In the Archives and Rare Books Library, we receive all sorts of questions related to the university’s history. Some are simple to answer, but others can take hours of research and can require digging through many old files and records. In the Fall of 2013, Steven R. Howe, a professor in UC’s Psychology Department, contacted us regarding his research on the history of the Fellows of the Graduate School. His goal was to enhance the website for the Fellows of the Graduate School by creating a list of former fellows. Since no comprehensive list existed, ARB staff helped Howe locate Board of Trustees minutes, course catalogs, faculty directories, and biographical files on individual faculty members. His research resulted in a spreadsheet that lists all the Fellows of the Graduate School along with some biographical information on each of the fellows. This list, along with some other information resulting from his research, is now available on the Archives and Rare Books Library website: http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/fellows_graduate_school.html Continue reading
Tag Archives: University Archives
Check Out These Library Exhibits
Three new exhibits have been installed in Blegen and Langsam Libraries that feature UC Libraries’ collections.
Blegen 4th Floor Lobby: The exhibit “Clifton” showcases the magazine that, according to its editor Cliff Radel, was known for “Purposefully taking a sideways look at the University and the community [that] will undoubtedly be discomforting to a great number of people who operate with fixed principles. Good.” The exhibit was created by communications design student Alixandria Wolfe, a senior DAAP student, and Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communications Learn more about Clifton magazine online via an exhibit from the Archives and Rare Books Library.
President Williams Speeches Are Now Available in the University Archives
By Tyler Morrison, ARB Student Worker
Gregory H. Williams became the University of Cincinnati’s 27th president when he took office in September 2009. Among more than 100 applicants for the position, he was selected in part because of his outstanding work in transforming the City College of New York, where he served as president before joining the UC. Williams received national acclaim for his book, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black (New York, NY: Dutton, 1995). Over a decade later, he still received feedback from his readers while serving as the president here at UC. The memoir was his way of telling the world about struggling with poverty and acceptance during his youth and dealing with his biracial identity in Muncie, Indiana at a time when segregation was still highly overt in the United States. The book also brought to life other family issues such as alcoholism and abandonment. Throughout his account, he told the story of a normal childhood that spiraled into one of torment, welfare, and segregation, and then how he made the best of it. Williams became the star quarterback of his high school’s football team, excelled in college to earn four degrees, and worked his way up in higher education system until he became president of College City of New York from 2001-2009 and then president of the University of Cincinnati from 2009 to 2012. Continue reading
How Much Did You Pay For That Education?!?!
By Tyler Morrison, ARB Student Worker
Oh, the things you can find when you go to an auction. Even the typical items that you find for sale, such as books, sometimes contain a surprise for the unsuspecting buyer. That’s exactly what happened to Linda Sheets of Jonesboro, Indiana when she bought a box lot of books and discovered a University of Cincinnati tuition receipt dated October 1, 1917. The strip of paper has yellowed with age, and fortunately Ms. Sheets realized it might have historical value for UC, and was kind enough to share her discovery with the Archives and Rare Books Library.
Jordon Alcott, the student from the 1917-1918 academic year, probably thought that $63.50 in tuition for one semester here at the university was expensive. That total comes from a $5 library fee, $50 for tuition to the College of Liberal Arts, a $ 1 registration fee, $2.50 fine to use the gymnasium, and a $5 contingency fee.
Quarters to Semester Conversion Records now in ARB
By: Janice Schulz
The Archives and Rare Books Library has made available a collection of records from University Communications covering the University’s conversion to semesters in 2012. The collection concentrates on the comprehensive communication plan developed to educate students and other stakeholders about the conversion and includes communication plans, planning documents, research, publications, and clippings. Also included are some promotional items such as t-shirts, protective hats, and sandwich boards declaring that the world will END – not really, just convert to semesters – in 2012.
A complete finding aid for the collection can be found on the OhioLink Finding Aid Repository at http://rave.ohiolink.edu/archives/ead/OhCiUAR0367. For further information on the Archives & Rare Books Library and its holdings, please call 513.556.1959, email archives@ucmail.uc.edu, or visit our website at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/index.html.
