According to a report prepared in 1999 by UC student & DAAP Library graduate assistant Amy Fiser, the DAAP Library snow globe collection was started in 1983 when a library employee returned from a trip to Florida with a souvenir snow globe and set it on the library counter. According to legend, it was “filled with glitter in lieu of snow and housed a bikini-clad woman, water skiing behind a speedboat.” A collection was born.

The snow globes are on public display and have become a recognizable part of the DAAP Library alongside journals, books, and students studying. Generally speaking, the snow globes originating from the United States are arranged on one side of the library (in alphabetical order by state) and International snow globes are arranged together (alphabetically by country) on on the other side of the library.

The snow globes are reflective of the various locations UC students and faculty visit to conduct research and where they lived before coming to work or study at DAAP. The collection is ever growing as students and faculty travel the globe and bring back a remembrance to the library.

The collection is freely and publicly available via the Albert  B. Sabin website at http://sabin.uc.edu/ and includes approximately 35,000 letters and accompanying documents totaling 50,000 pages of correspondence between Sabin and political, cultural, social, and scientific leaders around the world. Also included are nearly 1,000 photographs documenting the events and activities worldwide that were part of Sabin’s crusade to eradicate polio.

“This is what every biographer dreams of – so easy to use and complete,” said Charlotte Jacobs, MD, emerita professor of medicine at Stanford University and an accomplished biographer.

The project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a “We the People” initiative designed to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America.

The Sabin digitized correspondence and photographs are of great relevance to the research efforts of historians, social and political scientists, ethicists, biomedical researchers, and physicians, as well as students and scholars worldwide. Marguerite Rose Jimenez, a postdoctoral fellow at American University researching Sabin and his polio eradication efforts in the Americas, commented, “[T]he archives just keep getting better and better! The search functions and  thoroughness of the searches generated is really amazing and so incredibly helpful! I’ve found all sorts of things using key search terms that I never  would have found searching through the documents as hard copies.”

The correspondence and photographs are part of the Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives. Sabin’s wife, Heloisa, donated his papers, medals, and other artifacts to the University of Cincinnati upon his death in  1993. They reside in the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health  Professions where they have been organized and preserved with the support of the John Hauck Foundation.

In addition to providing easy access to the 50,000 pages of digitized correspondence and photos, the Albert B. Sabin website includes a biography and timeline of Sabin’s life and career, a section about the vaccination program referred to as “Sabin Sundays,” and information about the complete Sabin Collection, which encompasses 400 linear feet and consists of correspondence, laboratory notebooks, manuscripts, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other research papers generated by Sabin during his long and active medical career from 1930-1993. Also included on the website are lessons plans created to encourage high school teachers to use the Sabin digital collection in their classrooms.

For more on the Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives and the digitization of the correspondence and photographs, contact the Winkler Center at (513) 558-5120 or by e-mail at chhp@uc.edu. In addition, a blog was kept by Stephanie Bricking, Sabin archivist, as she worked on the collection. The blog, available at www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/topics/albert-b-sabin-archives/,  provides insight into Sabin’s life and accomplishments. Stephen Marine, UC Libraries’ associate dean for special collections and the project’s principle investigator, adds that the blog is also, “a gold mine of potential research topics for medical historians, historical epidemiologists, medical ethicists, historians of the Cold War, public health officials, and many others.”

“My name is Ashley Kraus and I am currently an English major in the LCS track here at the University of Cincinnati. This infographic was a project for my Rhetoric and Professional Writing class with Professor Laura Wilson, who allowed us to pick any topic we wanted. Since my career plans include going into library science, I felt it would be interesting to focus on information in that area. My main goal in creating this infographic was to provide UC students with some information about what the UC Libraries have to offer. There is great information and resources on the library website, so I incorporated links in the info graphic to provide quick access to that information. I enjoyed working on this project and am grateful to the Langsam Library staff for their help and recommendations.”

Ashley’s interactive infographic can be viewed at https://www.thinglink.com/scene/375473419237457921#tlsite

Join UC Libraries at two upcoming concerts to be held in the Albino Gorno Memorial Music (CCM) Library Reading Room.

Wednesday, April 3 at 8:00 pm:  UC’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Philharmonia Orchestra will perform Haydn’s Symphonies 6, 7, and 8  (“Morning, Noon and Night”) conducted by CCM graduate student Aik Khai Pung.

Sunday, April 14 at 2 pm:  The inaugural concert on the CCM Library’s 1888 Steinway Parlor Grand piano will feature music arranged by Clara Schumann, edited by CCM faculty member Jonathan Kregor, associate professor of composition, musicology, and theory. The music will be performed by students of CCM’s Michael Chertock, associate professor of keyboard studies, and Awadagin Pratt, associate professor of keyboard studies. Dr. Kregor will give remarks about the music.

Free and open to the public, the concerts are part of the “Music in the Gorno Library” series. The Albino Gorno Memorial Music (CCM) Library is located on the 6^th floor of Blegen Library. Seating is limited, so come early.

You can read about Katie, and the other 17 designers, in the magazine available online.