Mercantile Library Celebrating UC’s Bicentennial with an Event Featuring two Books Published Recently by the University of Cincinnati Press

In Service to the City and From the Temple of Zeus book coversOn Wed, December 5, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, the Mercantile Library will host Celebrating the University of Cincinnati Bicentennial, featuring David Stradling and Greg Hand who will speak about their books published recently by the University of Cincinnati Press. In Service to the City: A History of the University of Cincinnati, is a comprehensive history by Professor David Stradling. Its companion volume, edited by Greg Hand, From the Temple of Zeus to the Hyperloop: University of Cincinnati Stories, is an anthology that complements and enriches Stradling’s book by demonstrating the UC experience.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required at https://mercantilelibrary.com/calendar/celebrating-the-university-of-cincinnati-bicentennial/

More about the books:

In Service to the City: A History of the University of Cincinnati is a scholarly history by David Stradling, who holds the Zane Miller Chair in Urban History at UC. Stradling is a noted author of urban history, author of Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills (University of Washington Press, 2007), The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State (Cornell University Press, 2010) and Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland (Cornell University Press, 2015). Stradling’s book focuses on the evolving relationship between the University of Cincinnati and the City of Cincinnati and how these two entities influenced one another.

A companion volume, edited by Greg Hand, From the Temple of Zeus to the Hyperloop: University of Cincinnati Stories, is an anthology of 35 chapters that complements and enriches Professor Stradling’s book by demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the UC experience. Authors for this volume include Sarah Jessica Parker, former Governor Bob Taft, faculty, alumni, and current students. Most contributions are in the form of personal essays, but there is a play and a poem as well.

Missing Maps Mapathon held at UC Libraries

On Nov 3rd, the Red Cross and UC libraries partnered to hold a second Missing Maps Mapathon. Missing Maps is an open, collaborative project in which you can help to map areas where humanitarian organisations are trying to meet the needs of vulnerable people.

During the mapathon, participants used the Open Street Map platform to identify buildings in satellite images and place them on a regional map (georeference).  The Red Cross uses this information to set up emergency services in areas that are impacted by natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.  The mapping will be verified by Red Cross volunteers working in the mapped country and will help prepare response teams in the area to better assist if disaster strikes.

This year’s project covered three areas in the Lake Chad region in Niger.  This region of the world is experiencing a great humanitarian crisis due to poor infrastructure, conflict, poverty, and climate change.  It has been reported that nearly 17 million people are affected by the dire situation and 10.7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.  The International Red Cross has been working in the area for thirty years and coordinates efforts with local relief agencies.

At this year’s event, UC Geography student Rachel Byrd led UC Cincinnatus Scholar students, UC Librarian Amy Koshoffer, UC Press Director Liz Scarpelli,  and Red Cross International Services Manager Paula McIntosh through the 4 hour mapping session.  In the span of four hours, volunteers were able to map three regions around the lake and identified 6065 buildings.  Many thanks to all who participated and contributed to the mission of the Red Cross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Sorrell Joins UC Libraries as Computer Systems Administrator Lead

Today, Scott Sorrell joined UC Libraries in the Library IT Operations and Services team as the computer systems administrator lead.

Scott will be responsible for the day-to-day management of IT Operations and Services including the library IT help desk, desktop services, inventory management, conference room/classroom AV/IT support and servers.

Scott comes to us from the UC College of Medicine IT Systems Support, where he has been serving as the computer systems administrator.  He has 20 years of experience in IT support and analysis.  Scott has also recently obtained his Master of Science in Information System degree from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business with concentration in business intelligence, data analytics, database design and project management.

University of Cincinnati Press and CLIPS to Receive Free Installation and Training on the Manifold Platform to Help Meet Digital Publishing Goals

On Thursday, Manifold, an open-source, web-based publishing platform that easily integrates the publication of networked and enhanced ebooks with existing publication workflows, announced that it had selected the University of Cincinnati Press and Library Publishing Services (CLIPS) as one of 10 groups to receive free installation and training on their platform.

