From Picas to Pixels: Innovative Oral Histories on the Web: An Interview with Quinn Stewart, Coordinator of Information, Technology and Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information

This edition of “From Picas to Pixels” takes an in-depth look at some innovative oral history collections at the University of Texas at Austin. Focusing on one collection in particular, the Texas Legacy Project, Quinn Stewart tells us about old and new ways to encode and offer up high quality transcribed video. Also discussed is the new technology application, Glifos Social Media Creator, that makes these new collections possible. Other ongoing oral history projects at the University of Texas at Austin are addressed.     

Archiving Websites: A Practical Guide for Information Management Professionals

Abstract

This edition of “From Picas to Pixels” takes an in-depth look at some innovative oral history collections at the University of Texas at Austin. Focusing on one collection in particular, the Texas Legacy Project, Quinn Stewart tells us about old and new ways to encode and offer up high quality transcribed video. Also discussed is the new technology application, Glifos Social Media Creator, that makes these new collections possible. Other ongoing oral history projects at the University of Texas at Austin are addressed.     

On the spectrum of [v,k, t] trades

A [v, k, t] trade of volume m consists of two disjoint collections T₁ and T₂, each of m k-subsets of a v-set V, such that each t-subset of V is contained in the same number of blocks of T₁ and T₂, and each element of V is contained in at least one block of T₁. We study [v, k, t] trades, and investigate their spectrum (i.e., the collections of allowable volumes), using both theoretical techniques and computer-based searches.     

Mariners' Museum and Library

The Mariners' Museum and Library, begun in 1930 in southeastern Virginia, is world renowned for its collections of maritime ephemera. Collections include ships, boat plans, figureheads, navigational instruments, rare maps, books, and a wonderful collection of serials. Both the museum and library are used by scholars, ship builders, students, and television and movie researchers. It is also a great place for a family to spend the day learning and playing. The library's interactive Web site, with online exhibits and educational programs, is a fantastic resource for those who are not able to travel to the museum.     

Reverse engineering gene regulatory networks using approximate Bayesian computation

Gene regulatory networks are collections of genes that interact with one other and with other substances in the cell. By measuring gene expression over time using high-throughput technologies, it may be possible to reverse engineer, or infer, the structure of the gene network involved in a particular cellular process. These gene expression data typically have a high dimensionality and a limited number of biological replicates and time points. Due to these issues and the complexity of biological systems, the problem of reverse engineering networks from gene expression data demands a specialized suite of statistical tools and methodologies. We propose a non-standard adaptation of a simulation-based approach known as Approximate Bayesian Computing based on Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. This approach is particularly well suited for the inference of gene regulatory networks from longitudinal data. The performance of this approach is investigated via simulations and using longitudinal expression data from a genetic repair system in Escherichia coli.     

The complexity of school and neighbourhood effects and movements of pupils on school differences in models of educational achievement

Summary.  Traditional studies of school differences in educational achievement use multilevel modelling techniques to take into account the nesting of pupils within schools. However, educational data are known to have more complex non-hierarchical structures. The potential importance of such structures is apparent when considering the effect of pupil mobility during secondary schooling on educational achievement. Movements of pupils between schools suggest that we should model pupils as belonging to the series of schools that are attended and not just their final school. Since these school moves are strongly linked to residential moves, it is important to explore additionally whether achievement is also affected by the history of neighbourhoods that are lived in. Using the national pupil database, this paper combines multiple membership and cross-classified multilevel models to explore simultaneously the relationships between secondary school, primary school, neighbourhood and educational achievement. The results show a negative relationship between pupil mobility and achievement, the strength of which depends greatly on the nature and timing of these moves. Accounting for pupil mobility also reveals that schools and neighbourhoods are more important than shown by previous analysis. A strong primary school effect appears to last long after a child has left that phase of schooling. The additional effect of neighbourhoods, in contrast, is small. Crucially, the rank order of school effects across all types of pupil is sensitive to whether we account for the complexity of the multilevel data structure.     

Data-Informed Ebook Discovery: An Analytical Approach to the User Experience

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an effort to better understand the discoverability of ebook collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Library staff analyzed titles in nine ebook packages across disciplines and conducted a two-pronged analysis of how discoverable titles in these collections were, both in Summon Discovery Service and the online catalog, and the quality of what could be discovered about the ebooks with these tools. This study revealed that discoverability of ebooks is not equal across collections, and some collections require more work to make them discoverable in Summon and the catalog. Finally, the majority of titles were discovered in Summon, but the catalog still seems to be a better discovery engine for these ebooks.     

