African American History Month and the Archives & Rare Books Library

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By:  Kevin Grace

It is February again, a month notable for honoring presidents and for looking forward to spring. February is also a time when we reflect on the heritage of African Americans in the United States and take time to acknowledge that part of our nation’s history.

Basketball Team 1934 including first African American player, Chester Smith

UC’s 1934 Basketball team including first African American player, Chester Smith

Depending on the media, we also term February as Black History Month, and it had its beginnings in 1926 when “Negro History Week” was created by historian Carter G. Woodson. Woodson’s intent was to celebrate it in February because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had their birthdays in this month., and as he stated, “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” Continue reading →

In One Word, Why Do You Love Your Library

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Clermont College Library is celebrating “love your library” month with a
contLove one wordest for all Clermont College students.

To enter the “In One Word, Why Do You Love Your Library” contest:

  • Grab a heart from the Love Your Library display
  • Write your “One Word” on the front
  • Fill out your information on the back
  • Pin your heart to the display board

You’ll be entered to win a $25 gift card to be drawn on February 29.

One entry per person.

Stay tuned the rest of the month as we share the library love with posts about each library staff member.

Penny McGinnis
Technical Services Manager

Open Science Framework Webinar

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OSF 101 Webinar

The Open Science Framework is a free, open source web application created by the Center for Open Science built to help researchers manage their workflows. The OSF is part collaboration tool, part version control software, and part data archive.

Learn how to make the most of your free OSF account by participating in our upcoming webinar. Make managing your research easier with these features:

  • Centralized file storage to organize all of your materials in one place
  • Collaboration space to keep coworkers on the same page
  • Fine-grained privacy controls to manage public and private workflows
  • Built-in version control to maintain access to file history
  • Add-on connections to the tools you already use to streamline your workflow

Wednesday, February 3, 2016 – 11a -12p EST

Click here for details and to register.

To learn more about the Center for Open Science, visit their website: https://cos.io/

Welcome to the New Entrance to the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library

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GMP entrance

New exterior entrance.

When users of the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library returned to campus for spring semester, they were greeted with a new entrance to the library. The more accessible and visible entrance is located on the exterior of Braunstein Hall across from the Old Chemistry Building and visible from the quad. It includes a book drop as well as a lounge space adjacent to the new entrance.

Over the next six months there are plans to improve the library’s upper level. First, the service desk and reserves will move across the room to be adjacent to the external entrance. In addition, more lounge and group collaboration spaces will be created, as well as a computing space to support GIS needs.

The new entrance will allow many people to discover, or re-discover, this library, and to make use of its resources.

GMP entrance

View from the quad.

 

GMP entrance and lounge.

View of the interior and the lounge adjacent to the new entrance.

Poison!: Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 36, January/February 2016

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An overview of OSHA’s rating system for laboratory chemicals

An overview of OSHA’s rating system for laboratory chemicals

Issue 36 provides a brief insight into the history of labeling chemical bottles.

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

 

 

 

 

Dean Xuemao Wang to Join Steering Committee of SPARC

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Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

The global coalition advocates Open Access, Open Education and Open Data.

Xuemao Wang, dean and university librarian, has been selected to serve on the Steering Committee of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC).

SPARC is a global coalition of 200+ academic and research libraries that works to enable open sharing of research output and educational materials in order to “democratize access to knowledge, accelerate discovery and increase the return on investment in research and education.” To achieve this mission, SPARC collaborates with authors, publishers, libraries, students, policymakers and the public to build opportunities and promote changes to make open access the default for research and education. Continue reading →

A Program By Any Name: Calling All Theater Goers and Performers!

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Shakespeare Celebration BookmarkWe need your help! The Archives and Rare Books Library is expanding its Shakespeare holdings as part of the 2016 quadricentennial . In our effort to document and preserve the heritage of Shakespeare productions in the greater Cincinnati area over the past two centuries, we’re building an archival collection of local Shakespeare play programs. It doesn’t matter if they are from 1902 or two days ago. They can be programs from performances by CCM, high schools, professional theater groups, or the couple next door who are forever emoting on Romeo and Juliet. It doesn’t matter! The only requirement we have is that the performance took place somewhere in the tri-state.

Please mail your submissions to the Archives and Rare Books Library, P.O. Box 210113, Cincinnati, OH 45211-0113 or drop them by our library on the 8th floor of Blegen Library. If you have any questions, just contact us via email (archives@mail.uc.edu) or give us a call Monday through Friday, 8-5, at (513) 556-1959.

Thank you all so much for following our celebration, and a special thanks to anyone who can contribute. We can’t wait to see the wonderful programs you have in store for us! To learn more about our Shakespeare commemoration, have a look at our web page, http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/exhibits/shakespeare400/.

Program for Macbeth at CCMScript of Hamlet, presented in Music Hall, Cincinnati

UCBA Fun Facts: 2016 Reading Goals

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Question: Do you have any reading goals for the new year?

Heather

Heather Maloney, Library Director: To read more – more specifically to finish more books! The stack on nightstand is embarrassing:-)

 

Michelle Michelle McKinney, Reference/Web Services Librarian: I’m taking up the Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge found at: http://bookriot.com/2014/12/15/book-riot-2015-read-harder-challenge/

 

KellieKellie Tilton, Instructional Technologies Librarian: Stretch Goal: 150 books; Realistic Goal: 100 books

 

 

LaurenLauren Wahman, Instruction Librarian: Ah, yes.  I’m going to make another attempt at noting what books I read throughout the year.  I sometimes pick up a book only to find that I’ve already read it!

 

RachelRachel Lewis, Technical Services Manager: My goal is just to “read”.  

 

 

julierobinsonJulie Robinson, Library Operations Manager: Hmmm, more time for reading!

 

 

pamadler Pam Adler, Public Services Assistant: No!  No goals, no pressure when it comes to reading for pleasure.

 

 

 

Will(iam) You Allow Me To Deviate?

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By:  Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

William Shakespeare     I’m going to depart from the traditional format of my blog posts for just a moment. Instead of trying to share some story or educate you on our holdings, I would rather take a second and start a discussion with all of you.

Recently I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal, titled, “The Coming Shakespeare Extravaganza” (you may have seen it on our Facebook page). The article goes over the impending 400th anniversary celebrations, but it also asks if we are celebrating William too much. I would like to ask you all the same question, but in broader terms. Continue reading →

UC Celebrates Its Library’s Founding Collection as It Celebrates Shakespeare 400

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Shakespeare Celebration BookmarkEvents around the world will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in April. University of Cincinnati Libraries are showcasing UC’s rare Shakespeare collections and highlights of the UC Shakespeare Tercentenary a century ago.

Cultural, creative and educational organizations around the world will kick off celebrations honoring the legacy of William Shakespeare as the world observes the 400th anniversary of his death, which was on April 23, 1616. Here at the University of Cincinnati, the Archives & Rare Books Library’s Shakespeare collection is one of the university’s original library collections, purchased for the university back in the 1890s.

The Enoch T. Carson collection holds more than 250 volumes. The collection has illustrations from editions of Shakespeare’s works along with pamphlets, clippings, excerpts, criticism, almanacs and various souvenirs that were collected by Carson. Over the past century, dozens of additional volumes have augmented that original collection, including rare editions illustrated by Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, and W. Heath Robinson. Continue reading →