UC Libraries Offering LabArchives Electronic Lab Notebook to UC Research Community

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The University of Cincinnati Libraries, with funding from the Office of the Provost, is pleased to present the LabArchives Electronic Lab Notebook to the UC research community.

An enterprise-wide license with LabArchives has been obtained for UC and will last until June 30, 2018.*

LabArchives is the leading secure and intuitive cloud-based Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) application enabling researchers to easily create, store, share and manage their research data. Far more than an ELN, LabArchives provides a flexible, extensible platform that can be easily customized to match your lab’s workflow providing benefits to Principal Investigators, lab managers’ staff, post doctoral fellows and grad students. LabArchives can be integrated seamlessly with GraphPad Prism, MS-Office, PubMed, BOX, Learning Management Systems and a number of other software tools that are used extensively by researchers of the Academic Health Center and university wide. Additionally, the LA ELN works on multiple platforms and devices including Mac, Windows, Android and iPad devices, allowing researchers to store and access their data from virtually anywhere with Internet access.

For more information about LabArchives: http://www.labarchives.com/.

To sign up for a LabArchives account: https://mynotebook.labarchives.com/. Continue reading →

Try your Hand at Danish Heart Weaving

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A tradition in Scandinavia, people often create woven hearts to hang on the Christmas tree. But with Valentine’s Day coming up in February, we thought you might enjoy creating a plaited heart to decorate with or give to a friend.

Stop by the Clermont College Library and enjoy some mindful, hands-on crafting between classes.

Penny McGinnis
Technical Services Manager

Bloodsport for the Undergrads

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By: Kevin Grace

On December 3, 1907, an angry father wrote to the Board of Directors at the University of Cincinnati:

Gentlemen:

     Enclosed you find a doctor bill for treatment of a fractured nose, rendered to my son Armin C. Arend, who was hurt in a flag rush on the 30th of October; the rush being aided and supported by the officials of the University of Cincinnati.  I hope your Honorable Body doesn’t expect that I have to pay this bill since I, as well as my son, am opposed to flag rushes.  Please take this matter into your hands, & judge for yourself who should pay this bill.  Remember, that I paid tuition for this day, which is not given as a holiday in the School Calendar of the University of Cincinnati.

     It is hard enough for me as a workingman to pay tuition let alone such foolish unnecessary expenses.

                                                         Yours Respectfully,

Julius Arend
3318 Bonaparte Avenue, City

The bill in question, for $5.00, was referred to the Board’s Law Committee, which quickly denied the father’s claim.    As no further word was heard from Mr. Arend, presumably he chalked up the medical bill to an educational expense, like young Armin’s textbooks, but literally, a lesson in the “school of hard knocks.”

Because that is what “flag rush” was during the Progressive Era, a bloodsport of occasional broken noses, broken arms, concussions, and countless contusions and abrasions.   A variation on games we know as “capture the flag” and “red rover,” flag rush was a heightened example of these, and was popular on college and university campuses around the country.

Flag Rush at UC

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Wallet Hip, Seinfeld, and Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby

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Pg. 1, City of Cincinnati Ordinance # 56, 2017. Click to read.

Last week, the Winkler Center received word that in March 2017 a street in Cincinnati had been renamed in honor of Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby, a 1938 UC College of Medicine graduate. Wehby had a general practice office for many years on Broadway between 4th and 5th streets in downtown Cincinnati and served the community as a general practitioner from 1939-1983. His medical practice was noted for its willingness to serve all members of the community regardless of race, ethnicity, or one’s ability to pay. The city ordinance naming the northwest corner of Broadway Street at 4th St. “Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby Corner” also states that Wehby had “donated machines and medical antiques to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.” Hmmm? Could those machines or antiques have made their way to the Winkler Center?  It’s possible; but not surprisingly, I uncovered no documentation of a donation. As an archive, the Winkler Center is not alone in its frustration of documentation growing sparser the older the donation. Years ago items often were donated with nothing more than a handshake.

