Tag Archives: library staff

Paying Tribute to Leslie Schick as She Retires from the University of Cincinnati

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leslie schick

Leslie Schick poses in the Walter C. Langsam Library, 2018

This December, the University of Cincinnati Libraries will say goodbye to a valuable employee and one that has played a central part in great change in the Libraries. Leslie Schick, senior associate dean of library services and director of the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, will be retire at the end of UC’s fall term.

Leslie has enjoyed a long, storied career with the university, beginning as an information services librarian with UC’s Health Sciences Library.

“When I started, everything was print. We had card catalogs – none of the local, regional or international online library catalogs we do now,” Leslie remarked. “When people would come looking for a particular book, if we didn’t have it in our card catalog, meaning we didn’t own it at the Health Sciences Library, as a reference librarian I’d pick up the phone and call other libraries. If it was a nursing book, for example, I would call the Raymond Walters Library (the former name for UC Blue Ash) to see if they might have it because they had a nursing program. You would have to think about who at the university might have this book and then you would call that library. It was our own version of OhioLINK or Interlibrary Loan. Looking back…the whole world has changed.”

leslie wth reference colleagues

Leslie with her fellow reference librarians in the 1980s

Over the course of her career, Leslie has seen an incredible amount of change. This nurtured a deep appreciation for her colleagues, one that would serve her well as her responsibilities increased and she took on roles in library management. She watched as new waves of talent joined the library, as well as those times when years of institutional knowledge were lost to retirements.

“For some people, the change from print to online was more difficult. We had the most amazing reference librarian at the Health Sciences Library when I started, Ruth Epstein. She’d come from the hospital library, which was consolidated into the medical center libraries when it was formed in 1974. Whenever someone had a difficult question in our library, she’d be the one to find the answer. We had a site visit for one of our IAIMS grants (Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems) back in the 80s, and one of the members of the site team asked her one the most awful reference questions anyone could think of. After she found what they were looking for they told her that they’d asked the same question at over 25 academic health science libraries in the country and she was the only person who’d given them an answer. She read everything, every issue of 15 to 20 medical journals – she said that was how you kept on top of things. That was the old-school way. When we started putting a computer at our reference desk and moving away from the traditional card catalogue, she retired…she wasn’t able to deal with the change.” Continue reading →

Read the University of Cincinnati Libraries 2017/18 Annual Progress Report

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UC Libraries Progress ReportRead the University of Cincinnati Libraries 2017/18 Annual Progress Report where we ask the question: Have We Transformed Yet?

In this year’s annual Progress Report, we make note of the accomplishments of the previous year, as well as take a holistic view of UC Libraries since the Strategic Plan was launched five years ago. We celebrate the continued success of annual events that promote library collections and services, highlight milestones of major library initiatives and feature library spaces.

Integral to fulfilling the work of the Strategic Plan is the dedication of the faculty and staff of UC Libraries along with the investment of our donors. By highlighting the accomplishments of our hard-working staff and listing the current donors, both groups are recognized and celebrated in this Progress Report.

Finally, if all of the accomplishments listed in this report signal that we are at least on the road to transformation than we must ask ourselves the question…what’s next?

The Progress Report is available online at https://issuu.com/uclibraries/docs/uclannualprogressreport17_18.

Questions? Request a print copy? Email melissa.norris@uc.edu.

Happy Reading!

Mark Chalmers Joins UC Libraries as Science and Engineering Librarian

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Mark Chalmers began work in UC Libraries on Oct. 22 as the science and engineering librarian where he will develop research and instructional programs for the UC STEM populations: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. His work will include research consultations, teaching and workshops, collection development and liaison responsibility for designated science and engineering disciplines (to be announced at a future date).  Mark will also support new and emerging initiatives such as Research and Data Services, repository outreach and connecting the libraries to UC’s innovation agenda.

Mark received his MLIS in May 2018 from Kent State University, and he holds a BA in astrophysics from Ohio Wesleyan University. While at Kent State, Mark worked as a graduate assistant in Dr. Emad Khazraee’s Data Science Research Lab and completed projects in text mining and the analysis of Twitter feed data. While studying for his BA, he was active in undergraduate research, conference presentations and tutoring in physics and astronomy.

Welcome, Mark, to UC Libraries!

Sidney Gao Joins UC Libraries as the Digital Imaging Coordinator

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On Monday, Oct. 15, Sidney Gao joined UC Libraries as the new digital imaging coordinator in the Preservation Lab. Sidney comes to UC from UC San Diego (UCSD) where she has over four years of experience working in a digitization, imaging and preservation studio for Geisel Library. During this period, she perfected the ability to lead a production team in digitizing and archiving thousands of historical artifacts, documents, books and art pieces. As such, she has extensive experience in the application of various types of scanners and scanning techniques, as well as in image post-processing and various capturing software. Working in collaboration with UCSD Special Collections ensured her ability to handle rare and fragile objects, while simultaneously maintaining high digitization standards.

Welcome to UC Libraries, Sidney!

