New Digital Content: UC’s First Thesis, Thomas Jefferson Letter, Hamilton County Morgue Records, News Record, UC Commencement Programs, and Preservation Lab Treatment Reports

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After working through some storage limitations on the Digital Resource Commons, the UCL Digital Lab is pleased to publish several recently digitized items.

John Hough James Thesis and Thomas Jefferson Letter

The first thesis written at the University of CincinnatiIn July 2016 the Eaton family donated two jewels from their family archive: the first thesis ever written at the University of Cincinnati in 1820 by John Hough James and a letter from President Thomas Jefferson, to whom James had written for additional source material on Poland.

Hamilton County Morgue Records

Ossie Bowman's death entryAbout three years ago, UC Libraries published a digitized collection of historical ledgers from the Hamilton County Morgue, documenting the circumstances of death for thousands of Cincinnatians. Somehow during this process, one of the volumes was missed. We have just published volume 11 of the Morgue Records, 1910-1911.

News Record

The News RecordWhile most issues of News Record from the 1960’s and 70’s have been digitized over the past five years, we were missing seven volumes from the 1970’s. The UCL Digital Lab is pleased to publish the complete run from the 1970’s, each issue has been OCR’ed and full-text indexed.

Commencement Programs

Invitation to first UC commencementWe have recently published a digitized collection of 116 UC commencement programs, from 1878 to 1973. While most years only include the official program, some contain invitations to commencement-related events and even the text from commencement addresses. These programs have been OCR’ed and full-text indexed to make it easier to search for UC alumni.

The Preservation Lab Treatment Reports

Preservation Lab Treatment ReportThe Preservation Lab has been publishing treatment reports and photographic documentation that are a record of conservation treatments conducted in the lab on special collections items held either by the University of Cincinnati Libraries or the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The reports offer detailed bibliographic information and technical information on the construction of the materials. Several new reports have been added to both the UC Libraries and Public Library collections.

Puzzled at Clermont?

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Did you know the first jigsaw puzzles were created in 1762 by London mapmaker, John Spilsbury? He created them from “engraved maps pasted onto wood and cut into pieces along political boundaries.”

Putting together a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to spend downtime. We have set up a puzzle table in Clermont College Library for everyone’s enjoyment. We hope you’ll stop by and be puzzled!

Williams, Anne D. “Jigsaw Puzzles.” Early American Homes 28.6 (1997): 28. MAS Ultra – School Edition. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.

Penny McGinnis
Technical Services Manager

Spring Semester 2017 GIS Learning Community Meetings

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If you have an interest in connecting with others using or learning about GIS, then please join the GIS Learning Community at an upcoming meeting.

Date: Feb 1st , March 8th , April 12th

Time: 3:15 pm to 4:25 pm

Venue: 462 Langsam

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems.  The goal of the community is to create a user-driven forum for novice and expert practitioners to come together and discuss tools, resources and solutions to questions and new projects that develop as researchers consider the spatial aspects of their data.   We invite interested individual across all of UC to join us in building this community.

Contact Amy Koshoffer at koshofae@ucmail.uc.edu with questions or to be added to the GIS LC mailing list.

Visit UC Libraries Research Data and GIS Services website for more information: http://libraries.uc.edu/digital-scholarship/data-services.html

Presenting Geoffrey Pinski to talk about intellectual property Feb 7th

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Geoffrey Pinski

Geoffrey Pinski

Are you wondering about IP?

Join UC Libraries and UC Technology Accelerator for Commercialization 2pm Tuesday February 7, to learn about Intellectual Property (IP) and how it plays a role in your scholarship and research.

Geoffrey Pinski, director UC Technology Accelerator for Commercialization, will talk on IP and Research data.

Date: February 7, 2017

Time: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Venue: 427 ERC

The talk is free and open to all.

Local History at the Clermont College Library

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Elizabeth Terry’s ENGL 1001 students completed writing projects examining local cities, villages, and places during the fall 2016 term. The projects examined questions relating to a place’s relative growth or isolation.

