UC Libraries Announce Phased Approach to Re-Open Library Facilities

With the start of fall semester, UC Libraries will begin to re-open library facilities to the UC community in a limited, phased approach to ensure social distancing. Our priority remains to provide access to library resources to the extent possible while maintaining the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. The availability and use of locations and spaces within the libraries will be reviewed on a continual basis and updates will be posted on the Libraries website.library with tables and chairs


Beginning August 10
, the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library (HSL) is open for fall semester with limited in-person accessibility to library spaces.

Beginning August 17, the UC Blue Ash College Library is open with services available in person, virtually or both.

Tues-Fri, August 18-21, the 400 level of the Walter C. Langsam Library will be open from 10am-4pm. No library services will be available during this time.

Beginning August 24, the Walter C. Langsam Library, Albino Gorno Memorial (CCM) Library, John Miller Burnam Classics Library, Archives and Rare Books Library and UC Clermont College Library will open with limitations and protocols to ensure social distancing. Location specifics are listed at https://libraries.uc.edu/about/covid-19.html.

Other library locations remain closed at this time, but are under review for re-opening at a date to be announced. UC Libraries remains open and available online to provide users with access to library resources and services.

With limited exceptions in the Classics and CCM Libraries, there is no browsing of library materials in the stacks. The Click & Collect retrieval and pickup service allows UC users to request print library materials in the Library Catalog for pickup at designated locations. Pickup location details are available on the Click & Collect webpage.

Library users can once again request OhioLINK & Interlibrary Loan materials. Details are posted on the Libraries website.

Format of Library Resource URLs for Off Campus Use

UC faculty and researchers, are you creating your syllabi and course materials? As you prepare for fall semester and are either adding or updating links to articles, e-books and other library resources, changes to the UC VPN in March 2020 means that Off Campus Access for library resources has changed. Use the following tools to affix the library’s proxy link to the permanent URL for resources to ensure seamless use both on and off-campus. This will also provide accessibility options for students and help alleviate some copyright concerns.

Helpful Resources

As always, contact your subject liaison for assistance or reach the libraries via the contact page.

Offering Workshops on the Publishing Life Cycle of Data

In partnership with the Faculty Enrichment Center, UC Libraries RDS and IT@UC Advance Research Computing are pleased to offer the next three sessions in our DCSS series focused on the Publishing Life Cycle of Data.  Visit the Faculty One Stop Professional Development site for more information and to register for any of these events.

Next up in the series:

July 13, 2-3 p.m. Getting Published – A Journal Editors’ Panel  will feature UC faculty and staff who serve as editors on journals discussing how to identify the right journal, avoid predatory journals and how to make the biggest impact with your research and scholarship by publishing more than just the article including data publishing and taking an active role in the publishing workflow.  Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr are the featured editors. Visit the Faculty One Stop Professional Development to register for this event.

Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr

Jeff Blevins, Theresa Culley, Steve Lang and Victoria Carr

Save the dates for these upcoming events as registration information will be available soon:

July 27, 2-3 p.m. “Understanding Open Access and Open Data” will feature Claudio Aspesi, Senior Research consultant and advisor to SPARC, coauthor of “The Changing Academic Publishing Industry – Implications for Academic Institutions.”

August 10, 2-3 p.m. “Publishing Data in Repositories” – more details to come.

 

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

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

In this issue of Source, Dean Xuemao Wang remarks on the national and global protests sparked off by the May 25th murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and how libraries must join the fight against systemic racism.

Read about how when UC Libraries closed its physical locations in mid-March in response to COVID-19, student supervisors transitioned quickly not just their own work online, but that of their library student workers. In addition, this issue highlights work to provide library services and resources online to UC faculty and staff during a crisis.

While working remotely, consider suggestions of resource and tools from Maggie Patel, business and data analytics librarian. Download Libraries backgrounds for your next Zoom meeting or spend time with the labor collections in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

Elizabeth Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press, announces the launch of Platforms and Pathways in Social Innovation as part of the Press’s dynamic, open access publishing platform.

While the University of Cincinnati Libraries remains open and available online to provide users with access to library resources and services, the Click & Collect retrieval and pickup service allows UC users to request print library materials in the Library Catalog for pickup at designated library locations.

Lastly, in this issue of Source, we remind UC faculty and staff to submit their 2019 creative and scholarly works for including in the re-imagined Life of the Mind.

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.

UC Libraries Expands Click & Collect Retrieval Service to Additional Library Locations

Users can request print library materials by 9am Wednesday for Thursday pickup.

click and collect graphicThe University of Cincinnati Libraries is expanding its Click & Collect retrieval and pickup service providing users with access to print collection materials in order to support UC teaching and research. Users may now request print items for pickup at the following additional library locations:

  • College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) Library
  • College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) Library
  • Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library
  • Walter C. Langsam Library

Plans are underway to provide access to the John Miller Burnam Classics Library collection to Classics faculty and graduate students and details will be announced soon.

The Click & Collect retrieval and pickup service allows UC users to request print library materials in the Library Catalog for pickup at designated library locations. Requests made by 9am Wednesdays will be available for pickup between noon-4pm on Thursdays. Due dates have been automatically set for August 10. When searching for print materials in the Library Catalog, items with the status of “Held By Library” are available for request. Items from one library location cannot be requested for pickup at another library location. Continue reading

Standing in solidarity against systemic racism

The University of Cincinnati Libraries supports our colleagues from the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries in their statements and actions against racism and violence perpetrated against black men and women and all people of color. We agree with President Neville Pinto’s message “that the time to act is now.” As libraries, we provide access to resources and information professionals so that citizens can educate themselves on how to contribute to meaningful change and combat systemic racism.

stamped from the beginningBelow is a short list of UC Libraries resources. While some do require UC affiliation, there are others that are open access. It contains a mix of current and historical perspectives as this is not a new issue our country is confronting, but the time to listen and to learn is now. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but a starting point for education and conversation.  

