WorldFest 2019 is Here! Don’t Miss the Trivia Night on March 6!

A joyful opening ceremony on February 28 marked the beginning of WorldFest 2019 at the University of Cincinnati. This year’s program includes 15 cultural programs and events, all of them free and open to the public!

On March 6th UC Libraries and the Quiz Team will co-host an annual Trivia Night.

event information

Come and show off your knowledge of geography, history, cultures, and miscellaneous facts! You don’t have to compete!  You will still learn a lot, meet interesting people, and enjoy free food, including Bearcat pizza.

We are sure that the competitors will be as strong as in the past. The top three teams will win the prizes shown below.

prizes to win in the 2019 trivia night

 

Dean’s Corner: Collaborating at Home and Abroad

One of UC Libraries’ greatest strengths is its partnerships and collaborations. On or off campus, at home or abroad, the Libraries are always looking for opportunities to forge new relationships, while engaging in the university’s global agenda. As library dean I am fortunate enough to be involved with many of these relationships from their infancy.

This spring I traveled to China with UC’s Provost Kristi Nelson and Vice Provost for International Affairs Raj Mehta to visit Beijing Jiaotong University and Shandong University. In my role as Special Advisor to the Provost on China Initiatives, I have traveled to China on many occasions with various members of UC’s senior leadership, assisting in UC’s China engagement. More often than not, these trips include tours of university libraries (see the picture on the bottom left corner of Provost Nelson and me at the new Shandong University Qingdao campus library).

Pictures from China:

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Dean’s Corner: IFLA in Barcelona

This month, I traveled to Barcelona to participate in IFLA’s (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Global Vision Kickoff. This two-day meeting, followed by a two-day workshop, helped to confirm the united goals of IFLA’s global community, and our joint commitment to the value and growth of librarianship and libraries.

     
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Dean Wang Invited to Participate on International Dunhuang Consultative Committee

Xuemao Wang

Xuemao Wang, Dean and University Librarian, attending the International Dunhuang Consultative Committee meeting.

This past October, Xuemao Wang, dean and university librarian, was invited by the Dunhuang Research Academy of China to participate in a two-day International Dunhuang Consultative Committee meeting sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to consult on the Digital Dunhuang project. The consultative committee included individuals from such institutions as UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, Microsoft Research Asia, The University of Hong Kong Libraries, the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, the National Museum in New Delhi, the Korea Institute of Dunhuang, National Taiwan University, Zhejiang University, Wuhan University, and the University of Science and Technology of China, among other institutions. Members of the Consultative Committee received a three-year appointment from the director of the academy, Mr. Wang Yuanlong.

The objective of the two-day meeting was to review Digital Dunhuang’s current infrastructures, policies, and challenges, particularly in the three key areas of: digital asset management, digital resource integration, and digital preservation. The committee was charged by the director to prepare a set of recommendations for future activities in each of the three areas. At the end of the two-day, intensive meeting, the international consultative committee presented a draft set of recommendations to the academy.

Dunhuang Cave

Dunhuang Cave

The Dunhuang Caves, the best-known of which are the Mogao Caves, comprise some 492 temples and contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, the caves are one of the most comprehensive cultural heritage museums in existence. The Dunhuang Research Academy  has been devoted to the protection of the Dunhuang Mogao Caves since its founding in 1944. Currently, the Academy is undertaking a massive endeavor known as Digital Dunhuang whose ambitious goals include, eventually, digitizing all 492 caves’ resources—including 3-D imaging of murals, sculptures and the caves themselves—as well as managing the resulting digital resources with long-term digital preservation strategies.

Another Dunhuang project, the International Dunhuang Project is a consortium of libraries and museums that are linking their collections of digitized Dunhuang manuscripts and making them available on the Internet.

This was Dean Wang’s first visit Dunhuang, although he remembers learning about it in his Chinese high school history class. “I was tremendously impressed by its historical and artistic richness and the beauty of the mural paintings, Buddhism manuscripts and massive cave structures,” said Dean Wang. “Dunhuang Research Academy’s vision and work on digitizing the cave’s entire historical and cultural objects for both access and preservation using cutting edge digital technologies is an important and impressive endeavor.”

