National Library Week – Flashback Friday

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

We’re wrapping up our National Library Week celebration with a Flashback Friday slideshow of our time spent in the UCBA Library, both old, temporary and new spaces, over the last several years. We can’t wait to reconnect in person again.

: Michelle McKinney (L) and Heather Maloney (R) co-present a Poster Presentation on Working with Wiki at the 2007 Academic Library Association of Ohio Annual Conference.

: Lauren Wahman (L) and Heather Maloney (R) in the pre-renovation library space. October 2009.

: Lauren Wahman teaching a library instruction session. April, 2011.

: (L-R) Stephena Harmony, Lauren Wahman, Heather Maloney and Michelle McKinney on a hard-hat tour of the library space during the renovation. April 2013.

: The Library Staff fully committed to the workout gear through the decades theme which includes a bookcart. October 2013

: The Library may have been haunted for the college-wide Halloween celebration, but it’s never a scary place. October 2013.

: Librarians Lauren Wahman and Heather Maloney take part in the 2015 Commenncement Ceremony.

: Heather Maloney (left) and Michelle McKinney (right) posing with the Bearcat at the UC Serves Kick-Off. May 2014.

: When the lights/power go out…take a librarian selfie. (L-R) Kellie Tilton, Michelle McKinney and Lauren Wahman. 2014.

: Faculty members Heather Maloney, Lauren Wahman and Kellie Tilton during an Extraordinary Excellence workshop. 2014.

: Library Director Heather Maloney and Student Assistant Stacey Marshall staff the library table during the Resource Fair. September 2015.

: Heather Maloney and Kellie Tilton with their UC Serves team. May 2015.

: Library Faculty celebrating National Library Week 2016 and serve as host to the library’s Whiteboards and Wine event.

: The library staff get a bit stir crazy sometimes. April 2020.

: UCBA Library faculty and staff celebrating National Library Week 2017.

: Lauren Wahman with Rockdale Academy students during UC Smiles event. November 2017.

: Pam Adler celebrates 20 years of service at UC. September 2018.

: (L-R) Kellie Tilton, Heather Maloney, Michelle McKinney and Lauren Wahman take their meeting outdoors. May 2017

: Heather Maloney (left), Director of the UCBA Library and Jen Ellis, Associate Professor of Nursing, pose with the items collected during our Spread the Warmth Drive. December 2017.

: “I was told by the photographer that this is her view when she passes by my office. I am quite tall.” -Christian Boyles, February 2018.

: Lauren Wahman and Christian Boyles and the Tournament of Titles and decked out in PJs for National Library Week’s Sleep In and Read theme. April 2018.

: In honor of National Boss’s Day (October 16, 2018), the UCBA Library faculty and staff celebrates Heather Maloney, UCBA Library Director. She found her office door decorated and was presented with flowers and snacks to enjoy throughout the day. October 2018.

: Artists and their spinart work (left to right): Christian Boyles, Lauren Wahman, and Michelle McKinney. August 2019.

: The library’s newest team member, Elizabeth Hartlaub, has yet to fall victim to the team’s photo escapades so she shared this photo. She was featured in the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s “Worker Wednesday” that highlighted staff around the system. March 2019.

The Cooperative Engineer and The Great Depression

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Mark Chalmers

We are taught that the Great Depression started with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 or what is called “Black Tuesday”. In The Cooperative Engineer magazine, the quarterly publication of the students and alumni of the College of Engineering with its focus on industry partnered education, the word depression was not used to describe the current circumstances of the day until the October 1931 issue. Over the course of 4 issues, starting in October 1931 and running through to the June 1932 issue, the editors ran a series of “Faculty Articles” dealing with that they termed “Present-Day Trends in Problems of Commerce and Industry” or what we would now call The Great Depression.

The Cooperative Engineer and The Great Depression The first of the four Faculty Articles is a reflective piece titled “The Fourth Great Era” by Hermann Schneider, the then-current Dean of the College of Engineering and

The Cooperative Engineer and The Great Depression

known widely as the founder of cooperative education. Schneider reflects on a talk he heard at a meeting of the Institute of Politics where the speaker argued there were

three great eras throughout history, defined by equality of legal status, religious liberty, and political liberty. The fourth era would be equality of economic status where

individuals are equal in their ability to be “masters of their livelihood”. But Schneider values engineer’s deep understanding of philosophy, art, and psychology and thinks engineers must synthesize their well-rounded knowledge to lift their fellowmen. This last bit is something Schneider thinks is too often left out of the definition of what it means to be an engineer. Continue reading →

UC Libraries Welcomes Madeleine Gaiser, Online Learning and Instruction Specialist at the CECH Library

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Melissa Cox Norris

Madeleine Gaiser, the new 0nline learning and instruction specialist in the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library, began (remote!) work at UC Libraries on Monday, April 20.