Philosophical "Ames" of the Archives and Rare Books Library
By Lauren Fink
Thanks to a generous donation from Anthony Graybosch, The Archives and Rare Books Library now has in its holdings a collection of philosophy books from Van Meter Ames’ private library. Van Meter Ames was a faculty member in the UC philosophy department, beginning in 1925, and served as its head from 1959 until 1966 when he retired. Many of the books in this collection have Ames’ annotations, notes, and article clippings in them, as well as correspondence between Ames and fellow philosophers or friends. Continue reading
Records Update Highlights Ohio Public Records Cases
By: Janice Schulz
A new Records Update is now available on the Records Management Program website. Records Update is released periodically to convey timely information between publications of Records Quarterly. This issue offers “Records in the News” stories found in the media and legislative action taken in March and April.
As reported in the Spring 2013 Records Quarterly article, “Public Records: Your Rights and Responsibilities,” Ohio’s public records laws are dynamic and are continually being tested in Ohio’s courtrooms. Ohio courts decided seven public records cases in March and April and there are currently six open cases in front of the Supreme Court of Ohio. In a case close to home, on April 24 the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that lease terms and rents between Findlay Market private management company The Corporation for Findlay Market and its tenants are trade secrets and are not open to disclosure under the public records act. In 2010, Kevin P. Luken requested copies of lease agreements from The Corporation for Findlay Market and ultimately from the City of Cincinnati. While he received the agreements, terms and rents were redacted from the released documents and cited as trade secrets. Luken initated a mandamus action against the parties, which resulted in the recent decision.
The Findlay Market decision and more are available through this issue of Records Update.
Spring 2013 Records Quarterly Now Available
By: Janice Schulz
The Spring 2013 edition of Records Quarterly, a newsletter of the University of Cincinnati Records Management Program, is now available on the records management website at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/documents/RQSpring2013.pdf. Articles in this issue include:
Public Records: Your Rights and Responsibilities – Learn what your responsibilities are as a UC employee when it comes to Ohio public records laws and your rights as a citizen to obtain government records.- Social Media and the Ohio Electronic Records Committee – See how the Ohio Electronic Records Committee is studying social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook for their capability to create records and how that translates to UC’s social media activity.
- When do I Dispose of Records? – Discover the answer to this oft-asked question with the help of some handy charts that make it easier for you to time your records disposition.
You will also find announcements for the spring shredding event sponsored by the Office of Information Security, “Records in the News,” current events in legislation that could affect recordkeeping, and recent gifts to the University Archives.
Records Quarterly is distributed electronically via the Records Management website.
College of Nursing Records Now Available in ARB
By Janice Schulz
Instruction in the College of Nursing and Health, 1978
The Archives and Rare Books Library has completed processing an 81 box collection of College of Nursing Records from 1940-2004, and it is now available for research. The highlight of this collection is a large number of curriculum records dating from 1980-2003, documenting the development of the program and the changing face of nursing education during a 20+ year period. These curriculum records include syllabi, course outlines, handouts, presentations, and textbook lists. Development of the PhD program during the 1980s and 1990s is also documented. The Archives and Rare Books Library encourages all academic departments to transfer historic curriculum for inclusion in the University Archives Collection. Continue reading
Records Management Workshops Scheduled
By: Janice Schulz
The next Introduction to Records Management workshops will be held February 19 and February 21, 2013.
During this workshop we will discuss the benefits you will receive from efficiently managing your records, UC’s records program, your role as a keeper of public records, the definition of a “record,” how to perform records inventories, the development of records retention schedules and proper means of records disposal. Also, Alecia Trammer, Human Resources will provide information regarding the policies and procedures for maintaining personnel records.
Both sessions will be held in Blegen Library’s Marge Schott Seminar Room, room 814, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The workshops are free, but registration is required. You only need to register for one session; the same information will be presented at both.
Register here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SWB5KB7. When you see SurveyMonkey’s “Thank you for taking this survey” page your registration has been sent.
Who should attend?
These workshops are for new records officers who have not been introduced to records management at UC and existing records officers who need a refresher as well as anyone responsible for managing University records.
Would you like these workshops presented in your office? Please contact Janice Schulz at schulz.janice.rm@gmail.com or 556-1958 to schedule a custom workshop geared to the needs of your staff.