Erin Rinto Joins UC Libraries as Teaching and Research Librarian

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Today, Erin Rinto began work at UC Libraries as the new teaching and research librarian in the Research and Teaching Services Department located in the Walter C. Langsam Library. Erin comes to UC from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she was the teaching and learning librarian.  Over the past six years at UNLV, she worked to integrate information literacy outcomes into the general education program via sustainable, evidence-based approaches, thus providing her with extensive teaching and research experience. Erin’s primary responsibility will be working with the English Composition program, including serving on the cross-jurisdictional English Composition Committee.

Welcome to UC Libraries, Erin.

 

Bernstein, Shakespeare, Preservation Photographs and Dedicated Staff are All Featured in the Latest Issue of Source

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

In this edition of Source we celebrate Leonard Bernstein at 100 with news of an exhibit on display in the Walter C. Langsam Library. Dean Xuemao Wang writes about how the occasion of the university’s upcoming Bicentennial has led him to reflect on the contributions of four staff members retiring this fall. We announce two grants received by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine that will promote good data and good health.

University archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library Kevin Grace teaches readers and students in his honors class about Extra-Illustrated Editions. Jessica Ebert, lead photographic technician in the Preservation Lab writes about her work creating visual representations of the conservation treatments performed, and housing created, in the Lab. Mike Braunlin of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library offers his experience and insights gained working in the library for 42 years. The UC Foundation writes about a unique collection gifted to the Libraries from two former professors. Lastly, the annual Books by the Banks: Cincinnati USA Books Festival, of which UC Libraries is an organizing partner, is announced in this issue.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, 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.

Scott Sorrell Joins UC Libraries as Computer Systems Administrator Lead

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Today, Scott Sorrell joined UC Libraries in the Library IT Operations and Services team as the computer systems administrator lead.

Scott will be responsible for the day-to-day management of IT Operations and Services including the library IT help desk, desktop services, inventory management, conference room/classroom AV/IT support and servers.

Scott comes to us from the UC College of Medicine IT Systems Support, where he has been serving as the computer systems administrator.  He has 20 years of experience in IT support and analysis.  Scott has also recently obtained his Master of Science in Information System degree from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business with concentration in business intelligence, data analytics, database design and project management.

Rebecca Olson Joins UC Libraries as Business and Social Sciences Informationist

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Today, Rebecca Olson joined UC Libraries as business and social sciences informationist. Rebecca has many years of experience as a law librarian. She was certified in 2018 in School Media from Southern Connecticut State University.  Prior to beginning her career in libraries, Rebecca received her MLS from Indiana University and her BA from the University of Connecticut.

Rebecca’s main responsibilities will be to develop and deliver innovative research and instructional services to the UC communities in business and the social sciences. She will work collaboratively with business and social science faculty and with UC Libraries faculty and staff to design, develop and implement a suite of cohesive services for faculty and students in business and the social sciences for data access, management and preservation.

Welcome to UC Libraries, Rebecca!

 

 

Hannah Stitzlein Joins UC Libraries as Metadata Librarian

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Today, Hannah Stitzlein began work at the University of Cincinnati Libraries as the metadata librarian. Hannah was previously visiting metadata services specialist for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this role, she developed best practices for the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub, taught metadata workshops, assessed digital collection metadata and developed workflows. Prior to her visiting position, Hannah spent three years with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Her library experience also includes internships with Wisconsin Library Services, the Lloyd Library and Museum and the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions. Hannah holds an MLS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art.

In the role of metadata librarian, Hannah will be responsible for providing leadership and guidance in the development and implementation of metadata and data management strategies to support discovery, access, management and preservation of the libraries physical and digital collections.

Welcome back to Cincinnati and to UC, Hannah!

UC Libraries’ Mark Konecny is Participating in Summit to Examine Affordable Learning Initiatives

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Mark Konecny, scholarly communications and digital publishing strategist and a member of the OhioLINK Affordable Learning group, is an organizer of the Affordable Learning Summit at the University of Akron on Aug. 1 & 2. This summit is a gathering of Ohio institutions to share how faculty, library staff, instructional designers and administrators are addressing affordable learning initiatives.

In announcing the summit, Mark writes, “A recent Florida Virtual Survey of over 22,000 students found that 66.5% of students did not purchase the required textbook / course materials solely due to cost. Recently, Inside Higher Ed shared how the University of Georgia has saved students 3.2 million in textbook cost since 2013 by utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER). In addition, they found that switching to OER increased the number of A and A-minus grades students received by 5.50 percent and 7.73 percent, respectively. The number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (known as the DFW rate) fell by 2.68 percent.”

Mark is presenting a round table discussion with Kelly Broughton (Ohio University) on the integration of the library with press services. He is also participating in a panel discussion with Sean Kennedy (Ohio University) on authorship, discussing the following topics: how OER creators can partner with their local university press for assistance, issues with creating OERS, common stumbling points and realistic timetables for authoring.

“We know that not having the required course materials directly impacts student success, and the OhioLINK Affordable Learning Initiative is dedicated to addressing this problem,” said Mark.

To learn more, visit https://uakron.edu/affordablelearning/events/. The summit is being live tweeted with the hashtag #alohiosummit.