The John Miller Burnam Classics Library Hosts “An Evening with Ovid”

Ovid

Ovid

Join the John Miller Burnam Classics Library 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 29 in 417 Blegen Library for “An Evening with Ovid,” an event celebrating the life and work of the Roman poet. We will raise a glass in his honor in connection with his birthday and the 2,000-year anniversary of his death.

The evening will begin with welcoming remarks by Rebecka Lindau, head of the Classics Library. Bridget Langley, visiting assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Classics, will give a brief presentation of Ovid’s life and work. Colin Shelton, adjunct professor in Classics, will follow with a reading of two of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Latin and in translation by modern English poet Ted Hughes. Jenny Doctor, head of the Albino Gorno Memorial Music Library, will introduce a musical performance by modern English composer Benjamin Britten, “Six Metamorphoses after Ovid,” featuring College-Conservatory of Music oboist Yo Shionoya.

Ovid's Metamorphoses

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

The evening will conclude with refreshments Ovid and his contemporaries would have enjoyed. The event will be presided over by Emperor Augustus himself in the form of a copy of the original marble head discovered at Troy during an excavation led by UC’s Classics Department. Additionally, the library will feature a book exhibition with works of Ovid, including rare editions of the Metamorphoses.

The event is free and open to all. RSVP to Cade Stevens at stevencd@ucmail.uc.edu or 513-556-1314 by Friday, March 23.

Feb. 28 Digital Humanities Speaker Series to Feature Two Speakers from the University of Iowa

digital humanities speaker series

Sponsored by the Digital Scholarship Center, the next Digital Humanities Speaker Series event, scheduled for Wed., Feb. 28 in both the Walter C. Langsam Library and the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, will feature David Eichmann, director and associate professor in the School of Library and Information Science, and Blaine Greteman, associate professor of English, both from the University of Iowa. Both sessions are free and open to all.

Blaine Greteman

Blaine Greteman

David Eichmann

David Eichmann

10:00 a.m.-noon: [Keynote]: “Networking Print: Small Worlds, Phase Transitions, and Hidden Histories in 500,000 Early English Books.” Led by: Blaine Greteman. Co-Presenter: David Eichmann.  Location: Walter C. Langsam Library 462

Noon-12:45 p.m.:  Lunch- all welcome, Langsam 462

1:30-3:30 p.m.:  “Identification of Collaborator Networks in Biomedicine (and How They Relate to the Printing/Publishing Community of Pre-1800 England).” Led By: David Eichmann. Co-Presenter: Blaine Greteman. Location: Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, Dr. Stanley B. Troup Learning Space (MSB G005G)
David Eichmann has conducted research in relational database theory, software reuse and reengineering, web search engines and intelligent agents, biomedical informatics and ontology-based research profile harvesting and visualization.  His current projects include Shakeosphere (modeling the social network of the print community in England 1540-1800), CTSAsearch (aggregating research profiles from 70+ institutions), CD2H (an informatics coordinating center for the CTSA consortium) and Linked Data for Libraries (LD4L) (where he is part of a consortium exploring the next generation of library catalogs).

Blaine Greteman writes regularly for popular publications including The New Republic, Slate, TIME and The Week. His first book was The Poetics and Politics of Youth in Milton’s England (Cambridge University Press, 2013); his forthcoming book, Networking Early English Print (Stanford University Press), is based on Shakeosphere, a digital project built in collaboration with David Eichmann. Greteman holds an M.Phil from Oxford, where he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship, and a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley.

Located in the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Digital Scholarship Center (DSC) is a joint venture of the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the College of Arts and Sciences. Launched in September 2016 as an academic center, the DSC provides faculty and students across the university with support for digital project conception, design and implementation. For more about the Digital Scholarship Center, visit  http://dsc.uc.edu.

Love Data Week 2018

“Hey Data-ful, do you come here often?”                              

“Why yes, yes I do, You can always find me in the repository.”

It is Love Data Week and time to show your love for your research output.

What is Love Data Week (#LDW18)?

From the Love Data Week website – http://lovedataweek.org/

Similar to Open Access Week, the purpose of the Love Data Week (LDW) event is to raise awareness and build a community to engage on topics related to research data management, sharing, preservation, reuse, and library-based research data services. We will share practical tips, resources, and stories to help researchers at any stage in their career use good data practices.

Love Data Week is a social media event coordinated by research data specialists, mostly working in academic and research libraries or data archives or centers. We believe research data are the foundation of the scholarly record and crucial for advancing our knowledge of the world around us. If you care about research data, please join us! This event is open to any institution – small, large, research intensive or not, so please feel free to share, adapt, and improve upon it.  We encourage individuals, data librarians or otherwise, to participate in the campaign.