Liz Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press, said of their involvement: “Manifold will help us further our mission to publish new modes of scholarship and enhanced publications by providing a professional, agile and dynamic presentation site for our authors and readers.  We anticipate using Manifold for many of our publications from traditional monographs to digitally innovative projects designed to expand the dialogue between scholars and community based experts and practitioners.  We see Manifold as a key tool in our discoverability strategy at the University of Cincinnati Press and Cincinnati Library Publishing Services (CLIPS).  The mission based approach and affordability and technical support available through the pilot make Manifold an easy choice in partners for us.”

Read the Manifold press release below to learn more: Continue reading

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.

Be Sure to Check Out and Vote for ‘The Great American Read’

readUC Libraries and the University of Cincinnati Press are proud sponsors of PBS’s “The Great American Read,” an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels. The series features entertaining and informative documentary segments, with compelling testimonials from celebrities, authors, notable Americans and book lovers across the country talking about their favorites among the 100 chosen books.

The series kicks off May 22, 8pm, on CET. Be sure to watch! Throughout the summer, viewers will be encouraged to vote for their favorite of the 100 best-loved novels and the winner will be announced October 23.

For more information about “The Great American Read,” and to see a list of the 100 best-loved novels, visit www.cetconnect.org/community/great-american-read.

Happy Viewing (and Reading)!

@GreatAmericanReadPBS 

Join the University of Cincinnati Press April 11 at RESEARCH + INNOVATION WEEK

research week header

 

Social Justice – Human Settlements – Global Features:

Arts & Humanities in the Age of Impact

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

9:00-9:50

Publishing Landscapes: Academic and Literary Output Today

Elizabeth Scarpelli (University of Cincinnati Press); Nicola Mason (ACRE Books); Lisa Ampleman (Cincinnati Review)

10:00-10:50

Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Open Access: A Roundtable

Sandra Enimil (Copyright Resources Center, The Ohio State University); Geoffrey Pinski (UC Technology Accelerator); Mark Konecny (University of Cincinnati Press|CLIPS)

11:00-12:00

Envisioning New Modes of Publishing: Leveraging Resources

Jeff Blevins (Dept of Journalism); James Lee (Digital Scholarship Center); Mark Konecny (University of Cincinnati Press|CLIPS); Sean Crowe (UC Libraries); Kent Meloy (CEEL); Jason Day (CEEL); Elizabeth Scarpelli (University of Cincinnati Press)

KINGSGATE MARRIOT

Mt. Echo Room

Breakfast and Lunch provided

press

Read about Preserving Taft, the Writing of E.B. White and the Digital Scholarship Center in Source.

source vol 16 no2Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn more about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

This latest issue of Source includes a feature on the work of the Preservation Lab and their collaboration with the Archives and Rare Books Library on a collection about William Howard Taft. Xuemao Wang, dean and university librarian, talks about how libraries need to adapt for the future. Kevin Grace, university archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library, writes about a collection centered around children’s books author and co-writer of The Elements of Style, E.B. White. A grant from The Andrew Mellon Foundation in support of the Digital Scholarship Center’s research on machine learning and data visualization in multiple disciplines in the humanities and beyond is announced. Dean Wang and Liz Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press are interviewed about the progress of the Press one year in. Gino Pasi, archivist and curator for the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, writes about a set of historical and important surgery films recently digitized and made available. Other articles announce the Libraries’s Adopt-a-Book program and the 2016/17 Annual Progress Report.

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.

Provost Office Issues Call for Proposals from Faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences

The Office of the Provost will award faculty grants as part of the Open Access Monograph Publishing Initiative. Submission deadline is Oct 2.

The University of Cincinnati is participating in a new initiative, the Open Access Monograph Publishing Initiative, of the Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) that is designed to advance the wide dissemination of scholarship by humanities and social sciences faculty by promoting and publishing free, open access, digital editions of peer-reviewed, professional monographs.

The Office of the Provost will award three grants of up to $15,000 each year for the next five years to support the publication of original long-form monographs by participating publishers.

The internal review committee is now accepting proposals. Continue reading