UC Libraries’ Ben Kline to Talk at “I Am An American” Event

ben kline

Ben Kline performing at Cincy StoryTellers. Photo from the Cincinnati Enquirer

Ben Kline, assistance director of the Research, Teaching and Services Department, was invited to participate in this summer’s “I Am An American” nation-wide event sponsored by the USA Today Network. Ben will reprise his talk, “Barn’s On Fire,” he gave during last summer’s Cincy Story Teller’s Project. It promises to include funny stories from his time growing up on an Ohio farm and a nice lesson in the acceptance of our original gifts.

The event happens on Tuesday, July 18, 7:00-9:00pm at the Madison Theatre in Oakley. Tickets are required. The event will be live-streamed across the country!

“I Am An American” is part of a USA TODAY Network initiative celebrating our country’s diversity through the stories that bind us together. This summer, storytellers from a variety of lived experiences will share stories on stage. For more information, visit https://tickets.usatoday.com/e/i-am-an-american-cincinnati.

‘Preserving the Past for the Future’ Exhibit Showcases Preservation Lab

preservation exhibitJust in time for Preservation Week (April 23-29), a new exhibit, “Preserving the Past… for the Future,” showcases the services and mission of the Preservation Lab.

Beginning in January of 2012, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH) and University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) began a long-term collaboration to provide conservation and preservation treatments in an equally-managed, staffed, and equipped preservation lab situated in UC’s Walter C. Langsam Library. Employees from both PLCH and UCL work on the general circulating and rare/special collections of each institution.

special collectionThe exhibit, located on the 4th floor of Langsam Library, showcases the work of the lab as well as educates about the difference between preservation and conservation, what makes an item a “special collection,” and the techniques and tools used in the care of collections. The exhibit also features both before and after images of the treatment done to the objects and explains the process. The exhibit was curated by Holly Prochaska, preservation librarian, Ashleigh Schieszer, lab conservator, and Jessica Ebert, conservation technician, and was designed by Jessica Burhans, communications co-op design student. Continue reading

Mozart in the Library

Ever wonder what people are playing while they are practicing the keyboard in Langsam and CCM Libraries? Jay Sinnard, manager of the Student Technology Resources Center, did so he asked one student if he could listen in.

michael rollins

Michael Rollins, BioMedical Engineering (Ph.D.) student

 

 

And, because you can’t always be Mozart…

 

A collaboration between UC Libraries and the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the keyboards are open to anyone wanting to play on a first come-first served basis, but bring your own headphone as they are required.

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.”

Mastodons on Display in the Geo-Math-Phys Library

Big Bone Lick Exhibit

UC Libraries is honored to host one of four Cincinnati Museum Center collections currently on display at the university as part of the Curate My Community program while the museum undergoes renovation.

Visit the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library to view Big Bone Lick: A Place of Discovery. From mastodons and sabre-tooth tigers to early American Indians and the Founding Fathers, Big Bone Lick was a gathering place for some of the Ice Age’s most iconic animals, early American hunters and the site of America’s first paleontological expedition, organized by President Thomas Jefferson. The site, and its treasures, continue to be extensively examined by UC researchers.

For more on the Curate My Community Program, visit http://www.cincymuseum.org/curate-my-community. 

Winkler Center Marks Halloween with Creepy Exhibit of Medical Artifacts

winkler halloween

Do you want to attend a Halloween event that promises to give you hauntingly horrific, history nightmares…nightmares that include visions of amputee kits, maggot and leach therapies, pharmaceutical potions from the 1800s and much much more?

Then come visit the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions on Monday, October 31, 2016 on the R- Level of the Health Sciences Library from 10am to 2pm.  On display will be historic documents, photos and artifacts from a variety of the health professions.

We guarantee you will leave the exhibit appreciating the advances made in modern medical treatments, therapies and technology available today.  All are welcome. Come if you dare!!!!!!!  Bwwaahhhahhhaaaaaa!!!

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo Exhibit

Frida in Focus is an exhibition and series of related events at the Niehoff Urban Studio recognizing and celebrating Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). Frida is one of the most photographed women of her time, a Latin American iconic figure, an internationally known feminist, and an LGBTQ icon. This year’s theme for UC’s Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM), “Do UC me? My voice matters,” is inspired by Frida Kahlo, who determined the world would come to know her through images that were carefully constructed and curated by her. Our hope is that this exhibition and related events shine light on intersectionality, inspire people to imagine how they want the world to view them…and encourage them to make it happen.

Frida in Focus has been made possible through the generous support of the UC Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President of Research, the Taft Research Center, the UC Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences (A&S). It is a cross-college collaboration between A&S, the College of Design, Architecture, Art, & Planning (DAAP) and UC Libraries. A special thank you to UC professor emeritus Edward B. Silberstein for loaning the extraordinary photographs of Frida and Diego, taken by his father Bernard Silberstein, that have made this exhibition possible.

Check Out the Latest Issue of 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 an article announcing the new UC academic press, a Q&A about a new position in the Office of Research, and A Note from the Dean: IFLA Coming to Cincinnati. Updates to library websites are showcased in A New Look at Digital Collections and in an article about the Neil A. Armstrong display and website. There are two articles about recent awards –  the Provost Technology Innovation Awards and Recognizing Library Student Workers. 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.

Celebrate Preservation Week at an Open House April 29 in the Preservation Lab

In celebration of National Preservation Week, the Preservation Lab will host its annual open house on April 29 from 1:30-3:30pm.

Preservation Week Flyer

Located on the 300 level of Langsam Library, the Preservation Lab preserves and conserves the collections of UC Libraries and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. At the open house, lab staff will demo some of the techniques and equipment used to repair and protect materials, as well as showcase some of their recent projects. In addition to the usual fun, this year visitors to the Preservation Lab will have an opportunity to make their own sheet of paper with plant fibers beaten with a Hollander beater.

We hope to see you then!