Cead Slan, or, A Farewell to Archives Month

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By Kevin Grace

-Not your colloquial Irish farewell, mind you, because that would have us skipping out when it is our turn to buy a round of drinks, and you just know we would never do that!  Rather, a farewell to Archives Month in Ohio and its 2012 Program for Heaney lecturetheme of “Ethnic Peoples of Ohio.”  In southwest Ohio, the focus has been on Irish heritage and the Celtic contribution to our culture.  From businessmen and women and Civil War soldiers to civic leaders and politicians, to writers and artists, Cincinnati and this corner of the state have been greatly enriched by the Irish.

In addressing this theme in October, we were very fortunate that it coincidentally embraced the annual Niehoff Lecture at the Mercantile Library, presented by Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.  It could have been happenstance, of course, but more likely cinnuint, or destiny to youse guys.  On Saturday evening, October 20, Heaney spoke before an enthralled audience at the Westin Hotel as part of a lecture series that has helped mark the Mercantile as the center for literary life in Cincinnati. Continue reading →

Local Lore: Haunted Buildings of Clifton

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By:  Molly Gullett

Arlin's LogoAs Halloween approaches, many of us are preparing to celebrate the holiday, from trick-or-treating to haunted house tours.  October is a month filled with a sense of the uncanny, and the Southwest Ohio Folklore Collection has many local examples from several research papers dealing with all things mysterious and ghoulish.

All communities have their collective legends and mysteries, and Clifton is no exception. Elise Maynard’s paper in the collection titled The Arlin’s Ghost in a Community Context features first-hand accounts from Arlin’s bartenders on the supernatural legends housed within this Ludlow Avenue bar. For years among the staff, there have been legends passed down about spirits that inhabit the building. The oral legends that passed down were brought to action when several bartenders and a few patrons conducted a séance in the basement. Continue reading →

ORCID: Connecting Research and Researchers

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Create a unique personal identifier with ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID)!

ORCID, an open, non-profit, community-based initiative has launched its Registry (http://orcid.org) and can now be used by researchers to create a profile and ID for themselves.

From the website:  “For scholars, ORCID provides a persistent identifier that unambiguously distinguishes you as the author or creator of your published works in systems that adopt ORCID.”

“ORCID provides two core functions:  (1) a registry to obtain a unique identifier and manage a record of activities, and (2) APIs that support system-to-system communication and authentication.  ORCID makes its code available under an open source license, and will post an annual public data file under a CCO waiver for free download.”

Find out more about ORCID at http://about.orcid.org/ or

http://about.orcid.org/news/2012/10/16/orcid-launches-registry

The Power Which Knowledge Gives

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“The Power Which Knowledge Gives”:
Go to The Polls Armed With Reliable Information

Recently I came across this stunning quote from James Madison in a fellow librarian’s blog post:

“A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

On November 6 UC students along with the all voters will be casting their votes in the General Election. Do you have all the information you need to make the important decisions?

Earlier this month we asked the students who visit Langsam library to share the sources of information they use in order to decide how to vote.

Tumblr was the most popular source followed by Facebook and reddit.  The responses featured online news sources, TV and radio channels and talk shows, newspapers and magazine titles ranging from The New Republic to Huffington Post, and a broad range of websites, including RealClearPolitics , League of Women Voters, and predictably Wikipedia.

Thank you for sharing your favorite sources of information. Here are some resources recommended by librarians.

The following premium library resources require off-campus access.

Stay informed and make great decisions!