Preserving Electronic Scholarship for the Future: An Overview of LOCKSS,CLOCKSS, Portico,CHORUS, and the Keepers Registry

Electronic resources are becoming the backbone of many library collections. Electronic journals in particular have become the default format for most periodical literature in all fields of scholarship. The mission of librarians, the publishing industry, and nonprofit organizations is to ensure that electronic scholarship remains accessible to future generations in an affordable and sustainable manner. The focus for the first edition of “In Layman's Terms” is on LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, CHORUS, Portico, and the Keepers Registry, five initiatives dedicated to the preservation and to the perpetual access of electronic scholarship. It includes a brief history of each initiative. It looks at their missions and their different roles in preserving and providing access to electronic resources and the benefits and costs in joining them and being involved with them. It identifies the relationships among these initiatives.     

Just Popping In: Collections and Outreach Collaborations to Increase Student Engagement with Electronic Resources

Abstract

Promoting electronic resources in a physical space takes ingenuity and cross-library partnership. This article discusses a collaborative approach to promote electronic resources by an outreach librarian and an electronic collections librarian. As members of the teaching and research assistance team, the librarians observed how students relied on “big name,” multidisciplinary databases and were often intimidated by the expansive list of digital materials and electronic resources available to them. A literature review on the topic of similar promotional activities introduces the pop-up methodology used for the event. The purpose of the collaboration was to not only promote ebook collections but to also create awareness of the library outside of the traditional space, and librarians as resources. This collaboration resulted in student-librarian engagement, and a spike in ebook use was reported for the collection promoted.     

Environment

Abstract

This study surveys the development of collections of foreign-language ethnic newspapers in American libraries and archives since the 1960s. Relying on a review of historical and media studies scholarship as well as library and archival science literature, the article aims to identify the main sources of non-English ethnic newspapers available in the United States and to examine the difficulties such newspapers present for libraries, from older print publications to today’s born-digital media, regarding collection development, bibliographic control, and preservation. After a brief historical survey of the foreign-language ethnic press in the United States, the article analyzes the development of library collections since the 1960s as well as libraries’ efforts to preserve them and improve access to them. It then evaluates the state of digitization and online availability of foreign-language ethnic newspapers and initiates a reflection on the need to collect current print and digital ethnic newspapers.     

Tabloids

Abstract

Comic books and libraries do not seem to get along, at least not in North American libraries. Aside from a few dozen specialized, noncirculating research collections, retrospective comic book holdings remain virtually unknown as a library resource.1 Browsing collections of current comic books are equally rare in public, school, and college libraries. In a 1984 article, comic book bibliographer Randall Scott observed, “In most communities, if you want to read or refer to a comic book, you have to buy it.” Librarian Doug Highsmith concurred, writing in 1992 that public libraries carrying the latest issues of popular comics titles are “still the exception rather than the rule.” Both statements remain fundamentally true today.     

Little Magazines

Abstract

Technological demands significantly complicate the careers of librarians. Dynamic growth and changes in information technology plus the introduction of electronic journals into library collections create serious challenges in organizing and managing information and collections. The author examines the most frequently required and preferred qualifications and knowledge demands for a serials librarian. Based on job announcements in academic institutions from the years 1999–2001, the analysis reveals what new skills a person needs to manage electronic information and also suggests some professional development opportunities that improve competencies for serials librarians. Serials Review 2002; 28:33–37.     

The Art of the Win-Win Deal

Abstract

“The Art of the Win-Win Deal,” presented by Rob Ross, executive director of NC LIVE, discussed the art of negotiation from both perspectives: the library and the vendor. Ross negotiates with vendors on behalf of over 200 libraries in North Carolina.     

