The Year in Review: A Year of Planning, Partnerships, and Special Events

Strategic Planning

University Libraries Strategic Plan, 2007-2009
This winter quarter, University Libraries launched the Strategic Plan, 2007-2009. Along with articulating the mission, vision, and values of the organization, the plan outlines the strategic directions that will guide the work and efforts of the libraries over the next few years. The plan is aligned with the goals of UC|21, the academic plan for the university, and focuses on the libraries’ mission “to provide excellent research collections, quality service, engaging learning environments, and innovative instruction in support of the University of Cincinnati’s comprehensive mission of teaching, research, and community service.” The plan is available online.

Updated Library Catalog Design
In summer 2006, the redesigned UC Library Catalog debuted. A Strategic Plan initiative to improve access to library holdings, the redesigned Library Catalog includes many new features that highten functionality, searchability, and ease of use. Available online at <http://uclid.uc.edu>, some of the features of the Library Catalog include: tabs and radio buttons that allow users to select search type, hints and examples, the ability to search for both print and e-journals, and more.

Partnerships/Collaborations

Changing the Face of Medicine
Women physicians – the challenges they have faced to practice medicine and the impact they have had on the profession – were the focus of a traveling exhibition brought to Cincinnati through the joint efforts of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Academic Health Center Information Technology & Libraries (AIT&L), and University Libraries. “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians” was developed by the National Library of Medicine in collaboration with the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office. More information is available online.

Defiant Gardens
Set against the harshness and ugliness of war, a garden can bring both beauty and hope. Author and professor Kenneth Helphand writes about such defiant gardens – gardens created in extreme political, economic, or cultural conditions – and their impact on society in Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime. Helphand spoke on the subject of defiant gardens at a public lecture and book signing February 1, 2007. Sponsored by the Lloyd Library and Museum and the Friends of University Libraries, Helphand’s talk covered wartime gardens throughout the 20th century, including gardens created by World War I soldiers in the trenches, gardens found in the Warsaw and other ghettos of World War II, up to gardens grown during the Gulf War and the Iraq War.

Special Events

Edible Books Festival
It is a celebration held around the world on April Fool’s Day – the International Edible Books Festival. For the sixth consecutive year, University Libraries participated in this gastronomic affair with an event held in Langsam Library April 3, 2007. UC students, faculty, and staff made edible creations in the likeness of or inspired by books. A record 24 “authors” created edible tomes such as The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Ivanhoe. The entries were judged by Donna Hamilton, UC’s Assistant Vice President for Web Communications, and Jerry Newman, University Libraries’ Assistant Dean for Collection Development. Among the prizes awarded were those for the Most Edible, Most Creative, Most Bookish, and Most Mysterious. See more photos from the Edible Books Festival online.

16th Annual “Authors, Editors & Composers”
On April 26, 2007, faculty members, university administrators, librarians, and Friends of the Libraries gathered to celebrate research and scholarly publishing at the University of Cincinnati. The 16th annual “Authors, Editors & Composers” event, organized by University Libraries and sponsored by the Friends of University Libraries, honored 250 faculty members and 380 creative and scholarly works published in 2006. The submitted publications ranged in medium as well as content. There were articles, books, book chapters, edited journals, music scores, artwork, poetry, works of fiction, and videos. The content ranged from religion and polities to death and taxes. There was important research on such health topics as leukemia, cystic fibrosis, and childhood obesity. Also represented were publications that address such societal issues as education, poverty, the homeless in America, and the environment.

The event’s program featured remarks by three featured UC faculty members:

• Kathryn Gutzwiller, Professor of Classics, discussed “Learning and Love in the Epigrams of Meleager,” “TheBucolic Problem,” and “The Herdsman in Greek Thought.”
• bruce d. mcclung, Associate Professor of Musicology, spoke about the research process for writing his book Lady in the Dark: Biography of a Musical.
• Joel B. Peckham, Jr., Assistant Professor of American Literature, read from his personal essay “The Neverland.”

A complete bibliography of works submitted is available online.

Library Exhibits
The Friends of University Libraries sponsor exhibits that highlight library collections and resources. Highlights of 2006-2007 exhibits include:

Guess Who? Famous Cincinnatians at Home in University Libraries–

Born in Cincinnati in 1850, this illustrator and author was one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America.
Answer: Daniel Carter Beard

This well-known author lived in Cincinnati from 1832-1850. In 1862, she visited President Abraham Lincoln where legend has it he greeted her as “…the little woman who wrote the
book that started this Great War!” (a.k.a. the American Civil War). Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

These famous Cincinnatians were just a few featured in the exhibit that included politicians, musicians, authors, media moguls, and more who made their home in the Queen City at some point of their lives.

A Celebration of Culture and Community: The June Festival of Negro Music, 1938-1950s
From 1938 through the early 1950s, the June Festival of Negro Music was an annual celebration of culture and community held in Cincinnati. For African-American musicians, it was an opportunity to meet each other and practice their art. The exhibit in Blegen Library paid tribute to this festival and featured festival musicians Artie Matthews and Paul Robeson. The exhibit also highlighted the collections of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Library.

University Libraries Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
Each year, UC commemorates Hispanic Heritage Month with events to build awareness and understanding of Hispanic culture. University Libraries hosted an exhibit in Langsam Library featuring Hispanic films and books. Some of the items on display included the movie Like Water for Chocolate, and books such as The Mother’s Poems by Gabriel Mistral and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

Source Index