Continue reading

Indian Clubs and German-American Health Promotion

By:  Kevin Grace

Women with Indian ClubsOn a hot June day in 1909, thousands of people gathered at the Carthage Fairgrounds just beyond the city limits of Cincinnati.  There on the nubby dusty infield of the racetrack, groups of women clad in long dresses divided themselves into squads of threes and fours and faced the spectators.  In each hand they held an “Indian club,” a standard piece of gymnasium equipment at the time, and as the crowd watched, the women began a series of intricate, graceful movements, swinging the clubs up from their sides and around their bodies, crisscrossing the clubs in patterns that emphasized coordination and discipline.  The demonstration was just one of several exhibits of mass exercises at the quadrennial Turnfest that was hosted by the Cincinnati Turners organizations that year, a fitting location as the American Turner movement was founded by German immigrants in Cincinnati in 1848.

The festival attracted Turner athletes from around the country and around the world, all journeying to Cincinnati as they had to other cities in past years to exhibit the Turner philosophical ideals of physical and mental fitness, and civic responsibility.  In the days before the ladies’ exercise with Indian clubs, students in the city’s schools demonstrated the skills they had learned in physical education classes, a mainstay of the public school academic program in Cincinnati.  The proper uses of parallel bars, wands and rings, and the pommel horse were performed in front of school officials and Turner judges.  It was a program already several decades old, begun in earnest after the Civil War when secondary and primary teachers learned the techniques of physical fitness and health promotion under the leadership of Turner instructors. Continue reading

OnArchitecture

OnArchitecture is an audiovisual database featuring the main trends in the field of architecture.
The database includes original interviews, buildings, and installations enriched with a selection of complementary material -documents and audiovisuals- about the main authors and figures of contemporary architecture.

Mozart in the Library: Act IV

Ever wonder what people are playing while they are practicing the keyboards in Langsam and CCM Libraries? Jay Sinnard, manager of the Student Technology Resources Center, did so he asked one student if he could listen in.

Caleb Sund, 1st year psychology major

A collaboration between UC Libraries and the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the keyboards are open to anyone wanting to play on a first come-first served basis, but bring your own headphone as they are required.

The UCBA Library’s Book of the Month

by Christian Boyles

February 2018

A History of the United States in Five Crashes book cover

A History of the United States in Five Crashes
HB3722 .N39 2017

About the Book

In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history, Scott Nations, a longtime trader, financial engineer, and CNBC contributor, takes us on a journey through the five significant stock market crashes in the past century to reveal how they defined the United States today.

The stories behind the great crashes are filled with drama, human foibles, and heroic rescues. Taken together they tell the larger story of a nation reaching enormous heights of financial power while experiencing precipitous dips that alter and reset a market where millions of Americans invest their savings, and on which they depend for their futures. Scott Nations vividly shows how each of these major crashes played a role in America’s political and cultural fabric, each providing painful lessons that have strengthened us and helped us to build the nation we know today.

A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these major financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one.

Is it checked out?  Don’t worry about it.  Here are some other titles on the subject.

Inside JobInside Job DVD cover (DVD) HB3722 .I57 2011Provides an analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost of over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research, and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.

Booms and Busts book coverBooms and Busts: an encyclopedia of economic history from Tulipmania of the 1630s to the global financial crisis of the 21st century(ebook): This authoritative set explores three centuries of good times and hard times in major economies throughout the world. More than 400 signed articles cover events from Tulipmania during the 1630s to the U.S. federal stimulus package of 2009, and introduce readers to underlying concepts, recurring themes, major institutions, and notable figures. Written in a clear, accessible style, “Booms and Busts” provides vital insight and perspective for students, teachers, librarians, and the general public – anyone interested in understanding the historical precedents, causes, and effects of the global economic crisis. 

After the Music Stopped book coverAfter the music stopped: the financial crisis, the response, and the work ahead. HB3717 2008 .B55 2013: Many fine books on the financial crisis were first drafts of history–books written quickly to fill the need for immediate understanding. Alan S. Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, takes the time to understand the crisis and create a truly comprehensive and coherent narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do from here–mired as we still are in its wreckage. Blinder shows how the U.S. financial system, grown far too complex for its own good–and too unregulated for the public good–experienced a perfect storm beginning in 2007. When America’s financial structure crumbled, the damage proved to be not only deep, but wide. It took the crisis for the world to discover, to its horror, just how truly interconnected–and fragile–the global financial system is. Blinder offers clear-eyed answers to the questions still before us, even if some of the choices ahead are as divisive as they are unavoidable.

Join Us for Poetry at a Glance “Black History through Poetry”

phillis wheatleyIn celebration of Black History Month, UC Libraries is holding an event featuring poetry and poet Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet.

