Adventures in Tutus

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By:  Sydney Vollmer, ARB Student Worker

I have never been to a ballet in my life. Why? Simply put: everyone in my family (excluding one aunt) has told me it’s boring and weird.  Indeed, I have let the opinions of others shape my own experiences (or lack thereof). I was perfectly happy never thinking to attend a ballet…until I started working at the Archives and Rare Books Library.

As the student worker here, part of my role includes sorting, inventorying, and processing collections so they can be properly stored in the archives for future research. The project I am currently working on is sorting everything that was recently given to us by Cincinnati Ballet Company (CBC).

We hold the collections of CBC that were acquired before I was hired, so the material I’m working on is a recent addition to the archive.  From what I hear, the last round was much more manageable. Below, you can see some pictures of the room where I am working. This is the collection AFTER a preliminary sorting. I’ve probably spent about 12 hours in there over the past few weeks and I’ve even had help and supervision. Even if it doesn’t look like it, this is progress!

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Check Out the Latest Issue of Source, UC Libraries’ Newsletter

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SourceRead the online newsletter to learn more about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

This latest issue of Source includes an Interview with Dean Xuemao Wang about UC Libraries’ evolving global initiatives, as well as an announcement of the return of the Life of the Mind UC lecture series. The next speaker in the Digital Humanities Speaker Series is announced as well as a Save the Date for the annual Cecil Striker Lecture. There is an article highlighting the Libraries expanding digital collections, as well as two articles about collaborations that brought more attention to the work of two pioneers in their respective fields — one in urban planning the second in the study of anatomy. Read these articles and much more.

Source is available on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

“In the Service of the Eye”: Georg Bartisch’s 16th Century Textbook On Ophthalmology

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By:  Kevin Grace

bartisach reader-smallA new exhibit has been mounted in the 8th floor hallway of Blegen Library.  Reproduced from a volume in the Archives & Rare Book Library, this exhibit features fourteen woodcuts from a 16th century science book.   One of the seminal medical texts of the Renaissance, Georg Bartisch’s volume on the eye, Ophthalmodouleia Das ist Augendienst, was a remarkably detailed guide to surgical techniques on ocular diseases.  Published in 1583, this “service of the eye” would build the foundation for ophthalmology research for the next 300 years. Continue reading →

Pipe Repair in Langsam Library Beginning March 14

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Starting this Saturday, March 14 maintenance and contractors will be in Langsam Library in various locations repairing a pipe that caused a leak on the 4th floor of the library. This is a massive repair and will take a week to fix completely. There will be a number of 4ft x 8ft sections of ceiling tiles that will be removed and piping and insulation will be removed and replaced. Please excuse the mess.

Cincinnati’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

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By:  Kevin Grace

BagpiperOn Tuesday, March 17, the world will recognize St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish and Irish descendants with various celebrations and events, but this weekend will feature the many parades devoted to the day.  Dublin, New York, Savannah, Chicago, Sydney, Butte, New Orleans, and, Cincinnati all have community parades, and studying how these parades are historically manifested reveals a great deal about urban culture – the elements of religion, ethnicity, enfranchisement, inclusion, social mores, and political influence.  The day was first celebrated in America in Boston in 1737. Continue reading →