Intriguing as this all was, what intrigued me more on the ordinance was a listing of Dr. Wehby’s research interests. It states that Dr. Wehby “published numerous medical articles and made many contributions to medical science including his discovery of ‘wallet hip’ or wallet syndrome which was published in the Ohio State Medical Journal, 1968.” Wait a second? WALLET HIP!?! WHAT?!? WALLET SYNDROME!?!

We all laughed and scoffed a bit back in the late 1990s at that episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza develops sciatic nerve issues from carrying around a huge wallet. I have to admit that as a wallet carrier at the time, the idea of someone developing lower back issues from frequently sitting on a large lump in one’s back pocket made perfect sense to me. I just didn’t think it was a real medical thing.

So thank you Dr. Wehby not only for the compassion you showed the city in your desire to treat its sick regardless of their circumstance, but also for setting the world straight on Wallet Hip!  We are indebted…and so are our L5s and S1s.

The only data the Winkler holds on Dr. Wehby is an old alumni card kept by the College of Medicine which contains addresses, date of birth, other contact information, etc. So in lieu of any image or further information on Dr. Wehby, enjoy a few minutes of George Costanza’s lumbar destroying wallet found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPf98i8A0g. We think Dr. Wehby would have enjoyed it too.

Now on Display for Black History Month and the African American Read In

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The UCBA Library has two displays running for the month of February: the African American Read In display (located at the entrance of the library) and the Black History Month display (located near the print station). Both displays will be available through February 28th.

Titles from the African American Read-In display can be used for the college sponsored Read-In event scheduled for Thursday, Febuary 8, 2018 from 12:30pm-1:45pm in the Audiotorium lobby. Read In events are held nationally during Black History Month and highlights African American authors. A full list of titles can be browsed online on the National African American Read In Guide along with information on how to volunteer as a reader.

Black History Month Poster

 

 

 

 

Black History Month Display

UCBA Library Presents UC Press Brown Bag

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Liz Scarpelli

Liz Scarpelli, UC Press Director, will be at UCBA to give an overview of the UC Press, its current initiatives and to take questions about the Press. Also, joining Liz via Skype will be the new UC Press Acquisitions Director, Michael Duckworth.

When: Thursday, February 22 from 12p-1p
Where: Learning & Teaching Center (Muntz 117)

 

University-Area Planning in the Gettler Papers

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By: Alex Temple, Gettler Project Archivist, Archives & Rare Books Library

Martin Luther King Jr. and Vine Street IntersectionOne of the most notable parts of Benjamin Gettler’s life and work is his time spent on the Board of Trustees at the University of Cincinnati.  He was appointed by Governor George Voinovich in 1993 and elected to chairman of the board in 2000, from which he retired in 2002.  While sorting through the records related to his tenure, I was really struck by the massive amount of thought and work that not only goes into shaping the experience for UC students, but also into the surrounding community.

Among the various campus-life projects represented in the collection, one that is very interesting is the long-term plan to improve the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Jefferson Avenue, and Vine Street.  At that time, Uptown (Avondale, Clifton, Clifton Martin Luther King and Vine Street IntersectionHeights, Corryville, Fairview, Mt. Auburn, and University Heights) accounted for 10% of the city’s population and 14% of the city’s employment, which together provided for over 46,000 workers commuting into or out of Uptown daily.  In addition to the university itself, the hospitals, and the Environmental Protection Agency complex, the immediate area saw the construction of a new office complex, the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies, and a UC conference center, including a Marriott hotel.  I found the moving pieces, stakeholder interests, and politics concerning an area approximately 100,000 sq. ft. very intriguing. Continue reading →

Bookish Travels

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by Christian Boyles, Michelle McKinney and Kellie Tilton

UCBA Library staff and faculty, Christian Boyles (Collections Services Manager), Michelle McKinney (Reference and Web Services Librarian) and Kellie Tilton (Instructional Technologies Librarian) hit the road and visited a few bookish places over the holiday season. Click on the images to get a better view of the photos.

Christian Boyles / Washington DC / Library of Congress: In December, the missus and I went to DC for her birthday.  Along with visiting many great Smithsonian museums, walking a gazillion miles, seeing grand architecture, priceless works of art and ephemera and the new Star Wars film, we went to the Library of Congress.  For someone who has worked in libraries for a gazillion years, going there felt like what going to the Vatican must feel like to a Catholic.

