Most University of Cincinnati Libraries locations have reduced hours for Spring Break, March 11-19. Check the library website for a list of hours by location.
Have a safe and relaxing Spring Break, Bearcats!
Category Archives: Langsam Library
The Chemical Atlas – A gem from the Oesper Collections
Edward Livingston Youmans’ The Chemical Atlas was recently returned to its home in the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry library after receiving conservation treatment from UC Libraries’ Preservation Lab. Youmans’ famous book features eye-catching illustrated and hand-colored plates that frequently motivate myself and others to display the item and engage visitors of the Oesper Collections with stunning visual depictions of the unseen world of chemical processes.
Edward Youmans was a renowned science communicator and popularizer in the 19th century United States. In the 1850’s, a reviewer called his Chemical Atlas “without exception, the best popular work in the English language” (Miles, 1964). When he was a young teen, he was afflicted by a disease of the eyes which grew more severe with time, leaving him nearly blind and suffering from frequent eye inflammation between the ages of 13 and 35. During these years, Youmans was unable to read, and learned as much as he could through the second-hand teaching of his sister, Eliza Youmans. His second-hand learning caused him to imagine and visualize chemistry concepts. As he overcame his misconceptions and worked to make his understanding more definite, he wanted to share his scheme for picturing atoms and their combinations. This led to him creating chemical charts which visually depicted atoms of different elements, binary compounds, and more as well as an accompanying book, Classbook of Chemisty. The Classbook of Chemistry was a huge success. “Brief, clear, and devoid of technicalities, it has an astounding and continuous sale; it was revised and sold more than 144,000 copies in its three editions. This was truly a remarkable record and would be envied even in these days of widespread chemical instruction” (Oesper, 1957). Continue reading
Show your love for UC Libraries and get a library sticker
Did you know UC Libraries is comprised of 10 locations? In addition to the Walter C. Langsam Library, there are libraries located throughout campus with collections and resources customized to the various colleges and departments.
Recently, representatives from Student Government contacted us with the desire to increase awareness of the study spaces and resources available in the various college and departmental libraries (C&Ds). Coincidentally, communication design co-op students Norah Jenkins and Jakob Elliott had just created stickers representing each library; thus, a promotional plan was born.
The Bearcatalog in the DAAP Library
The promotional plan encourages students to visit the various library locations, take a photo with/of the Bearcatalog foam cutout located near the entrance, post to social media tagging @UCLibraries with #selfieforsticker and then visit the help desk for a sticker of that library.
In addition to promoting the various C&D libraries, having students visit the desk is a friendly way for them to get introduced to the helpful people who work in the libraries so that when they have questions or need research help they are more comfortable seeking assistance.
The campaign runs March 2-31 with posts to the UC Libraries Twitter and Instagram feeds throughout the month.
We encourage everyone on campus to show your ♥️ for UC Libraries. Visit one of the UC Libraries 10 locations, take a photo with/of the Bearcatalog foam statue, post and tag @uclibraries using #selfieforsticker. Visit the desk for your library sticker. Hours vary per location, so be sure to check before heading out.
Have fun!
UC Libraries seeks books good enough to eat for the International Edible Books Festival
Know of a good book to eat?! Create an Edible Book for UC Libraries International Edible Books Festival!
It’s time once again for the fan-favorite International Edible Books Festival scheduled for Monday, April 3, 2023, 11 a.m. on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library. UC Libraries is seeking people interested in creating an edible book for the enjoyment of all in attendance. There are few restrictions – namely that your creation be edible and have something to do with a book – so you may let your creativity run wild.
As in previous years, entries will be judged according to such categories as “Most Delicious,” “Most Creative,” “Most Checked Out” and “Most Literary.” Those awarded “Best Student Entry” and “Best Overall” will win UC swag.
If you are interested in creating an edible book, e-mail melissa.norris@uc.edu by Friday, March 24 with your name and the title of your creation.
Looking for inspiration? Visit UC Libraries on Facebook to see photos from the previous festivals.
Nimisha Bhat joins UC Libraries as assistant librarian
Nimisha Bhat joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 as assistant librarian and liaison to the departments of History, Anthropology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Students.
Nimisha holds an MS in library and information science from Pratt Institute, School of Library and Information Science.
She comes to UC from Smith College where she was the visual arts librarian, planning and implementing research, instruction and reference support for faculty and students, as well as developing and managing collections in print, electronic and other formats for the visual arts, architecture, film and media studies. Prior to Smith College, Nimisha worked at Columbus College of Arts and Design and The Ohio State University Libraries.
Welcome, Nimisha!
Join us Wednesday, March 8 for an afternoon of poetry…and dance
The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, March 8 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their work.