Students spent a great deal of time using the local history collections of the Clermont College Library, the Clermont County Public Library, and local historical societies. They also snapped photos of their research subjects — now on display in the Peters-Jones hallway outside of the library.  The photographs represent an additional investigative method, capturing indefinable beauty in landmarks we often pass without a second thought.

Katie Foran-Mulcahy
Clermont College Library Director

Smoking Permitted and No Tipping Allowed!?! Hospital Information for Overnight Patients, 1958

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The following post was written by Winkler Center assistant archivist, Nina Herzog.   All images courtesy of the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions

CGH  Informational Booklet, 1958.

 

Without a doubt, checking into and staying at hospitals is a lot different today than it was over a half century ago.  Computerized check-ins, televisions in rooms and bans on smoking, etc. have all improved the patient experience. The images below were taken from an informational booklet given to patients at the Cincinnati General Hospital (CGH) in 1958.

The instructive pamphlet titled, “Well Here I Am,” provides the incoming patient with information on subjects ranging from check in, dining hours, and visitor information to hospital maps, directions, and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading →

Welcome Back, Clermont Students!

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Dear Students,

I’m so happy to welcome you all back to campus!

With help from generous donors, we’ve worked hard during the winter break to make the library a better place for you to study, hang out, and get assistance with research. The big changes  include an upgraded service point and new front doors. We’ve also relocated some furniture and the printer-scanner combo in order to serve you better. Stay tuned for more improvements coming soon this term, including electric access for more first floor study tables and for the circular couches in the library atrium.

Let me know what you think of all of the changes!

Best wishes for a productive and happy spring semester,

Katie Foran-Mulcahy
Clermont College Library Director

UCBA Fun Facts: Favorite App or Website

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Dean’s Corner: Welcome Back!

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This fall, UC Libraries continued the pursuit of our mission to become the “globally engaged intellectual commons of the university.”

We began the semester with the announcement of Langsam Library’s transformation to a 24×7 space, and the opening of its new Starbucks cafe. We celebrated a number of new hires, including the director of the University of Cincinnati Press, Liz Scarpelli and the head of the CCM Library, Jenny Doctor. We featured new displays, such as Big Bone Lick: A Place of Discovery at the Geography-Mathematics-Physics Library, physical and online exhibits  celebrating Native American Heritage found at Langsam Library and on our library website, and a Halloween exhibit of creepy medical artifacts at the Winkler Center. We also celebrated at the Winkler Center the 100th birthday of Dr. Henry R. Winkler.

At the 10th Annual Books by the Banks Festival. From left to right, my wife Wendy, Director of Communications Melissa Cox Norris, and Interim Associate Dean for Public Services Dan Gottlieb

UC Libraries sponsored numerous events, including ones for Hispanic Heritage Month and the bi-annual Life of the Mind.* I held my third bi-annual Dean’s Advisory Council meeting.

All of these visible and publicized changes and events don’t account for the hard work done behind the scenes by UC Libraries’ excellent faculty and staff.

This spring will be a time of re-calibration. We will continue to serve the students, faculty, researchers and scholars of the University of Cincinnati community while examining the best way forward. On this blog, I plan to dig deeper into the initiatives, departments and personnel that make up UC Libraries.

Thank you for reading and welcome back!

Xuemao Wang
Dean and University Librarian

 

 

*For more highlights, check out the recently released 2015/2016 Progress Report: Transforming Our Spaces and UC Libraries’ Newsletter Source.

Costuming a King

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By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Since the beginning of theater, costumes have played a crucial role to the understanding and enjoyment of the stories.  Over time, they have developed both in design and technique.  It was the Greeks who first invented costumes, using them to differentiate between characters of different class.  They were often ornate, with patterns and masks.   Romans continued the tradition of costuming, but no major changes were made for hundreds of years.  By the time Shakespeare came about, costuming had evolved so that actors would don whatever their character would wear in real life. Continue reading →