Category Archives: UC Libraries

Coming Together to Give Thanks

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bookmarks

Over 50 students and UCL staff got together on the afternoon on November 13th to learn about holidays, traditions, and feasts around the world celebrating fall, harvest, family, or giving thanks. Alongside Thanksgiving favorites, including turkey, corn bread, greens and pies, the dishes on our holiday table featured Caribbean jerk chicken with rice, beans, and vegetables, Chinese mooncakes, Russian apple cakes, Indian rice and carrot puddings, and other delicacies. After filling (and refilling) our plates and learning to say “thank you” in several languages, we embarked on a tour of the world spotlighting holidays and festivals in China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Kurdistan, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and United States. We learned a lot about various holidays and food associated with them. Continue reading →

November 19th is GIS Day

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posterwebJoin UC Geography (and UC Libraries) in celebrating GIS Day – a worldwide salute to geospatial technology and its impact on our lives.

Tim Balzer, product manager of the Cincinnati-based start-up company Roadtrippers, will discuss the history, development and future direction of their successful web-based and multi-platform app Roadtrippers.

Wednesday, November 19
11:45-12:30pm
TUC 417A

Stop by TUC to meet and greet UC Libraries’ Amy Koshoffer and Holly Prochaska as they man the GIS Day booth during the speaker and talk to visitors about GIS. And visit the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library during the day to see GIS posters from the Geography Department.

Growth of Student Government

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By:  Iman Said, ARB Intern, 2014-2015

Just about every college campus, and now almost every high school, has some form of a student government. It’s a coalition of students who put on events, work on projects, and speak to administrators and members of the community on issues related to the students.

Student Government Posters

Today, the UC Undergraduate Student Government is made up of a Senate, a Cabinet, Boards, and College Tribunals. This makes for an organization that is involved in just about every aspect of student life. Elections are held every year, usually in February, and candidates select a President and Vice President, as well as eight At-Large Senators. After those positions have been chosen, Cabinet positions are filled using an application process. Any student can apply to a cabinet position, no matter their age or year in school. Each of the Tribunals then holds their own internal elections to select their executive board and their representative to Senate. Continue reading →

The Universality of Sherlock Holmes

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By:  Iman Said, ARB Intern 2014-2015

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle statue

This week, we’ll take a quick break from historical photos and talk about the impact that literature can have on society.

Last March, I had the opportunity to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a seminar here at UC. Edinburgh is the very first city to be established as an UNESCO City of Literature. Incredible authors began their careers in Edinburgh, from Sir Walter Scott to J.K. Rowling. Simply walking the streets of Newtown was enough to see the impact that literature has had on the culture of the city.

For me, the most significant author to start in Edinburgh is the incredible Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose legendary consulting detective is a household name all over the world. Sherlock Holmes and his faithful compatriot, Dr. John Watson, got their start in two novels, A Study in Scarlet and Sign of the Four. Neither of the novels had very much success, so Doyle decided to change tactics and began to write a series of short stories that ran every month in The Strand Magazine. The first story, “A Scandal in Bohemia” was published in July 1891 and was an instant success, guaranteeing the success of Doyle and the success of the magazine. Today, the stories have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into tens of television programs, radio shows, and movies. Statues of the great detective can be found in Edinburgh, the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as in Japan and Switzerland. Continue reading →

Who Invented the Fleaker? : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 29, November/December 2014

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Typical modern-day fleakers with their patented caps.

Typical modern-day fleakers with their patented caps.

The 29th issue of Museum Notes highlights a recent innovation in laboratory glassware known as the “fleaker” and traces its historical antecedents to a late 19th-century innovation known as the “beaker flask.”

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

Why UC’s Colors are Red & Black

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By: Greg Hand

An 1881 editorial in the Academica, UC’s early student newspaper, called for colors: “The great majority of American colleges and universities have selected certain colors or combinations of colors, which, for want of an adequate term, we may designate as their ‘colors.’ These colors are of great use in intercollegiate contests in distinguishing the members of different colleges. They also have the effect of creating in the student a feeling of loyalty to his Alma Mater. Each year finds it more difficult to select colors that are not pre-occupied. We, therefore, commend this matter to our students in the hope that they will at once take measures looking to the selection of colors for the University of Cincinnati.”

Early UC tobacco card, courtesy of Kevin Grace

Early UC tobacco card, courtesy of Kevin Grace

Although students wrote in suggesting either green alone or “black, sprinkled with a little white,” there was no immediate action on this request.   A few years later, on April 10, 1885, the the University of Cincinnati baseball team took the field against Hughes High School sporting white suits with blue stockings, belts and caps.  Later that year, new baseball uniforms appeared in blue and brown. Although the university dithered about selecting official colors, each class took great pains to select a unique color. The annual for 1885, for example, records the senior class adopting green and yellow, while the juniors claimed “maiden’s blush.” The sophomores that year adopted violet. Continue reading →

UC Libraries to Host a Series of Talks on Digital Humanities Nov. 17-18

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Lee Skallerup Bessette

Lee Skallerup Bessette

Lee Skallerup Bessette will explore the what, why and how of digital humanities.

What is digital humanities? How does it relate to my work?

Join the University of Cincinnati Libraries November 17 and 18 for a series of talks by Lee Skallerup Bessette exploring the topic of digital humanities.

Continue reading →

Fall 2014 Records Quarterly Now Available

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By: Eira Tansey

rqfall2014-cover-smallThe Fall 2014 UC Records Management newsletter shares information on wrangling email, program developments, information on upcoming workshops in November and December, and program news.

Click here for the latest issue and if you have any questions about UC records, just contact Eira Tansey in the Archives & Rare Books Library at 556-1958 or at eira.tansey@uc.edu.

For more information on the Archives & Rare Books Library and its holdings, please contact us by phone at 513-556-1959, by email at archives@ucmail.uc.edu, or on the web at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/arb.html.

Coming Together to Give Thanks

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langsamconnectPlease join us for a wonderful celebration of traditions around the world.

 

 

November 13th at 3 pm @ the Triceracopter

 Coming Together to Give Thanks

 What:       Join us for food & fun to learn about other cultures and how people around the world celebrate the fall, harvest, family, and giving thanks.

When:      Thursday, November 13, 2014 @ 3:00pm

Where:    Langsam Library @ the Triceracopter

Who:        UC students

?s               olga.hart@uc.edu, 556-1580

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