Data Day 2021 Wrap

Authored by Amy Latessa (OoR Advanced Research Computing team) and Mark Chalmers (UC Libraries – Science and Engineering Libraries)

On November 5th, UC Libraries with collaboration from the OoR Advanced Research Computing team, hosted the 6th annual UC Data Day. The theme of this year’s virtual event was Bias, Miscommunication, and Equity in Data and featured a Keynote by Heather Krause, two interactive panel sessions, and a weeklong virtual screening of the documentary film Coded Bias.  This year’s event had 145 attendees and 29 views of the film. 

Following the opening remarks of Xuemao Wang, Vice Provost for Digital Scholarship and Dean and University Librarian of UC Libraries, Data Day commenced with the keynote by Heather Krause, PStat, and Founder of We All Count. Heather challenged the traditional notion of data’s objectivity, reminding attendees that researchers must make choices and these choices are not objective. Heather also walked participants through several examples of research questions and demonstrated how the questions could be better designed with equity in mind and the onus of change on systems.   She emphasized to participants that there is no “silver bullet” against bias, prejudice, and injustice, and we all must remain vigilant and consider who’s lived experiences are being centered, even at the onset of a project such as when formulating a research question. Heather was engaging and took many thought-provoking questions from the audience.   Continue reading

Last Call for UC faculty and staff to submit work for inclusion in Life of the Mind bibliography and exhibit

display of booksCalling all UC Artists, Authors, Editors & Composers!

The annual Life of the Mind, interdisciplinary conversations with University of Cincinnati faculty, is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. Once again, the event will celebrate the published or performed creative and scholarly works of UC’s artists, authors, editors & composers with an exhibit and bibliography.

To include creative and scholarly works, UC faculty and staff members are invited to self-submit via an online form. Include only those submitted works performed or published between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Submissions are limited to three per category per artist, author, editor or composer. Categories may include: books, book chapters, journal articles, editing, artwork, photography, plays, musical scores, CDs or DVDs and more. The submission deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, November 12.

Contact melissa.norris@uc.edu with any questions.

The mission of Life of the Mind is to celebrate UC research, scholarship and creative output and to foster the free and open exchange of ideas and discourse. It is organized by UC Libraries, Faculty Senate and the Faculty Enrichment Center, and is sponsored by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

Life of the Mind supports the university’s Research2030 initiative, which focuses on two key objectives: Enhancing UC’s national reputation and emphasizing the impact of UC’s research enterprise. The Life of the Mind lecture creates a platform to exchange interdisciplinary research and foster intellectual conversation. The artists, authors, editors & composers exhibit and bibliography promotes faculty and staff research and creative outcomes.

For information on last year’s event, visit the Life of the Mind website.

UC Libraries closed Thursday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.

veterans day graphicUC Libraries will be closed Thursday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day.

Regular library hours will resume Friday, Nov. 12.

To learn more about veterans at UC, check out this online exhibit from the Archives and Rare Books Library entitled “School & Country: Military Life at the University of Cincinnati.”

Spread the Warmth and Waive Fines at UCBA Library

As we prepare for the holidays and the colder temperatures, please help those in need stay a little warmer this winter by donating to our Spread the Warmth Drive benefitting Blue Ash and Montgomery neighbors.

Look for our donation bins in Muntz, Walters and Progress halls or drop your donation at the UCBA Library Information Desk.

Please donate new or gently used Coats and Fleece Jackets (no sweaters or other kinds of sweatshirts) in any size from infant to adult.

Donations will be collected from November 1 – November 21, 2021.

Have Library Fines? Bring your donations to the UCBA Library Information Desk and each donated item will count toward waiving up to $20 in library fines ($10 per coat or fleece jacket).

Native American Heritage Month at UCBA Library

By: Casey Harloe and Christian Boyles

Native American Heritage month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to address these challenge.  To learn more, please visit our display, which was curated by our student worker Casey Harloe, located across from the Library’s service desk.

The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius second lecture scheduled for Nov. 16

vesalius illustrationsThe Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati Libraries and the College of Medicine are hosting a series of lectures and exhibits exploring the Renaissance anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius (December 1514 – June 1564). Vesalius revolutionized the study and practice of medicine with his careful descriptions and anatomical studies of the human body published in “De humani corporis fabrica libri septem” (“On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books”).

Join us for the second lecture in the six-part series – “Making the Fabrica: The Illustrations, Printing, Binding & Publication.” Award-winning cultural historian Dániel Margócsy, PhD, University of Cambridge, will describe the creation of the “Fabrica.” Dr. Margócsy will be joined by Gabrielle Fox, a Cincinnati book binding and preservation expert, who will discuss the bindings of the first and second editions that will be on public display in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library.

The lecture, free and open to the public, will be held Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, 231 Albert Sabin Way. In-person activities will be provided under CDC guidelines or local COVID-19 restrictions, with the well-being of all guests remaining the top priority. View UC’s current COVID-19 updates.  For those not wishing to attend in person, the lectures will be live streamed via Zoom.

Register to attend the lecture.

Accompanying the lectures, the Winkler Center will display a series of rotating exhibits corresponding to the lectures:

  • November 16: The “Fabrica”
  • December 14: The Impact of the “Fabrica” and Dissemination of Vesalius’s Ideas
  • January 18: The Third Edition
  • February 15: The “Fabrica’s” Organ Systems
  • March 15: Teaching Anatomy through the Ages

More information is available on the Vesalius website.

The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius is sponsored by Stephen and Sandra Joffe.

New Library Hours at UC Clermont

Earlier in the semester, UC Clermont ran a pilot for extended hours. As promised, we did some reflection on the use and attendance of these hours. It took us a little time to prepare the staff, but we are now ready to announce longer hours for the remainder of the semester.

Beginning November 1, UC Clermont Library will remain open until 6:30 PM on Mondays through Thursdays. Friday hours will remain the same with a 5 PM close. These hours will be in place until the semester ends on November 10.