University of Cincinnati Press publication co-edited by UC’s Rebecca Wingo named the National Council on Public History’s Best New Book of the Year

digital community engagement book coverThe University of Cincinnati Press publication edited by Rebecca S. Wingo, Jason A. Heppler, and Paul Schadewald, Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy has won 2021 Best New Book of the Year from the National Council on Public History. Each year, the Council selects one book in the area of public history theory, study or practice.

Available via open access on Manifold, Digital Community Engagement brings together cutting-edge campus-community partnerships with a focus on digital projects. Through a series of case studies authored by academics and their community partners, this collection explores models for digital community engagement that leverage new media through reciprocal partnerships. The contributions to this volume stand at the crossroads of digital humanities, public history, and community engagement.

“The team at UC Press made the whole process easy, and the TOME grant made the open access publication possible. My co-editors and I decided early on that this book in particular required open access publication. We spoke to a lot of different presses and we most closely matched with UC Press’ mission,” said Rebecca Wingo, editor of Digital Community Engagement.

“It is fitting that our first award-winning book was published in open access and print in order to inspire engagement to the widest audience possible. As a university press focused on publishing interactive books designed to brings authors and readers together, we are delighted to see this edited volume win a national prize in a discipline that connects the academy to the community,” said Elizabeth Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press.

Liz Scarpelli awarded a UC Staff Excellence Award

liz scarpelliAt a virtual ceremony held Wednesday, Dec. 15, Liz Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press, was awarded a Staff Excellence Award for her work starting the Press and also for her commitment to the university and to the Next Lives Here philosophy.

Her nominator noted her work on the development of the Toward Open Access Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) review committee and the creation of the first-ever regional university press/publisher information technology Development Tech Exchange. Moreover, she is committed to improving the academic mission of UC by directly recruiting, consulting and supporting faculty authors on all three of its campuses. “In just a few short years, UC Press has already published three TOME funded books, placing UC in the top 20% of all participating publishers. But that’s not all. During this short time, under Liz’s direction, the University of Cincinnati Press has already cranked out scholarly books, a textbook and journals!”

“My work in Cincinnati over the last three years has been rewarding. To be acknowledged from individuals outside the publishing world, specifically by my own university, is indeed an honor. This acknowledgement signals to me that a university press is not only of value to the institution, but is also able to move university initiatives forward while maintaining integrity and rigorous peer review within the American University Presses core values, service-oriented Library Publishing and the innovative University of Cincinnati model.  I am excited that our unique model has created 12 published books, a pipeline of 50 projects and six academic journals authored by scholars from both within and outside of the university. While this award is being presented to me, I am grateful for the support of everyone on the Press’s board for their continued support and advice, the authors who believe in us, my colleagues in UC Libraries, our dean Xuemao Wang and my staff at the Press, Mark Konecny, Sarah Muncy and Sean Crowe, who work tirelessly to make these books–open access and otherwise–come to fruition,” said Liz of the honor.

The Staff Excellence Awards ceremony was emceed by Chris Collins, chair of the Staff Senate, and Heidi Pettyjohn, incoming chair of Staff Senate, with remarks from President Neville Pinto, Provost Kristi Nelson and Bob Ambach, senior vice president for administration and finance. In addition to Liz, five other UC Libraries’ staff members received nominations: Michael Alfieri, Dean Bachelder, Ben Kline, Yu Mao and Rebecca Olson.

Congratulations, Liz!

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report, 2019-2020: A Year Like No Other

annual progress report graphicWhat a year it’s been.

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report, this year completely online, covers July 2019 through June 2020, an academic year that started off normally, but in the spring would be disrupted in ways never thought possible because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fall semester was business as usual with students, faculty, researchers and staff accessing our facilities and resources for research and study, or simply to grab a cup of coffee between classes. Librarians and staff provided instruction on how to find the best research materials, offered reference assistance, collected and made our collections available and collaborated with faculty and researchers to translate information and data into knowledge. The usual activities in the library would come to a sudden halt spring semester.

This year’s report reviews how we responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it also celebrates our numerous accomplishments, highlights new special collections and library exhibits, spotlights the achievements of our faculty and staff and provides usage stats and financial information.

As the semester and 2020 come to a close, we wish you warm wishes for the holiday season. May the new year bring you health, harmony and joy.

Offering Workshops on the Publishing Life Cycle of Data

In partnership with the Faculty Enrichment Center, UC Libraries RDS and IT@UC Advance Research Computing are pleased to offer the next three sessions in our DCSS series focused on the Publishing Life Cycle of Data.  Visit the Faculty One Stop Professional Development site for more information and to register for any of these events.

Next up in the series:

July 13, 2-3 p.m. Getting Published – A Journal Editors’ Panel  will feature UC faculty and staff who serve as editors on journals discussing how to identify the right journal, avoid predatory journals and how to make the biggest impact with your research and scholarship by publishing more than just the article including data publishing and taking an active role in the publishing workflow.  Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr are the featured editors. Visit the Faculty One Stop Professional Development to register for this event.

Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr

Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr

Save the dates for these upcoming events as registration information will be available soon:

July 27, 2-3 p.m. “Understanding Open Access and Open Data” will feature Claudio Aspesi, Senior Research consultant and advisor to SPARC, coauthor of “The Changing Academic Publishing Industry – Implications for Academic Institutions.”

August 10, 2-3 p.m. “Publishing Data in Repositories” – more details to come.

 

Standing in solidarity against systemic racism

The University of Cincinnati Libraries supports our colleagues from the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries in their statements and actions against racism and violence perpetrated against black men and women and all people of color. We agree with President Neville Pinto’s message “that the time to act is now.” As libraries, we provide access to resources and information professionals so that citizens can educate themselves on how to contribute to meaningful change and combat systemic racism.

stamped from the beginningBelow is a short list of UC Libraries resources. While some do require UC affiliation, there are others that are open access. It contains a mix of current and historical perspectives as this is not a new issue our country is confronting, but the time to listen and to learn is now. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but a starting point for education and conversation.  

Videos

Current exhibit on display in the Walter C. Langsam Library

women of the movement graphic

The Urban Studies Collection of the Archives and Rare Books Library holds information on two of the women featured in the exhibit, Louise Shropshire, originator of the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome,” and Marian Spencer, local Civil Rights icon, as well as Theodore “Ted” Berry, the first African American mayor of Cincinnati.

The University of Cincinnati Press

  • Issues in Race and Society, biannual journal distinguishes itself as an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and global examination of the increasingly racial and racialized world that connects us all.

UC Libraries Closing at 5pm, Monday, March 16 until Further Notice

In consultation with university administration, and with the knowledge that diligent social distancing is critical in slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to close all UC Libraries locations effective 5pm, Monday, March 16 until further notice. The only exception to this will be the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library (HSL), which at this moment will remain open ONLY for College of Medicine students participating in testing; however the situation remains fluid, so there may be changes to HSL hours and availability.

Library users are encouraged to keep library materials. Fines will not be incurred for UC, OhioLINK or Interlibrary Loan items.

For service updates and links to online library resources, check https://libraries.uc.edu/about/covid-19.html. Library faculty and staff are committed to serving our users online as best we can.

For information regarding the availability of UC jurisdictional libraries:

University of Cincinnati COVID-19 information can be found online at https://www.uc.edu/publichealth.html.

 

UC Libraries Information Regarding COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) available online

Effective Saturday, March 14, 2020, UC will suspend face-to-face instruction, lectures, discussion sessions, seminars and other similar classroom settings, and move to remote instruction. This includes face-to-face library instruction. Face-to-face instruction will resume Monday, April 13, 2020.

Library users are encouraged to keep library materials. Fines will not be incurred for UC, OhioLINK or Interlibrary Loan items.

The Libraries have created a web page to provide library service updates and links to online resources – https://libraries.uc.edu/about/covid-19.html.

For up-to-date university information regarding coronavirus – https://www.uc.edu/publichealth.html

 

Using the libraries from off campus:

Off Campus Access  |  View All Library HoursAccess My Library Record | Contact The Libraries  |

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

source headerRead 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 how a digital core is part of a 21st-century liberal education.

Two exhibits that highlight women who fought for equality are featured in this issue along with an article by Kevin Grace, university archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library, who writes of Mark Twain’s relationship with Cincinnati, including that quote attributed to Twain about where he hopes to be when the world ends.

This issue announces the exciting comeback of the former popular Authors, Editors & Composers exhibit that will combine with the current Life of the Mind lecture to form one event that will celebrate the achievements of UC’s artists, authors, editors & composers. We announce the 5th University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report – A Year of Reflection.

Lastly, we announce two upcoming events – the second Hidden Treasures: An Adopt-A-Book Evening on March 12 and the upcoming annual Cecil Striker Lecture to focus on Dr. Christian R. Holmes and scheduled for May 7.

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.

James Lee Appointed Associate Vice Provost for Digital Scholarship and Associate Dean of Libraries

James Lee

James Lee

James Lee has been appointed associate vice provost for digital scholarship and associate dean of libraries effective November 1, 2019.

“James’ new role is a direct investment from university leadership to support UC Libraries’ growing responsibility to lead our institution’s enterprise-wide digital scholarship and digital integration vision,” said Xuemao Wang, vice provost for digital scholarship and dean and university librarian.

In May 2019, Provost Kristi Nelson and Vice President for Research Pat Limbach jointly announced that UC Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Center (DSC) was selected as one of the first six anchor teams for the Digital Futures initiative. Digital Futures is integral to the Next Lives Here vision in UC’s strategic plan: “It will empower diverse teams of thinkers and doers to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” President Neville Pinto said, “to bend the future in Cincinnati’s direction.” In July 2019, Provost Nelson announced Dean Wang’s expanded responsibilities as vice provost for digital scholarship, describing his new portfolio as “…covering a broad spectrum of areas including the DSC, Scholar@UC and research and data management, but also digital archives and preservation, digital records and assets management, scholarly communication and digital publishing, as well as the rapidly evolving movements of open science, open education resources, open data and open access.”    Continue reading

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

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.