Madeleine is currently a Master of Science student at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, set to graduate in May 2020. Her studies and graduate employment have afforded her some impressive experiences in supporting instruction and online learning, including classroom teaching, creating online learning objects, performing an accessibility audit and building an extensive module in Canvas. Madeleine is also the winner of IU’s Ellen Jay Information Literacy Scholarship for the 2019-20 academic year. She holds a BA in history and religious studies from Gettysburg College. She hails from the D.C. metro area.

Welcome to UC Libraries, Madeleine!

Celebrating Our Library Cats, Dogs and Fish

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

There are many libraries that serve as home to library cats. Now that we’re working remotely from home, our furry friends and four-legged family members have been given a promotion to co-worker and library cat/dog. In honor of National Library Week, we’d like to introduce our newest colleagues. They have made our work-from-home environment much more fun (and maybe a little more frustrating at times?).

: Seamus (right) and Fiona (left). These are our loving, energetic border collies. They are absolutely thrilled we’re home with them so much now but would still like more play time. – Heather Maloney

: Grey Cat is excited about her new role as co-worker, ready to jump into any task. She, however, will only tolerate about an hour of meetings before she begins howling for more attention. We’re working with HR on these issues. – Kellie Tilton

: Jake, Pete and Ozzy. They have been very entertaining co-workers! It’s not everyday at work that you have someone sit on your computer, try to eat your ear buds, and then take a nap in your lap! 😄 Fun fact: All three were adopted together from The Ohio Alleycat Rescue on the same day thus tripling our cat population overnight. – Elizabeth Hartlaub

: Yuri and Gabby. Gabby is 21 years old, scrawny as a twig, but very loving and tough as nails. Yuri is our 7 year old one eyed dynamo who has the biggest personality of any pet I’ve ever had. They’re OK as co-workers, a bit demanding for attention and food. They do encourage me to order new books about tuna, laser pointers, and the benefits of sleeping 21 hours a day. – Christian Boyles

New Science and Engineering Ebooks

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Mark Chalmers

The UC Science and Engineering libraries have recently added new e-books to the collection. These books are on several topics relevant to active research areas such as nanotechnology, robotic design, sustainability, and biomedical engineering.

To locate many useful science & engineering resources for classes and research, please check out our updated Sciences library and CEAS Library websites. For help, contact Ask-A-Librarian or Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu .

New Science and Engineering Ebooks Sustainable Water Treatment: Engineering Solutions for a Variable Climate (2019)

The book offers a challenging, diverse, holistic, multidisciplinary, experimental and modelling-orientated case study, covering topics such as natural wetlands, constructed treatment wetlands for pollution control, sustainable drainage systems managing diffuse pollution, specific applications, such as wetlands treating dye wastewater and ecological sanitation systems recycling treated waters for the irrigation of crops.

http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128162460

New Science and Engineering Ebooks Humanoid Robots: Modeling and Control (2019)

The book starts with a historical overview of the field, a summary of the current state of the art achievements and an outline of the related fields of research. It moves on to explain the theoretical foundations in terms of kinematic, kineto-static and dynamic relations. A chapter focuses on simulation environments, specifically on the step-by-step design of a simulator using the Matlab® environment and tools.

http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128045602

New Science and Engineering Ebooks Nanoengineered Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine (2019)

This book showcases the advances that have taken place in recent years as an increasing number of nanoengineered biomaterials have been targeted to various organ tissues. The book systematically explores how nanoengineered biomaterials are used in different aspects of regenerative medicine, including bone regeneration, brain tissue reconstruction and kidney repair. It is a valuable reference resource for scientists working in biomaterials science who want to learn more about how nanoengineered materials are practically applied in regenerative medicine.

http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128133552

For the full list of recent books, click the “Continue Reading” link below.

Continue reading →

From the Virtual Desk of…Heather Maloney

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

The latest From the Virtual Desk Of…Heather Maloney, leads us to our Library Director’s virtual workspace.

: This is my second at home desk. My desk was upsized after the first week (our bedroom dresser used to be in this space) to a former Lego table. Because we’re going through a home renovation and everything is temporary right now, we’re going for the “let’s make it work for now” design style.