The building itself is an amazing and imposing structure designed in the Beaux-Arts style with a bonkers fountain out front featuring the Roman god Neptune, some sea monsters and a bunch of naked people riding what I guess are horse snakes.  What that has to do with literature and the centralized housing of knowledge was lost on me.  Inside is no less impressive.  Walking in, I was legitimately awestruck by the LOC’s grandeur.  Imagine if St. Peter’s Cathedral and some enlightenment era French king’s home had a baby and you’re still nowhere close to how awesome it is.  Probably the crown jewel of the place is the reading room. Housed under a dome, it is a masterpiece of archetecture featuring arched stained glass windows, semetrical study carrells, Corinthian columns, and statues of some of the great minds in religion, poetry, commerce, philosophy, etc.  Just looking in on that, I’m pretty sure I felt my IQ nudge up a couple points.  Throughout the building, there were displays of ancient manuscripts going back hundreds and thousands of years.

Unfortunately, we were running short on time, so we couldn’t take the tour.  But, we did manage to check out a very cool exhibit on the American experience of World War 1.  In a perfect world, I would have spent a day, if not more, discovering all the cool features and offerings.  Insider tip: if you’re in DC and are having a sugar crash, the LOC’s vending machines are very comprehensive and cheap.

Michelle McKinney / Louisville, KY / Wild Fig Coffee & Books: In early January, I treated my husband to a quick trip to Lexington for his birthday. Before heading back home, I discovered a bookstore just down the street from where we were having breakfast. Wild Fig Coffee & Books is located near UK’s campus and is owned by award-winning author, Crystal Wilkinson. The independent bookstore has an eclectic selection of new and old books, including a wide range of graphic novels. Wild Fig also carries a variety of bookish and feminist gifts such as mugs, socks and greeting cards. The coffee is pretty tasty too!

Kellie Tilton: On Christmas Day, 2017, a friend from college and I hopped the pond to begin an epic two week, three country excursion that was kick started because we snagged tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II in the West End. With our tickets falling in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we decided to make the most of the time frame.

We spent a handful of days in London – mostly in pursuit in all the Harry Potter-related attractions London had to offer – then it was up to Edinburgh, Scotland to bring in the New Year with their Hogmanay celebrations. We made a quick trip across the Channel via the Chunnel to have a gandar at Paris (and basically eat a million croissants) before landing back in London to spend one more weekend catching the things we missed the first time.

Highlights of this adventure include, but are not limited to, The Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, The British Library (and it’s History of Magic exhibition in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone publishing), the play (obviously), Hogmanay, Kensington Palace, and the Paris Catacombs. I brought back four new editions for my Harry Potter in Translation Collection. It just goes to show, your literary loves will provide ample reasons to travel the world!

Registration Now Open for Third Annual UC DATA Day Scheduled for March 6

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The University of Cincinnati Libraries and IT@UC announce the third annual UC DATA Day. Scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m., Tuesday, March 6 in Nippert Stadium West Pavilion on UC’s Main Campus (see directions), UC DATA Day 2018 offers a full schedule of engaging events that will reveal solutions to data challenges and foster a community of best practices around improved data management. All events are free and include lunch. The public is welcome.

Registration is now open at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/blogs/dataday/registration/. Seats are limited, so register early.

Patricia Flatley Brennan

Patricia Flatley Brennan

The UC DATA Day 2018 keynote speaker is Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The NLM is the world’s largest biomedical library and the producer of digital information services used by scientists, health professionals and members of the public worldwide. Prior to her work at the NLM, she was the Lillian L. Moehlman Bascom Professor, School of Nursing and College of Engineering, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The day will include panel discussions on “Game Changing Data: How Data is being used to Affect Change,” “Big Data” and “Data Solutions: Your Questions Answered.” In addition, attendees can participate in two technical sessions on data analysis and data visualization with Python. During lunch, service providers will speak on how they support researchers and research data management.

For more information on UC DATA Day 2018, contact Tiffany Grant, interim assistant director for research and informatics, at (513) 558-9153 or tiffany.grant@uc.edu.