New Books in Oesper (history of chemistry collection)

Six new acquisitions have been added to the Oesper collection. Click here to see the details in the May-June 2018 list.

For more information about Oesper and the apparatus museum, click here.

If you have any questions about this collection, contact Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries, at Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu.

Native Voices: Keynote Presentation and Exhibit Opening

Suzanne Singer gives the keynote address to kick off the Native Voices exhibit.

On Thursday, July 26, Dr. Suzanne Singer launched the Native Voices exhibit opening giving her keynote presentation after introductions by Xuemao Wang, Dean, University of Cincinnati Libraries; Philip Diller, MD/PhD, Chair and Fred Lazarus Jr Endowed Professor of Family and Community Medicine; and Bleuzette Marshall, PhD, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at UC. Dr. Singer is an Energy Systems and Thermal Analyst in the Computational Engineering Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA.  Her talk focused on the intersections between land, energy, and health in the Navajo community.

After the presentation attendees were encouraged to visit the exhibit and enjoy some of the catered hors d’oeuvres. In addition to the Native Voices exhibit, which is made up primarily of oral histories, a supplementary poster presentation also will run concurrently with the exhibit and be on display alongside the Native Voices listening stations. The posters are a capstone project from a UC Medical Botany class taught by Theresa M. Culley, Ph.D. and Eric Tepe, Ph.D during spring semester, 2018. The posters examine how Native Americans used indigenous plants to maintain health and hygiene.

Panels in the Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness exhibit.

Do try to attend one of the Native Voices lectures over the next several weeks. On Wednesday, August 8th, Madeleine Fix will present “Cincinnati’s Public Landing, the Measles, and Wyandot Removal.”  If you are unable to attend, stay turned for more recaps.

A schedule of the remaining lectures is available online. And thank you so much for your continued support of this exhibit and its additional programming.

In the carousel below, please enjoy some of the images taken at the keynote and exhibit opening.

UC Libraries’ Mark Konecny is Participating in Summit to Examine Affordable Learning Initiatives

Mark Konecny, scholarly communications and digital publishing strategist and a member of the OhioLINK Affordable Learning group, is an organizer of the Affordable Learning Summit at the University of Akron on Aug. 1 & 2. This summit is a gathering of Ohio institutions to share how faculty, library staff, instructional designers and administrators are addressing affordable learning initiatives.

In announcing the summit, Mark writes, “A recent Florida Virtual Survey of over 22,000 students found that 66.5% of students did not purchase the required textbook / course materials solely due to cost. Recently, Inside Higher Ed shared how the University of Georgia has saved students 3.2 million in textbook cost since 2013 by utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER). In addition, they found that switching to OER increased the number of A and A-minus grades students received by 5.50 percent and 7.73 percent, respectively. The number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (known as the DFW rate) fell by 2.68 percent.”

Mark is presenting a round table discussion with Kelly Broughton (Ohio University) on the integration of the library with press services. He is also participating in a panel discussion with Sean Kennedy (Ohio University) on authorship, discussing the following topics: how OER creators can partner with their local university press for assistance, issues with creating OERS, common stumbling points and realistic timetables for authoring.

“We know that not having the required course materials directly impacts student success, and the OhioLINK Affordable Learning Initiative is dedicated to addressing this problem,” said Mark.

To learn more, visit https://uakron.edu/affordablelearning/events/. The summit is being live tweeted with the hashtag #alohiosummit.

Jeremy Berberich joins UC Libraries as the Associate Director of Business Affairs

Today, Jeremy Berberich joined UC Libraries as the associate director of business affairs.  Jeremy comes to UC from Northern Kentucky University where he was the business officer for the College of Health Professions. He previously served as associate vice president for Knowledge Management at Gateway Community and Technical College and prior to that as a reference librarian and associate director for library and information services at Gateway. Jeremy holds a BA in political science with a minor in economics from the University of Louisville, an MLIS from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from Northern Kentucky University.

Jeremy will be a member of the Dean’s Cabinet and will lead the Business Office and HR operations.

Welcome, Jeremy, to UC Libraries.

Native Voices Children’s Programming Event a Success

Last week several UC Libraries (HSL, CECH, Langsam) collaborated to produce the first installment in our Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness public programming. This inaugural event focused specifically on children as Langsam Library received a visit from twenty-four students of the Arlitt Child & Family Research & Education Center. Cheryl Ghosh, Senior Librarian at UC’s CECH Library put together an amazing program of dramatic skits, activity stations, and multi-media fun.

First, the 3 to 5-year-olds were treated to an introduction and brief play about the Iroquois legend of the Three Sisters and its corresponding gardening tradition. This tradition of planting corn, beans and squash (the sisters) in close proximity is widespread among Native American farming. At the same time the story functions as a metaphor for supporting and helping one another.

After the skit, the children were divided into groups and each group moved on to an activity station. One group and its chaperones built a teepee. The other, shucked corn and picked beans from bean plants. After ten minutes the groups switched and tried the other activity.

After fifteen minutes of activities, the students had a brief snack then proceeded to the Student Technology Resource Center (STAC) where video was taken of them in front of a green screen. At that point the video was superimposed onto an image of the Great Plains and an American Indian village complete with moving buffalo.

Finally, as a parting gift, each child received the book D is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet by Debbie and Michael Shoulders and Irving Toddy. The event lasted approximately an hour and at no time did our worries of waning attention spans among the children materialize. They never once lost interest. A success, if we  do say so!  And a huge thanks to all who assisted.

Please plan to attend the Native Voices: Native American Concepts of Health and Illness opening event on Thursday, July 26th in the CARE/Crawley Atrium of the UC  Medical Sciences Building.  And stay tuned for the six weeks of supplementary programming the HSL has planned.

