The University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report, 2020-2021

Looking back as we plan our NEXT Directions.

This year’s Annual Progress Report covers July 2020 through June 2021. It was an exceptionally complicated time, during which we entered the second year of the pandemic, developed and adopted new digital resources to support remote learning and remote research and prepared for the transition back to campus for the 2021 fall semester.

In these unprecedented times, library faculty and staff continuously found ways to transform and elevate library services by bringing their experience, talents and dedication to the forefront so as to continue to fulfill our mission to “empower discovery, stimulate learning and inspire the creation of knowledge by connecting students, faculty, researchers and scholars to dynamic data, information and resources.” Continue reading

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

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.

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Dean’s Corner: A Deep Dive into DH/DS

Since UC Libraries announced the establishment of UC’s first Digital Scholarship Center (DSC) last September, the center’s co-directors Arlene Johnson and James Lee have been busy reaching out to the university community and laying groundwork. We sat down with both them and Dean Xuemao Wang to discuss their respective backgrounds in digital humanities/digital scholarship (DH/DS) and the early details of their plans for the DSC at the University of Cincinnati and UC Libraries.

Arlene Johnson introduces Dr. James Lee at his DH/DS talk

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Read UC Libraries Progress Report: Transforming Our Spaces

progress report coverRead the 2015/16 Progress Report: Transforming Our Spaces. In addition to providing an update on the news, events and stats from the previous academic year, the report focuses on the transformation of library spaces – both current and future. Renovations and changes to library spaces that will enable us to be recognized as the intellectual hub for students, faculty, researchers and scholars by providing engaging digital and physical environments, as well as powerful new tools and services that spark inquiry, support analysis and ignite discovery and scholarship as well as prepare emerging generations for lives of ongoing discovery.

The Progress Report is available online at https://issuu.com/uclibraries/docs/uclannualreport15_16.

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

Register Now for the Second Annual THATCamp University of Cincinnati 2016

THATCamp-Carousel-jpgJoin UC Libraries for THATCamp University of Cincinnati 2016, an unconference, which is an open meeting where humanists and technologists of all skill levels and interests gather to learn and to build together in sessions proposed on the spot.
THATCamp (The Humanities And Technology Camp) University of Cincinnati 2016 is free and open to all and will be held on the 4th floor of Langsam Library. The event will begin at noon on Monday, May 2, and conclude on Tuesday, May 3 at 4:30pm. Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, as well as scholars, archivists, museum professionals, developers and programmers, K-12 teachers and administrators from within and outside UC who have an involvement or interest in digital humanities are welcome and encouraged to attend. Sessions for THATCamp University of Cincinnati 2016 will be determined during the opening session on May 2; however, a preliminary schedule has been devised and posted online at http://ucincinnati2016.thatcamp.org/schedule/.    Continue reading

Dean’s Corner: Finding the Talent

Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

Last month’s issue of UC Libraries’ newsletter Source featured two articles about the libraries’ process and progress in building capacity. Below is one of those articles in its entirety.

 

Finding the Talent: Building Capacity through Organizational Strategy and Partnerships with the Broader University Community

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UC Libraries Welcomes Digital Humanities Expert Constance Crompton

imageUC Libraries is thrilled to welcome to campus November 19 and 20 the next expert in the Digital Humanities Speaker Series ~ Dr. Constance Crompton, assistant professor of digital humanities and English, Department of Critical Studies, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia. She will present a series of talks and hands-on workshops, all free and open to the public, in the Walter C. Langsam Library. Participants are encouraged to come to any or all sessions that are of interest to them and to their work.

Thursday, November 19

  • Session #1: 1:30pm-2:30pm – Planning for Success: Project Management for the Digital Humanities… and Beyond! Langsam Library 480

Friday, November 20 (Participants are encouraged to bring laptops for the Friday sessions)

  • Session#2: 10-11:30am – Keynote – Making History: Collaboration, Collection and Creation in the Digital Humanities, Langsam Library 462
  • LUNCH: 11:30-12:30pm – Langsam Library 480
  • Session #3: 12:30-1:30pm –   What the Computer Doesn’t Know…:Representing Primary Source Documents in TEI (Overview of the Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines – see
    http://www.tei-c.org/index.xml for more information), Langsam Library 462
  • Session #4: 2-4pm –  Digital Humanities in the Classroom: Tools, Tips, and Tricks,  Langsam Library 462

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New Report Reviews Successful Global Digital Scholarship Programs

report coverA new report from Dean and University Librarian Xuemao Wang sheds light on the expertise required to support a robust and sustainable digital scholarship program.

In late 2012, the University of Cincinnati Libraries was awarded a Scholarly Communications and Information Technology Program planning grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to define and describe the key skills and competencies required to support a robust digital scholarship program. The project’s findings have now been published in a report titled “Building Expertise to Support Digital Scholarship: A Global Perspective.”
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Dean’s Corner: Building Connections

As the dean of UC Libraries, I serve as an ambassador for the university and the Libraries on a global scale.  My travel takes me across the United States and around the world for conferences and site visits from San Francisco, California to Zhejiang, China.  It is equally important, however, for me to foster my relationships on a local and regional level with the universities and library systems across the state.

This summer, Ohio University hosted a two-week Institute for Chinese Academic Leaders.  Scott Seaman, the university’s dean of libraries, invited me to Athens to participate in a panel about “Current Trends & Changes in U.S. Research Libraries.”  This gave me the opportunity to spend time with the OU library leadership, support their international partnerships, and to reinforce the ties between our two libraries.

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From left to right: Liu Wanguo, director and research librarian and Huang Ying, head of Research and Development at Northeast Normal University with Scott Seaman, dean of Libraries at Ohio University

Upon their arrival at Ohio University, the visitors presented dean Seaman and OU’s dean emeritus Dr. Hwai-Wei Lee with handmade scrolls decorated with Chinese calligraphy commemorating the visit.

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From left to right: Huang Ying and Liu Wanguo with Ohio University’s dean emeritus Dr. Hwai-Wei Lee

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Dean’s Corner: A Year in Review

Xuemao Wang

Dean and University Librarian Xuemao Wang

The 2014-15 academic year has been one of exploration, innovation and collaboration for UC Libraries. The launch of the Strategic Plan has contributed greatly to our success with its ten initiatives along with a wide range of events and activities created and sponsored by library faculty and staff throughout our libraries. The initiatives are all focused on the same goal, to make UC libraries the globally connected intellectual hub of the university. Below is a small sampling of those successes. More information on the ten strategic initiatives is available online.

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