Felicia Zamora is the author of six books of poetry including, I Always Carry My Bones, winner of the 2020 Iowa Poetry Prize (University of Iowa Press, 2021) and the 2022 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry, and Body of Render, Benjamin Saltman Award winner (Red Hen Press, 2020). She won the 2022 Loraine Williams Poetry Prize from The Georgia Review, a 2022 Tin House Next Book Residency, and a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, AGNI, The American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2022, Boston Review, Georgia Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, Orion, Poetry Magazine, The Nation and others. She is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for the Colorado Review.
Caroline Plasket’s work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including, Gulf Coast, Sycamore Review, Pleiades, Copper Nickel, The Cortland Review and Threadcount Magazine. She was a mentee in the AWP Writer to Writer Program. She currently teaches writing at Northern Kentucky University. She is working on three books and is fulfilled sharing her love of writing (and the power that lies within it) with others. She lives in Northern Kentucky.
Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. His poems are featured in AGNI, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, A Public Space, The American Poetry Review and elsewhere. He is a winner of the 2022 Orison Poetry Prize, 2022 finalist for the University of Wisconsin Press’s Brittingham Prize and Felix Pollak Prize poetry competition, 2021 Semi-finalist Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and several others. He is the author of a chapbook “Harp in a Fireplace” (Newfound, 2021) and a debut collection “Soliloquy with the Ghosts in Nile” (Black Ocean Press, 2022). He is currently an Editorial Assistant for Seneca Review and Cincinnati Review. Continue reading
Langsam Library exhibits installed in honor of Black History Month pay tribute to trailblazers and display the enormous loss in the Middle Passage
On display in the Walter C. Langsam Library are two new exhibits created and installed for Black History Month. The first pays tribute to Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers – Lucy Oxley and O’dell Owens. The second exhibit displays the enormous loss of life in The Middle Passage.
Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers
On display on the 4th floor lobby of Langsam Library, this exhibit features materials from the collections of UC Libraries about Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color to receive a medical degree from the UC College of Medicine, and O’dell Owens, renowned physician, former Hamilton County coroner and the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.
The Middle Passage
On the 5th floor lobby of Langsam Library is a large map depicting the Middle Passage, which commonly refers to the experience of enslaved African people as they traveled across the Atlantic Basin to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. Illness, insanity, hunger, dehydration, torture, revolt, suicide and ship wreck led to the death of ~1.8 million Africans at sea during their Middle Passage.
The exhibit corresponds with the Uncommon Read of the book “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” by Sowande’ M. Mustakeem. A Lunch and Learn with the author is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.
Both exhibits were curated by UC Libraries faculty and staff: Meshia Anderson, Susan Banoun, Sidney Gao, Tiffany Grant, Gino Pasi and June Taylor-Slaughter. It was designed by UC Libraries communications design co-op Jakob Elliott.
Announcing the 2021/22 UC Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…
Announcing the 2021-22 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report: A Year of New Beginnings…a year that saw the broad return of students, faculty and staff to campus for fall semester. The transition from virtual to in-person was an extensive process as library spaces were re-evaluated to allow for a safe return to working and studying on campus. We welcomed students, faculty and staff back to campus with refreshed spaces, enhanced safety protocols for social distancing and a revived appreciation for working together in person.
The year also saw the announcement of our renewed Strategic Framework: NEXT Directions. The University of Cincinnati’s NEXT Lives Here Strategic Directions focus on the core areas of Academic Excellence, Urban Impact and the Innovation Agenda in order to engage people and ideas – and to transform the world. The University of Cincinnati Libraries is key to what’s NEXT.
In this Annual Report, we look back at the top News & Events, applaud Staff Accomplishments & Milestones and look at the Libraries By the Numbers and Financially.
While we celebrate the accomplishments of the past academic year, we also continue to move forward in pursuit of our vision of being the globally engaged, intellectual commons of the university – positioning ourselves as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation and scholarly endeavor on campus and beyond. I invite you to be a part of our journey – a journey led by our Guiding Principles of Investment in our People; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; and Digital Transformation.
The Annual Progress Report is available online via Sway. Happy Reading!
UC Libraries closed Sunday, Jan. 22 because of snow
All 10 UC Libraries locations, including the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, are closed today Sunday, Jan. 22 because of the winter storm.
Erin Smith joins UC Libraries as collections acquisitions data specialist
Erin Smith has joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries as the collections acquisitions data specialist in the Content Services Team. She started her position on January 17, 2023.
In this role, Erin will work closely with subject selectors and other Content Services staff to acquire material necessary to support the learning, instruction and research mission of UC Libraries. In addition, Erin will provide support for data analysis and functional aspects of acquisitions.
Erin worked previously at Northern Kentucky University Steely Library, with ten years of experience working in library acquisitions, and recently obtained her M.S. in Library Science from the University of Kentucky.
Welcome, Erin!