Documenting India: Day 2

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Melissa Cox Norris

Jay Sinnard, manager of the Student Technology Resources Center (STRC), is traveling with a UC class to provide media support as they record testimonials as part of their class project. This is a return trip for Jay as he traveled with this same class in spring 2014. He is applying lessons learned from that trip to make the student’s experience an even better one.

Over the course of their trip, Jay will share on this blog some of his observations, images and video from their travels. Check back often…

From Jay: Today we visited to well known site — the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. We also made our first trip to a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that helps women escape from human trafficking.

: The group in front of the Taj Mahal.

: The group visiting Agra Fort.

: A lunch meeting with an owner of a NGO that deals with trafficking.

Documenting India: Day 1

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Melissa Cox Norris

Over the course of their trip, Jay will share on this blog some of his observations, images and video from their travels. Check back often…

From Jay: During our first day in India, we visited the former home and final resting place of Gandhi. We also made friends with a snake and went to a Muslim mosque

: Students visiting Gandhi’s home and cremation site.

: Gandhi’s cremation site.

: Gandhi’s home and site of his assassination.

: Handling snakes.

: Handling snakes.

: Handling snakes.

: Visiting a Sikh temple.

Documenting India: A Layover in Paris

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Melissa Cox Norris

Over the course of their trip, Jay will share on this blog some of his observations, images and video from their travels. Check back often…

From Jay: On our way to India, we stopped in Paris for a 28-hour layover. Tired as we were, we still made time to see the sights of Paris — and enjoy some wonderful food.

: A rainy start to our 28-hour layover in Paris

: Dinner at a French restaurant.

: Inside Notre Dame.

: Jay poses with the Mona Lisa.

: Lunch in an outdoor cafe.

: No description necessary.

Dean’s Corner: Xiamen University- China’s Largest, Newest 21st Century Academic Library

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Melissa Cox Norris

Continued from this post, below is more about my trip to China. The first week and a half of April, I traveled throughout China to visit a few of UC’s international partners. My travels began at Zhejiang University (ZJU) in Zhejiang, China. The second week I traveled to Xiamen where I met with colleagues at Xiamen University (XMU).

Aerial view of Xiamen University

Continue reading →

Countercurrent Distribution Once Again : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 32, May/June 2015

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy

The circa 1949 Craig cylindrical countercurrent
distribution apparatus recently donated to the Oesper Collections by Dr. Edward Bennett (Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection).

Issue 32 describes the recent acquisition of an even earlier version of a Craig countercurrent distribution apparatus than the version that was described in issue 3 of 2010.

Click here for all other issues of Notes from The Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

48 Years in the Making

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Suzanne Reller

This post was originally published on the UC Magazine website.

UC Graduate Samuel Ochiel Obura is greeting on campus by Richard Harknett, head of UC's political science department, 48 years after Mr. Obura finished his degree requirements. photos/Joseph Fuqua II.

UC Graduate Samuel Ochiel Obura is greeted on campus by Richard Harknett, head of UC’s political science department, 48 years after Mr. Obura finished his degree requirements. photo/Joseph Fuqua II.

UC graduate waited nearly a half century to walk in his commencement and finally receive his lost thesis.

By: John Bach

Samuel Obura Stands during the ceremony when recognized by UC President Santa Ono. photo/Joseph Fuqua II

Samuel Ochiel Obura’s journey to today’s commencement ceremony at the University of Cincinnati took him nearly 8,000 miles and 48 years.

A native of Kenya, Obura finished his master’s degree requirements in political science at UC in 1967. But due to an upheaval at the African Students Association, which helped sponsor his education, he had to cut short his pursuit of a doctorate degree to leave campus and return to Africa or risk losing his return ticket to his wife and children in east Africa.

Obura, then 34, had already spent several years away from his young family back home to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Canada followed by his master’s at UC.

Though he would go on to a long and successful career as a government official in Kenya, Obura left Cincinnati in such a rush that he never even took his trunk full of books, or —even more disheartening — the dissertation he had written on the “Constitutional Development in Kenya.” His thesis had been sent away for binding when he departed, so he was forced to leave it behind and would spend the next half century longing for the important document.