利用菲德模型测量教育投资的外溢效应

一、教育投资经济效益的理论探讨在现代社会中 ,教育的作用和影响是多方面的 ,教育既具有经济职能又具有社会职能。教育投资的经济效益是教育发挥其经济职能的表现。教育投资的经济效益 (简称教育的经济效益 ,是指通过教育再生产出一定数量和质量的人才 ,进而提高社会劳动生产率 ,促进国民经济的增长 ,在其增长总额中抵偿用于教育和培养的全部经费之后的余额。对于教育投资的经济效益的计量 ,由于教育的经济效益的复杂性及理论研究的欠缺 ,至今没有一个理想的统一标准。目前 ,具有代表性的几种计量方法主要有 :(1) )舒尔茨的余数分析法。舒…     

Occupancy numbers for dynamic heterogeneous populations: Estimate of particles lifetimes

A dynamic model of a heterogeneous population is studied. Particles belonging to a population are divided, at every time t, into a finite number of classes according to their types and the partition changes over time. The role of the occupancy numbers, namely the cardinality of each class, is highlighted. The relationship between the stochastic process of occupancy numbers and the process of particle types is analyzed. The main goal of this paper is the estimation of the lifetime of each particle at a given time t, when the observed data are the history of the process of the number of dead particles up to t. Furthermore, a discrete time approximation of the filter is given.     

Developing a Freely Accessible/Open Access Resource Management Policy at Duke University Libraries: A Case Study

Abstract

Freely accessible and open access resources present unique challenges for librarians working with electronic resources. Due to the fact that many of these resources lack high-quality metadata or the technical support provided by traditional publishers, making them discoverable and maintaining access over time can be tricky. Creating a policy allows for a systematic approach to the management of freely accessible/open access (OA) resources, alleviating problems surrounding lack of staff time or expertise. Many of these resources are already important parts of collections and will only continue to grow in importance. Freely accessible/OA resources allow for a more diverse representation of content, both by subject and format type, and allow a wider array of authors to have their work appear in library collections. This case study will provide a review of freely accessible/OA policies in other libraries, describe why these resources are important to add to our collections, discuss challenges libraries face with managing these resources, and explain how Duke University Libraries is addressing some of these challenges through the development of a policy.     

Barnwood

Abstract

Institutional repositories (IRs) have been developed and promoted primarily as a means to re-publish scholarly content previously published elsewhere—usually in journals, festschriften, or collections of articles. This essay discusses the use of IRs as the originating publisher of materials not previously published elsewhere and assesses their potential use as a viable “first resort” for scholarly publication and an already existing alternative to traditional commercial or university presses.     

Fifth North Carolina serials conference: “ Serials at the speed of write—Coping,” Burlington,NC, April 4–5, 1996

Abstract

The Pacific Rim Library (PRL) is an initiative of the Pacific Rim Digital Library Association (PRDLA). The project began in 2006 using the OAI-PMH paradigm and now holds over 300,000 records harvested from OAI data provider libraries around the Pacific. PRL's goal is to enable the sharing of digital collections amongst PRDLA members and the world, but greater unexpected benefits have been discovered. Through mirroring their metadata, PRL increases the chance that their data will be discovered in Google and other general search engines. With its many disparate collections, PRL is not a repository for traditional information discovery and retrieval. Initially users will bounce from a Google hit to the PRL metadata record in Hong Kong and then begin an intensive search on the original site which hosts the full digital object, in Vancouver, Honolulu, Wuhan, Singapore, or other PRDLA member location.     

Rock is a Way of Life: The World of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fanzines and Fandom

Abstract

While advantages of electronic publications are obvious and far reaching, most electronic journals are still published also in print since libraries do not acquire electronic journals but only access them through licenses. Libraries with substantial electronic publications, however, no longer “compile” collections in a traditional sense. One consequence of electronic only access is that the permanent availability of information that implicitly used to be found in print collections is no longer guaranteed. Digital publishing dramatically alters both the roles of libraries and publishers in preserving records of science. This article discusses the contribution of national libraries, particularly the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB; National Library of the Netherlands), to cooperate with publishers to secure the permanent archiving of electronic publications.     

Title Index

Abstract

This article describes how electronic resources have impacted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries' binding operation and how the libraries have responded to the resulting challenges, including the need for updated collection development and preservation/conservation policies, a comprehensive bindery contract, and a fully functional in-house binding capability. The evaluation of the binding process must continue as libraries move from a predominantly print to a predominantly electronic environment. Librarians, scholars, and binders should work together to preserve and bind library collections that will be valuable to future generations.