: Keeping it all pretty simple. Yes, that’s an enormous jar of almonds, my favorite work day snack. It’s a little harder to snack healthy when working from home, and there are homemade cookies in the kitchen. Also, at the base of my large monitor is a small flower my oldest daughter picked for me, and I can’t seem to part with it.

: A few of my favorite things….chocolate and books! Oh, and always trying to drink a lot of water to balance out that chocolate intake.

: At work, I have pictures of my daughters on my desk but at my home office, I get to see them every day. I think they have a whole new respect for their teachers now that they’ve had to deal with mom coordinating and checking in on all the home school work.

: This was my first work from home desk just on the other side of the room from my current desk. Way too small but an awesome view and great light! This is now my husband’s work from home space. The morning of this picture he saw a bat on the roof so the girls are getting the full story.

by Heather Maloney

UC Libraries Available via CHAT Service to Answer Your Research and Reference Questions

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Melissa Cox Norris

chat graphic Are you researching a paper and need help finding a quote? Looking for sheet music? Need help connecting to e-books? UC Libraries is available online to assist with research and scholarly work. Our librarians, staff and student workers are also available to answer questions via a new CHAT service.

Have a question? Need help with research? Available at https://libraries.uc.edu/ask, the Libraries CHAT service is available 10am-6pm, Monday-Friday. After hours, users can still go online to ask a reference or circulation question or to e-mail a subject librarian or library staff member directly. Continue reading →

National Library Week: Our favorite S.W.A.G.

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

The UCBA Library continues to celebrate National Library Week. The library staff pulled out, and in some cases, dusted off, some of our favorite library S.W.A.G. (souvenirs, wearables and gifts). These items have been collected from various library conferences, purchases from our favorite bookish vendors and gifted to us by our friends and loved ones.

: I love tote bags. The tote on the left is from Lane Library and is used to haul books to/from home. The tote on the right was picked up at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference. I will not admit to the number of totes I’ve uncovered since being home. I will say, that when the world opens up again, I plan on including tote bags in my Little Free Library donations. – Michelle McKinney

: I may only have this one librarian tshirt, a gift from my mom, but it sure is awesome. -Lauren Wahman

: I love enamel pins but I don’t like to wear them on my clothes. I picked up the Slay pin from the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and the other two were gifts from fellow book friends. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to display them and will be creating a framed cork board for the pins I keep at home. – Michelle McKinney

Special Edition: From the Virtual Desk of … UCBA Student Assistants

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

The library faculty and staff are not the only ones working from home. Our student workers have also been working remotely in addition to continuing their studies online from home.

Bre’s study and work space.

Student Worker: Bre

Major: I am an electronic media technology major

Time at UCBA Library: I’ve been with the library for about 11 months

Description: Unless weather permits sitting outside, I work at my desk, surrounded by a few of my favorite things.

Casey’s study and work space.

Student Worker: Casey

Major: I am double majoring in English and History.

Time at UCBA Library:

Description: Unless weather permits sitting outside, I work at my desk, surrounded by a few of my favorite things. My dog’s name is Kibo. I thought Kibo was a cool name and later learned that it means “hope” in Japanese.

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet David Freeman

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Michelle Leonard

The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

David Freeman| Associate Professor of Mathematics| Math, Physics & Computer Science Department
Presentation: Geometry from Symmetry

David Freeman discusses his research.

Research Project
My research has been focused on the concept of symmetry. Here I use the word “symmetry” to denote a way to transform an object into itself (e.g. a reflection or rotation). My goal is to understand all possible objects that admit certain types of symmetries.

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
Yes, at least to some extent. I am very interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and I am hoping to eventually contribute to the ongoing debate about the ontology of mathematical objects (such as the ones I study). I am also quite interested in mathematically-inspired artwork. I believe there are many opportunities to express mathematical ideas through visual (and other types of) art.

What are your next steps with your research?
My long term goal is to prove a conjecture that has motivated the work I’ve already been doing. This conjecture pertains to the classification of certain mathematical objects that exhibit a high degree of “coarse” symmetry. For all I know the conjecture may end up being false, but I am somewhat optimistic that it is true. I’m not sure if a proof is within reach, but I’m willing to give it a shot. In general, this is the nature of many mathematical research projects: one group of mathematicians will pose a conjecture, and then some other group will prove (or disprove) the conjecture.

Forthcoming Publication

David Freeman, Enrico Le Donne. (Forthcoming). Toward a quasi-Möbius characterization of Invertible Homogeneous Metric Spaces. Revista Matemática Iberoamericana.

By Lauren Wahman