Please see the gallery below for more images of the event.

 

Visit the Exhibit “Native Voices: Native People’s Concepts of Health and Illness” on Display Now in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library

Native Voices ExhibitNative Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness, a traveling exhibition to U.S. libraries, is on display now through August 30 on the main level of the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library.

Native Voices explores the interconnectedness of wellness, illness and cultural life for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Stories drawn from both the past and present examine how health for Native People is tied to community, the land and spirit.

Through interviews that can be listened to via iPads located throughout the display, Native People describe the impact of epidemics, federal legislation, the loss of land and the inhibition of culture on the health of Native individuals and communities today.

 

Related Events

suzanne singerIn association with the Native Voices exhibit, related events have been scheduled to explore the topic of Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness.

The first scheduled event is keynote speaker Suzanne L. Singer who will speak on Intersections of Energy and Wellness from 5-7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 26, in the CARE/Crawley Atrium (Medical Sciences Building, 231 Albert Sabin Way).

Throughout August, lectures that cover such topics as “The Contribution of Native Voices to Medicine through Botany,” “Breaking Bread: A Perspective of Fry Bread and Native Health” and “Preventing Tuberculosis while Regulating Indigenous Bodies” have been scheduled in the Stanley J. Lucas, MD, Board Room, E level of the Medical Sciences Building near the Kresge Circle.

A full schedule of events is listed online.

 

The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed and produced Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness. The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in partnership with NLM, tours the exhibition to America’s libraries. Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness was displayed at the NLM in Bethesda, Maryland, from 2011 to 2015. To learn more and view content from the exhibition, visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices.

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And don’t miss the exhibit “The Kretschmer Collection of Native American Children’s Literature donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer” on display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library. The exhibit features children’s books with Native American themes, written and illustrated by Native Americans and donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer and housed in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services Library.

New Exhibit Features Children’s Books About and Created by Native Americans

Kretschmer Collection ExhibitOn display in the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the exhibit “The Kretschmer Collection of Native American Children’s Literature donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer” features children’s books with Native American themes, written and illustrated by Native Americans. The books are part of a collection of over 275 books donated by Drs. Richard and Laura Kretschmer and housed in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library.

Also included in the exhibit are Native American history and culture resources from the collections of UC Libraries. Included are movies, e-journals and online digital collections and databases.

The exhibit was designed by Sophia Xu, design student in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and UC Libraries’ Communications Department design co-op student, and curated by Cheryl Ghosh, head of the CECH Library. The exhibit is done in conjunction with the traveling exhibition “Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness,” on display in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library July 23-August 30.

Ohio Digital Newspapers & Chronicling America Presentation in ARB on Thursday July 26

Come hear about Ohio’s digital newspaper project and learn how to freely access historic newspapers from around the country.

When:  Thursday July 26 from 11:00am-12:30pm

Where:  Archives and Rare Books Library, Seminar Room 814

Westliche Blatter mastheadDid you know that 90 Ohio newspapers including foreign language papers have been digitized and are now part of the Library of Congress’ free newspaper database Chronicling America?  Learn how to access the over 13 million pages of historic newspapers from 47 states and territories covering 1789-1963 on Chronicling America.  Jenni Salamon, Coordinator for the Ohio Digital Newspaper Program, and Bronwyn Benson, Quality Control Technician, from the Ohio History Connection will demonstrate basic and advanced search strategies and how to work with your results to find information about local, state, national and international events, people, places and culture. They will also provide a brief overview newspaper digitization process and an update on the digitization of Ohio’s foreign language newspapers.

The Colored Citizen mastheadTreasures from the Archives and Rare Books Library collections including items from the German Americana collection that complement the digitized newspapers will be available for viewing before and after the presentation.

 

Digital Scholarship Center Welcomes a Digital Scholarship Library Fellow and Data Visualization Developer

Erin McCabe

Erin McCabe

The University of Cincinnati Libraries is happy to welcome the next two hires in the Digital Scholarship Center (DSC) supported by the Mellon Catalyst Transdiscipinary Teams grant.

The digital scholarship library fellow, Erin McCabe, comes to the DSC from Ithaka-JSTOR, where she was a publisher service associate. She previously held positions at Baruch College, Long Island University, and is a member of the NASA Datanauts. She received her MLIS with a specialization in digital humanities from the Pratt Institute in New York, and her BA in French studies from Concordia University in Montreal. She has worked on a wide range of digital projects and at the DSC, Erin will be responsible for organizing and leading the research efforts of our 10 new “catalyst teams” support by the Mellon grant.

Ezra Edgerton

Ezra Edgerton

The new data visualization developer, Ezra Edgerton, has worked as an independent visualization contractor since 2015, and received his B.A. with a double major in computer science and studio art from Grinnell College. Ezra has a rare blend of formal training in both art/design and computer science, and has experience with machine learning, interactive and static data visualization, user experience and user interface design, and front-end web development. Ezra will work in partnership with software developer Zhaowei Ren, who began work in the DSC on May 29, in deploying and refining our Mellon-supported machine learning and data visualization platform for digital scholarship across disciplines.

Zhaowei Ren

Zhaowei Ren

Welcome, Erin, Ezra and Zhaowei!

The University of Cincinnati’s Digital Scholarship Center, located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, is a joint venture between the College of Arts and Sciences and UC Libraries. On campus and in the community, they serve as a catalyst for hybrid forms of research and teaching, bringing together humanistic methods with technical innovations to test paradigms and to create new knowledge at the boundary between disciplines as they are conventionally imagined in humanities.

For more about the Digital Scholarship Center, visit their website at http://dsc.uc.edu.