of our holdings in the Archives & Rare Books Library.

Celtic Irish society revolved around the cult of warrior heroes. The most important people in early Irish society, equal even to the kings, were the Seanachie or storytellers. A major part of these bards’ duties was to compose poems in praise of the daring deeds of kings and warriors; hence they were held in high esteem in a warrior society. Continue reading →

Resiliency in Venezuela: A Brief Look at the Willpower of a Country and its People throughout History

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By:  Savannah Gulick, Archives & Rare Books Library Student Assistant

Map of VenezuelaWith one glance at the current news in Venezuela, horror ensues as you witness the atrocities that Venezuelans are enduring on a daily basis. Corrupt politicians, hyperinflation, big oil, blackouts and a lack of access to food, water, and other necessities are just the beginning. In one of my Spanish courses, our professor had us pull newspaper articles about the conflict and one particular article still comes to mind: “In Venezuela, Cooking With Firewood as Currency Collapses” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/02/world/americas/venezuela-nicholas-maduro-inflation-economic-collapse.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FVenezuela). Black markets are thriving and charging obscene amounts for items like propane gas, eggs and sugar, which in turn leads to people relying on firewood for heat and food. In this century, it is hard to fathom how quickly a country can collapse and what that means for the citizens. However, the stark reality is that countries can fall in a week if enough corruption, unrest, and poor distribution of wealth exists. Continue reading →

Under the Tent of the Sky: A Collection of Poems About Animals Large & Small

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By: McKenna Corey, ARB 2018-2019 NEH Intern

Under the Tent of the Sky Title PageThe Historical Textbooks Collection at the ARB contains texts that cover a myriad of subjects: history, science, civic studies, music, writing, mathematics, and more. As I browse the collection, as a literary fanatic, I tend to gravitate towards the literary texts. As I was sorting some books this week, I came across the most endearing poetry collection for children that I wanted to share.

The anthology is titled Under the Tent of the Sky, and it includes poetry that focuses on the animal kingdom. The volume was published in 1937. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my favorite poets were included in the volume, including William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and even William Shakespeare. It was amazing to me that such prominent poets were included in a collection for children, and I was inspired to flip through the volume. Continue reading →