Librarians from Northeast Normal University, China Visited UC

Welcome dinner with two Chinese librarians

From left: Xuemao, Don, Bo, Bella, Becky and Hong

From left: Dan, Debbie, Lorna, Bo, and Bella

From left: Dan, Debbie, Lorna, Bo and Bella

Chinese librarians met the Digital Collections department

From left: James, Sean, Linda, Thomas, Nathan, Bo and Bella

Changhong (Bella) Wu and Bo Sun, librarians from Northeast Normal University (NENU) in Changchun, China, visited the UC Libraries November 15th-17th through a librarian exchange program between Ohio University and NENU. As the first cohort, Bella and Bo will stay in the United States for three months visiting libraries across the country and conducting research. Topics they are interested at UC Libraries are Ohiolink, collection development strategies, digital collections and digital and information literacy education. We look forward to meeting more visitors from NENU in the future.

Check Out the Latest Issue of the Libraries Newsletter, Source

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

This latest issue of Source includes interviews with Xuemao Wang upon his reappointment as dean and university librarian as well as with Mark Konecny in the newly created position of scholarly communications and digital publishing strategist. Other articles include the announcement of UC’s first Digital Scholarship Center, and features of two new websites – one about the Jacobite Collection in the Archives and Rare Books Library and the other highlighting the book Looking East: William Howard Taft’s Diplomatic Mission to Asia. Speaking of journeys, there’s an article about librarian Rosemary Franklin’s recent trip to Cuba. Read these articles and 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.

Celebrating International Education Week with New Online Guides

International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. The University of Cincinnati participates in this joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education aimed at preparing Americans for a global environment and attracting future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.

This year UC Libraries celebrates IEW with two new online guides. Continue reading

Coming Up: Student Panel on Study Abroad Experiences

studyabroadAre you going on a study abroad tour soon or thinking about a program sometime on the future? If so, there is an opportunity to learn from UC students who have studied abroad. 

 

 

 

What: student panel focusing on skills, attitudes, and resources, which help make the most of a study abroad experience. This panel is part of the UC Libraries’ efforts to increase cross-cultural understanding and foster student academic success. It is funded by the Diversity Challenge Grant.

 Who: UC students who participated in a variety of study abroad experiences. Moderator:  Kevin Grace, Head of Archives and Rare Books Department, who has taught many Honors courses and taken students abroad on several occasions.

 When: Tuesday, April 14th at noon.

 Where: 480 Langsam Library.

 Lunch will be served. RSVP to olga.hart@uc.edu. Please indicate if you have special dietary needs.

 Image source: TheStudyAbroadBlog

 

 

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year to all members of the UC Community who celebrate! According to Chinese Zodiac, 2015 is the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram.

On February 13th Langsam Library hosted a wonderful Lunar New Party. Sounds of traditional Chinese tunes performed by Tsun-Hui Hung, Adjunct Professor of Musicology at CCM, set the tone for the gathering. Dean Xuemao Wang welcomed the guests and talked about the exciting upcoming events and projects at UC Libraries. Picking up on the lunar theme, Head of Archives and Rare Books Kevin Grace talked about moon folklore and New Year customs in the Appalachian region. Probably the most memorable part of the program was the Lion Dance presented by students of the Chinese Language School. Professor Gergana Ivanova introduced the audience to haiku and following the presentation of the artist Frank Satogata, whose art combines calligraphy and abstract impressionism, several members of the audience wrote their own haiku poems and shared them with the public. After enjoying the food the guests participated in multiple activities, including calligraphy, karaoke, origami, and games. Several guests recorded video greetings for family and friends using the props in the STRC green screen room. The event also featured an exhibit of Chinese paper cutting.

The party definitely gave us enough warm memories to cherish during the cold days that followed. Please enjoy glimpses of the party, whether you were part of the celebration or missed it.

lunar_music1

lunar_haiku5

lunar_liondance4

lunar_calligr

lunar_origami2

lunar_fishing

lunar_food

lunar_papercutting+

 

Documenting India: Day 7

day7dOver Spring Break, Jay Sinnard, manager of the Student Technology Resources Center (STRC), is traveling with a class to provide media support as they record testimonials as part of their class project.

Over the course of their trip, Jay and the students will share on this blog some of their observations, images and video from their travels. Check back often…

From Jay:

Lunch on the beach where I photographed one student, Courtney, enjoying drinking coconut water.

On the beach in Goa. At sunset.

We finished the day at the “Saturday night market” in Goa and had dinner at pink cafe.