You’re Probably More Like a Groundling Than You Think

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By:  Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Globe TheatreI’m pretty sure that during a quiz my freshman year of high school I couldn’t remember the term for the people who stood in the pit of the Globe Theatre to save my life. I sat in my honors English course feeling very stupid, and eventually turning in my quiz knowing I had failed to comprehend even the simplest term surrounding Shakespeare.

Now I’m aware, as I’m sure you are as well, that those smelly folks who couldn’t afford more than a penny to see a show were called groundlings. A penny may seem like nothing to us now, but back then it was the equivalent to 10% of one day’s wage (Globe Theatre Groundlings, n.d.). The majority of groundlings were London apprentices who were shirking their trades to see a show. This led to disgruntled employers as well as some rowdy activity in the crowds, due to the age of most groundlings. The players were not entirely happy either. As Shakespeare’s Hamlet speaks of the groundlings in Act 3, Scene 2:

“O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise.”

Continue reading →

Library Research Guides: A Makeover

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research guidesThe Libraries’ research guides underwent a makeover this summer with a new look and feel, responsive design and enhanced browsing functionality, resulting in a user friendly interface.

With over 450 guides, there is something for everyone. Users may  browse the guides by:

  • Library
  • Subject
  • Type: Course, Research Help, Subject Guide, and Special Topic
  • Owner

Continue reading →

Self-Service Overhead Digitization Comes to Langsam

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UC Digital Archivist Eira Tansey digitizes a book using her smartphone.

UC Digital Archivist Eira Tansey digitizes a book using her smartphone.

Have you ever been in the library and wanted to digitize a few pages from a book? Have you ever been working at the photocopier wishing you could be getting digital images and not paper copies?

Resulting image from Digital Archivist Eira Tansey's smartphone.

Resulting image from Digital Archivist Eira Tansey’s smartphone.

UC Libraries is conducting a pilot to determine the level of interest in self-service overhead digitization. In collaboration with UC carpenters, we have designed a prototype Bring You Own Device self-service digitization station. It is currently located next to the photocopiers and is easy to use.

Results from Self-Service Overhead Digitization

Other results from Self-Service Overhead Digitization

Simply walk up, lay your object on the table surface and place your smartphone on the clear platform. Use your camera app to start taking pictures. The station includes information on free apps that will OCR the images for you.

Please be sure to note your usage in the log attached to the station. Future decisions on this and other options for self-service overhead digitization will use this data!

More Shakespeare! 11 Recipes Sure to Surprise Your Friends

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By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Are you a college student looking for something to serve at your party this weekend? Are you a young professional looking to impress? Are you married and have no idea what to make for that couple you hate but you’re obligated to invite to your house every now and then? Keep reading.

For you, and only you, I have found a book of Shakespearean recipes in our collection of ephemera from UC’s 1916 celebration. I’m almost positive none of your guests have ever tried any of these before!

A few parting words:

  • Always try recipes once before making for others
  • Feel free to let the people at ARB be the guinea pigs you make sample your first attempts!

Good luck! Make sure to take pictures of your creations and share your experience with us on Facebook.

Recipe Book Cover Continue reading →

New Multi-Agency RFI on Exascale Computing

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RFI on Science Drivers Requiring Capable Exascale High Performance Computing ( http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-GM-15-122.html)

Purpose: This is a multi-agency request for information to identify scientific research topics and applications that need High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities that extend 100 times beyond today’s performance on scientific applications. Currently, computational modeling, simulation, as well as data assimilation and data analytics are used by an increasing number of researchers to answer more complex multispatial, multiphysics scientific questions with more realism.

Background: This is a request for information from NSF, DOE, and NIH for community input identifying scientific research that would benefit from a greatly enhanced new generation of HPC and in support of the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/29/executive-order-creating-national-strategic-computing-initiative)

Request for Information: All responses must be submitted to NIGMS_exascale@nigms.nih.gov by October 16, 2015

21st Century Transformation at Clermont College Library

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Literary Invitation9

With support from Clermont College Dean Jeff Bauer, we are working closely with the UC Foundation to raise funds for our library’s renewal. In addition to repeating last year’s Quacks for Stacks fundraiser, we’re planning more initiatives for the coming year including A Literary Affair on Wednesday, September 23rd.

This fun event will kick-off the transformation and include a plaque dedication ceremony for former Library Director Fred Marcotte, as well as highlight exciting plans for improvements to the space. For more information about this event or donating to the 21st Century Library Campaign, contact Dana Parker 513- 558-9964 or Mindi Hilgeman 513-558-3420.

Katie Foran-Mulcahy
Library Director

What’s For Lunch?

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Could you imagine being on campus today and not having a place to go for lunch or even more shocking – not being a short walk from a Starbucks?   From burgers to burritos to caramel Frappuccinos, there are plenty of options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a quick coffee break on or near UC’s West (Main) campus. With all of us so used to so many food options, we were stumped when the University’s Architect’s office asked us “Where was the university’s first dining hall and when did it open?”

We do not always have the answers in our heads, but we can always come up places to start looking. The Cincinnatian (UC’s yearbook) is a great place to start especially for questions that have anything to do with UC’s students. What makes this resource even better is that UC’s yearbooks have been digitized and are freely available online through the Libraries’ website: http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/cincinnatian/ Lucky for us, the 1914 Cincinnatian provided the clue that we needed. An announcement in this yearbook stated, “Varsity’s New Lunch-Room, opened February 9th 1914.” The article also included a menu with interesting options like pineapple and lettuce salad with egg dressing and cold ham and a pickle. The most expensive item on the menu was only 12 cents. Continue reading →

Two Events in the Elliston Poetry Room This Week

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Claudia Keelan

On Wednesday, September 16th at 4:00 poet, editor, and translator Claudia Keelan will read from and discuss Truth of My Songs: The Poems of the Trobairitz (Omnidawn, 2015), the new anthology of 12th century female troubadours (or “trobairitz”) that she translated and edited. Her most recent of her seven poetry collections are O, Heart (Barrow Street, 2014), Missing Her (New Issues Press, 2009), and Utopic (Alice James Books, 2001). As part of her visit to Cincinnati, Keelan will also give a reading at Xavier University’s Kennedy Auditorium at 7:30 on Tuesday night.

James McMichael, Photo Credit: Cindy Love

Photo Credit: Cindy Love

Then, on Friday, September 18th, James McMichael will visit the Elliston Room for two events — a Q&A with Don Bogen at 3:00 and a poetry reading at 4:00.  His most recent collections include Capacity (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2006), a National Book Award finalist, and The World at Large: New and Selected Poems, 1971–1996 (University of Chicago, 1996), and his honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Shelley Memorial Award, and a Academy of American Poets Fellowship.

Look for recordings of this presentation soon in the digital collection, The Elliston Project: Poetry Readings and Lectures at the University of Cincinnati.

Learn more about Events sponsored by the Elliston Poetry Fund.

From Alcohol Proof to Galileo : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 34, September/October 2015

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A surviving set of “spirit bubbles: for testing the proof of alcoholic beverages.

A surviving set of “spirit bubbles:” for testing the
proof of alcoholic beverages.

Issue 34 explores some of the curious uses of glass balls to approximate the density of liquids.

 

Click here for all other issues of Notes from The Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.