February 22, 2:00 – 3:30pm

462 Langsam Library

At the event, Kevin Grace, head of the Archives and Rare Books Library and university archivist, will present the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Book, part of the library’s rare books collection. Following, there will be poetry readings by UC students, staff and guests. Those in attendance can also enjoy a taste of cultural cuisine. The event is free and open to all.

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) is the first African American, and one of the first women, to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773. At the age of eight, she was kidnapped from West Africa, enslaved and sold to a family in Boston where her owner’s wife and children taught her to read and write English, Greek and Latin.  She published her first poem at the age of 12.

A table display featuring African-American poets and poetry is on display on the 4th floor of Langsam. A bibliography of the works on display is available online.

Our Favorite Ovid Quotes

Ovid

In connection with the event on Thursday, March 29, in the Classics Library, celebrating the life and works of Publius Ouidius Naso (see blog post below), we are choosing our favorite Ovid quotes. If you would like to participate, please share your favorite(s) (with exact attribution) or choose from the ones below!

“There is nothing constant in the universe, all ebb and flow, and every shape that is born bears in its womb the seeds of change” (Metamorphoses 5.177). UC President Pinto’s favorite quote!

“To put it briefly, we possess nothing that isn’t mortal, except the benefits of the heart and the mind” (Tristia 3.7.43-44). Bridget Langley’s favorite quote

“The barbarian here is me, for I make no sense to anyone” (Tristia 5.10.37). Colin Shelton’s favorite quote

“Believe me, nothing perishes in all the world; it does but vary and renew its form. What we call birth is but a beginning to be other than what one was before; and death is but a cessation of a former state” (Metamorphoses 15. 254-257). Mike’s favorite quote I

“A person’s last day must ever be awaited, and none be counted happy till his death, till his last funeral rites are paid” (Metamorphoses 3.134-6). Mike’s favorite quote II

“O Time, thou great devourer, and thou, envious Age, together you destroy all things; and, slowly gnawing your teeth, you finally consume all things in lingering death!” (Metamorphoses 15. 234-236). Mike’s favorite quote III

“O mortals, do not pollute your bodies with food so impious [the flesh of animals]! You have the fruits of the earth, you have apples, bending down the branches with their weight, and grapes swelling in ripeness on the vines, you also have sweet herbs…” (Metamorphoses 15.75-78). Rebecka’s favorite quote I

“Poor me! Love cannot be cured by herbs” (Metamorphoses 1.523). Rebecka’s favorite quote II

“Not for one person’s delight has nature made the sun, the wind, the waters; all are free” (Metamorphoses 6.349).

“You can learn from anyone even your enemy” (Metamorphoses 4.428).

“I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved; since I could not give gifts, I gave words” (Ars Amatoria 165-166).

“If you want to be loved, be lovable” (Ars Amatoria 107).

“A faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel” (Epistulae ex Ponto 2.9.47-48).

Sunlight as the best disinfectant?

Sunrise over Yellowstone Lake, US Geological Survey. Photo credit: Philip Sandstorm, Montana State University.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously stated that “sunlight was the best disinfectant,” enshrining a principle of transparency as a cornerstone for open democracy and good governance. The United States passed the Freedom of Information Act following Watergate in 1974, and many states subsequently adopted their own freedom of information (FOI) laws (often times referred to as sunshine, open records, or right to know laws). Freedom of information laws give the public broad rights to access records, however the burden to obtain the information still falls on the individual.

Since the passage of FOI laws, there has also been a movement towards what is known as proactive disclosure. This is when public entities proactively share information, data, and records with the public. The internet has made proactive disclosure cheaper and easier, and has given rise to many efforts towards what is known as “open government,” in which data sets from the government are made available to the public.

Transparency of information is an idea that most people agree on in principle, but in practice, the implementation is very uneven. Furthermore, there isn’t conclusive evidence that transparency leads to improvement for the public. In “Transparency With(out) Accountability,” Shkabatur (2012) notes that voluminous amounts of government information are now available, however a lack of context around that data, agency discretion over what to release, and a lack of enforcement has not led to government accountability.

An example of this paradox of transparency can be seen with environmental information. State and federal environmental laws require the disclosure of massive amounts of environmental information. On the other hand, that information is often not contextualized and agencies are not necessarily required to make information easy to find and understand, as long as it is available somewhere. In other words, Ohio may release information related to where gas wells are located, but it does not have to share other information that would make this information meaningful to the general public, such as how many complaints have been filed in proximity to a given well.

In this example, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources can technically say they are being “transparent” – after all, they are providing information about wells on a website accessible to the public. But unless you are a subject specialist, many of the available well records are incomprehensible to the general public. The records show evidence of actions that an agency took (approving construction and ongoing production of a well), but few of the records shed any light on the broader policy decisions and directions of the agency.