The Subway and Street Improvement Photograph Grant Project- Images of Progress

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By: Angela Vanderbilt

The first delivery of scans depicting the 1920s subway construction project has arrived. These scans were made from a set of highly sensitive nitrate-based negatives, which are being digitized first due to their state of deterioration. A variety of factors have contributed to this deterioration, including the physical composition (an unstable silver nitrate emulsion held on a celluloid surface), age (many are from the 1920s-1930s), and environment (negatives had been stored in a location with dramatically fluctuating temperature and humidity levels prior to being stored at UC’s ARB repository), so it’s important to have them scanned as soon as possible. For safety reasons, the nitrate negatives will be destroyed once scanning is completed and image files are approved. Following the nitrate scanning, acetate-based negatives will be scanned. These negatives are also deteriorating due to similar factors but do not pose safety issues like the nitrate negatives, apart from their offensive vinegar smell…Following the negatives, the collection of prints will be sent for scanning. When completed, we will have over 8000 digital images of the subway and street improvements projects, images portraying Cincinnati from the 1920s through the 1950s, with over half produced as positive images from negatives.

Industrial Scene

Men walking along subway route Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: October 24, World Polio Day

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"World Understanding, World Peace and Polio" by Dr. Albert B. Sabin

October 24 is known as “World Polio Day,” in honor of Dr. Jonas Salk’s birthday. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, since World Polio Day 2011, the number of new cases of polio has declined by a significant amount. Along with the success of a decrease in polio cases, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has noted, “Polio eradication partners around the world are marking the first World Polio Day since India was removed from the list of countries with active transmission of wild poliovirus.” Currently, only three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan – are considered endemic for polio. Continue reading →

Irish Cincinnati-Mike Mullen and Ward Politics

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By:  Kevin Grace

As the election season draws to a close over the next couple of weeks, it seems appropriate to consider the story of Mike Mullen, perhaps corrupt in the eyes of muckraking journalists, but certainly beloved among his own kind – and isn’t that always the case when it comes to urban politics? A jaded opinion, you say?  Maybe, I respond, but certainly one that is backed by the boisterous heritage of American city life.  And, so in the spirit of Archives Month in Ohio and the democratic system of government, here we go… Continue reading →

The Haunting of Wilson Auditorium

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By:  Molly Gullett

Wilson AuditoriumPlay in Wilson AuditoriumAs work proceeds on the Southwest Ohio Folklore Archives, there are a few papers that are certainly appropriate at this time of year.  In November, 2002, student Mathew Z. Keller submitted his contribution to the archive with an account of UC’s Wilson Auditorium.  Superstition and mystery are as linked with theatre as performance itself and there are many superstitions associated with theatre.  Of course, there is “break a leg” instead of “good luck,” and the ominous effects of saying Macbeth backstage. Perhaps less known is the superstition to never whistle anywhere in a theatre because it signifies that a play will be ending soon. Another ritual is to leave a ghost light on in the belief that it would convince spirits of the theatre that they had not been forgotten. Like most, UC’s theatres are also riddled with superstitions and legends which comprise their lore. Continue reading →

Trials Extended: Calling for Your Input

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We extended the AccessPediatrics, AccessPhysiotherapy, and AccessSurgery trials so more of you would have the chance to try out these resources and let us know what you think.  Many thanks to those of you who have taken a look at the trials and filled out a survey.

Visit the HSL: Trials for New Electronic Resources guide to access the trials.  Each trial includes a brief survey so you can add your voice to the decision-making process.

The electronic resources currently under consideration are the following:

We value your input.  Please take a look at the resource(s) under consideration that interest you and fill out the surveys.  Thank you.

Celebrating Archives Month and the Peoples of Ohio-Procter & Gamble Irish Connection

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By Kevin Grace

An early Irish immigrant to Cincinnati, Alexander Norris was born in Caledon, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1771.  The date of his arrival in Cincinnati is uncertain, but it was before 1819 when he first appears in a city directory as a chandler.  Norris came to the Queen City with his family, which included his daughter, Elizabeth Ann, who was born in Ireland in 1811.  After establishing a successful tallow business, Norris moved in the local social circles of candle makers, where Elizabeth met and married another Irish immigrant, James Gamble, in 1833.  The couple had ten children, and further joined business interests when Elizabeth’s sister Olivia married the widowed William Procter.  Alexander Norris persuaded his sons-in-law, both of whom were involved in the animal fat business, to join together and form a mutual manufacturing enterprise. Continue reading →