Videos

Current exhibit on display in the Walter C. Langsam Library

women of the movement graphic

The Urban Studies Collection of the Archives and Rare Books Library holds information on two of the women featured in the exhibit, Louise Shropshire, originator of the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome,” and Marian Spencer, local Civil Rights icon, as well as Theodore “Ted” Berry, the first African American mayor of Cincinnati.

The University of Cincinnati Press

  • Issues in Race and Society, biannual journal distinguishes itself as an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and global examination of the increasingly racial and racialized world that connects us all.

UC Libraries planning to begin offering access to print collection materials

book stacksWhile all UC Libraries’ physical locations remain closed until further notice, we are finalizing plans to provide users with access to print collection materials in order to support UC teaching and research.

A print collection retrieval and pickup service is being planned to begin soon after June 8. Once all preparatory activities are completed, we will announce an official start date of the service. Library users will not be allowed inside library spaces, but will be able to request and pick up library materials in designated locations.

Details on exact timing and how to utilize the retrieval and pickup service will be forthcoming. For updated information, please visit https://libraries.uc.edu/about/covid-19.html.

In the meantime, the University of Cincinnati Libraries remains open and available online to provide users with access to library resources and services.

Life of the Mind lecture re-imagined to include celebration of UC scholarship

Call for submissions from UC faculty and staff of 2019 creative and scholarly works by June 30.

publicationsThe University of Cincinnati Libraries is collaborating with the Faculty Senate, the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost and the Faculty Enrichment Center to bring back the popular Authors, Editors & Composers event and exhibit last held in 2013 and incorporate it into the Life of the Mind lecture series.

The re-imagined Life of the Mind will create one event that will celebrate the achievements of UC’s artists, authors, editors and composers together with a presentation by a distinguished faculty member and panel discussion to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on an emergent theme.

Still named Life of the Mind, the event is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, in the Faculty Enrichment Center. An exhibit of faculty and staff submitted works and compositions will be on display at the event and then moved the following day for public display in the Walter C. Langsam Library’s fourth and fifth floor lobbies. The organizers are prepared to move the event and exhibit fully online if circumstances dictate the necessity to do so.

life of the mind logoTo include 2019 creative and scholarly works, UC faculty and staff are invited to submit via an online form by June 30. Include only those works performed or published between January 2019 and December 2019. Submissions are limited to three per category per artist, author, editor or composer. Categories may include: books, book chapters, journal articles, editing, artwork, photography, plays, musical scores, CDs or DVDs.

It is from the submitted works that the Life of the Mind Steering Committee will select the featured faculty speaker to give the Life of the Mind lecture.

The mission of Life of the Mind remains to celebrate UC research, scholarship and creative output and to foster the free and open exchange of ideas and discourse.

Questions? Contact Melissa Cox Norris, (513)556-1558 or melissa.norris@uc.edu.

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

chat graphicAre 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

UC Libraries seek to archive response and reactions to COVID-19 pandemic

Libraries play an important role in preserving and archiving history — even while history is being made. As we grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the University of Cincinnati Libraries seek to collect information, websites and documents related to how we are living and working during this challenging time.

The CoronArchive: Documenting the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions at the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library seeks to collect experiences from University of Cincinnati faculty, students and staff as they pertain to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This could take the form of journal or diary entries, photographs or other forms of media. These materials should in some way reflect how this virus is affecting individuals.

“A lot is happening surrounding the course of this pandemic and, although it affects everyone, it affects each person very differently. The Winkler Center wants to capture the diversity of experiences, document the present and preserve it for the future,” said Gino Pasi, archivist and curator at the Winkler Center. “At some point this pandemic will end, and years from now, the ways people think, talk about and study it will be done through what is left behind. This archive will be one of those resources.”

The Winkler Center asks that faculty, students and staff consider sharing their thoughts, memories, documents and media for posterity. All materials or questions can be e-mailed to the Winkler Center at chhp@uc.edu or to Pasi at gino.pasi@uc.edu, or mailed to the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, UC Libraries, 231 Albert Sabin Way, P.O. Box 0574, Cincinnati, OH 45267.

No material should include protected health information or violate patient and student privacy laws.


Archives and Rare Books Library Preserving COVID-19 University Websites

The Archives and Rare Books Library is using Archive-It to preserve important University of Cincinnati websites. The average life span of a web page is between 44 and 100 days. Web pages are notoriously fragile documents, and many of the web resources we take for granted are at risk of disappearing.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, the library is using Archive-It to capture various UC domain web pages dedicated to the pandemic’s impact on the university community. “This kind of rapid response web archiving will ensure we preserve a historical record of this monumental event at UC for future researchers,” said Eira Tansey, digital archivist and records manager. You can view the UC COVID-19 website archive, which is being updated on a daily basis.

So far, the library has collected several gigabytes of data and more than 20 websites, including each college’s COVID-19 page. Since some pages update more frequently than others, the library can schedule crawls (i.e. the process of archiving a webpage) of pages like https://www.uc.edu/publichealth.html on a more frequent basis in order to capture all of the changes.

To suggest a website that should be included in the COVID-19 UC web archive, e-mail eira.tansey@uc.edu. Please note that at this time, the library is currently only crawling public-facing web pages directly related to the UC community of students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The University of Cincinnati Libraries are stewards of the scholarly and historical output of the university. Collecting, preserving and making available the records of how the university dealt with and was affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is one way we work to achieve 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.