Continue reading →

‘Preserving the Past for the Future’ Exhibit Showcases work of Preservation Lab

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Lisa Haitz

In January of 2012, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH) and the University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) began a long-term collaboration to provide conservation and preservation treatments in an equally-managed, staffed and equipped preservation lab located in UC’s Walter C. Langsam Library.

Employees from both PLCH and UCL work on the general circulating and rare/special collections of each institution. The division of labor for all work performed by the Preservation Lab is divided evenly between UCL and PLCH and is tracked using a weighted point system.

A new exhibit, “Preserving the Past for the Future,” showcases the work done by the Preservation Lab on some rare/special items from both PLCH and UCL. Items in the exhibit range from photo albums to bridge reports to scrapbooks. The exhibit demonstrates both before and after images of the treatment done to the objects and explains the process. The exhibit was curated by Jessica Ebert, conservation technician, and designed by Amanda Jackson, communications co-op design student. The online exhibit was created by Lisa Haitz, web developer.

Below is the exhibit in its entirety. The physical exhibit is currently on display on Langsam Library’s 5th floor lobby.

Continue reading →

The Very Personal Side of a World Famous UC Archaeologist

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Suzanne Reller

By: Dawn Fuller
Photos Courtesy of UC Classics
Reposted from UC Magazine

Carl Blegen with UC Archaeologist Marion Rawson in the Land Rover at Pylos, July 1961

Researchers mine through a ‘treasure trove’ of resources in Cincinnati and Greece to reveal the character, patriotism and unconventional lifestyle of famed American archaeologist Carl William Blegen.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, the discoveries of archaeologist Carl William Blegen made headlines around the world as well as here in the Queen City, where he was on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati. But the personal side of Blegen, publicly revealed for the first time, is the stuff that could be splashed across the celebrity tabloids.
Continue reading →

William and Me

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Suzanne Reller

By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB student assistant

William Shakespeare

We all know who Shakespeare is. He lived in London, wrote some plays and poetry, died and became really famous.

In the ninth grade, my English teacher at Cincinnati’s Seton High School introduced my class to Shakespeare. We all knew who he was. He wrote plays and poetry sometime around 1600. Not really understanding anything about literature, plays, or poetry at the time, all I knew was that Shakespeare was brilliant and well respected, which meant that if I wanted to be smart and scholarly, I would like and respect him the way proper people do. Then I read Shakespeare. Continue reading →

Celebrating National Library Week at UCBA Library

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Michelle Leonard

UCBA Library Faculty & Staff celebrating in style.

The UCBA Library had a great time celebrating National Library Week (recognized April 12-18, 2015). Many thanks to our UCBA community for stopping by for treats and participating in our related activities.

UCBA Faculty Scholarly and Creative Works Activity.

Matching Game: Visitors matched UCBA faculty to seven scholarly and creative works ranging from books and a journal article to poetry and 3D art. Farheen Asif completed the activity and was drawn from one of two students who completed it correctly. See the correct answers at the end of this post.`

Research Revelry: Research comes in all shapes and sizes (as noted on the sweet treats). Visitors shared their favorite tips and tools as well as their most recent Google searches. See the gallery for images of various NLW 2015 activities and items.

: Research Tools

: Research Tips

: Sweet Treats

: Googling

Answers to the UCBA Faculty Scholarly & Creative Works Activity:

Collective Bargaining and the Battle of Ohio: The Defeat of Senate Bill 5 and the Struggle to Defend the Middle Class / John McNay
Fetal Waters / Rhonda Pettit
Black Holes as Gravitational Atoms / Cenalo Vaz
The Dental Hygienist’s Guide to Nutritional Care / Cynthia Stegeman
Developing Faculty Learning Communities at Two Year Colleges: Collaborative Models to Improve Teaching and Learning / Sue Sipple and Robin Lightner
One Small Town, One Crazy Coach: The Ireland Spuds and the 1963 Indiana High School Basketball Season / Mike Roos
Frictionless Object / Ted Ferdinand and David Hartz