Incorporating interactive 3-dimensional graphics in astronomy research papers

Most research data collections created or used by astronomers are intrinsically multi-dimensional. In contrast, all visual representations of data presented within research papers are exclusively 2-dimensional. We present a resolution of this dichotomy that uses a novel technique for embedding 3-dimensional (3-d) visualisations of astronomy data sets in electronic-format research papers. Our technique uses the latest Adobe Portable Document Format extensions together with a new version of the S2PLOT programming library. The 3-d models can be easily rotated and explored by the reader and, in some cases, modified. We demonstrate example applications of this technique including: 3-d figures exhibiting subtle structure in redshift catalogues, colour-magnitude diagrams and halo merger trees; 3-d isosurface and volume renderings of cosmological simulations; and 3-d models of instructional diagrams and instrument designs.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, submitted to New Astronomy. For paper with 3-dimensional embedded figures, see http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/3dpd

Incorporating interactive 3-dimensional graphics in astronomy research papers

Most research data collections created or used by astronomers are intrinsically multi-dimensional. In contrast, all visual representations of data presented within research papers are exclusively 2-dimensional. We present a resolution of this dichotomy that uses a novel technique for embedding 3-dimensional (3-d) visualisations of astronomy data sets in electronic-format research papers. Our technique uses the latest Adobe Portable Document Format extensions together with a new version of the S2PLOT programming library. The 3-d models can be easily rotated and explored by the reader and, in some cases, modified. We demonstrate example applications of this technique including: 3-d figures exhibiting subtle structure in redshift catalogues, colour-magnitude diagrams and halo merger trees; 3-d isosurface and volume renderings of cosmological simulations; and 3-d models of instructional diagrams and instrument designs.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, submitted to New Astronomy. For paper with 3-dimensional embedded figures, see http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/3dpd

Tell Khaiber: An administrative centre of the Sealand period

Excavations at Tell Khaiber in southern Iraq by the Ur Region Archaeological Project have revealed a substantial building (hereafter the Public Building) dating to the mid-second millennium b.c. The results are significant for the light they shed on Babylonian provincial administration, particularly of food production, for revealing a previously unknown type of fortified monumental building, and for producing a dated archive, in context, of the little-understood Sealand Dynasty. The project also represents a return of British field archaeology to long-neglected Babylonia, in collaboration with Iraq's State Board for Antiquities and Heritage. Comments on the historical background and physical location of Tell Khaiber are followed by discussion of the form and function of the Public Building. Preliminary analysis of the associated archive provides insights into the social milieu of the time. Aspects of the material culture, including pottery, are also discussed

Intellectual Property Research: From the Dustiest Law Book to the Most Far off Database

This issue of IDEA introduces a regular series of articles on intellectual property research tools and strategies based on my experience for over a decade as Intellectual Property Librarian and Research Professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center. Pierce Law is consistently ranked among the top law schools training IP professionals. I have taught IP legal research, patent, trademark and copyright searching to hundreds of students and IP professionals in Pierce Law Graduate Programs. I have tackled hundreds of reference and research questions as well as working on countless projects requiring IP information. So I have been faced with challenges and changes common to consumers of IP information. What are the types of data IP researchers seek? What are the options for access to such data? How do we evaluate the access points? What is the value added to our information access choices? The mission of this series is to present tools and strategies and answers some of these consumer questions within evaluative frameworks appropriate to the tools under consideration. Each information acquisition choice is made on a moment-by-moment basis subject to the press of business. Choices are made by the totality of the circumstances. Pressures and factors such as time and money often drive information consumption and will be acknowledged and addressed in the series. Despite the intense growth of IP as a legal specialty, the widespread focus on IP in other disciplines outside the law and the increasing use of non-legal data such as patent statistical indicators, little has been written on IP research. There are no dedicated treatises or periodicals on IP legal research. There are no comprehensive treatises on patent, trademark or copyright searching. The intent of this series is not scholarship and footnotes. The intent is to provide some helpful tools and strategies to those performing IP research on the spectrum from law to facts. So, the phrase IP research in this introduction, unless otherwise specified, refers to the acquisition all types of IP information by the full range of consumers

Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals I: The Missing Link

When the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration in 2000 and, a year later, the Millennium Development Goals, an explicit commitment to the reproductive rights of women was nowhere to be found

Information Outlook, April 2000

Volume 4, Issue 4https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2000/1003/thumbnail.jp

In the palm of your hand: supporting rural teacher professional development and practice through the use of mobile phones and other handheld digital devices

Given the huge growth of mobile phone access in Sub Saharan Africa (Minges, 2004) some of the most innovative uses of mobile devices are now to be found in the development context (Economist, 2005). Reviews of the use of mobile technologies point to a range of current and potential development for learning in classrooms, homes and the community (e.g. Naismith et al). This paper draws on the experience of two projects: a large scale project for SMS mediated school administration in Kenya and a small scale research project using eBooks and other digital tools for teacher professional development and practice, carried out in predominantly rural schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This research is set in the wider context of the emerging theory, practice and evaluation of the use of mobile technologies for improving teaching and learning (Leach 2006, Power & Thomas 2006, Traxler & Kukulska-Hulme 2006). The paper considers the potential of currently common mobile phones to aid communication and break down isolation amongst rural teachers and the design, use and evaluation of e-book learning resources on handheld mobile devices, such as current ‘smart-phones’, which the authors anticipate will soon be the ‘normal’ ubiquitous mobile phone. Whilst there is only a small body of evidence on the application of mobile technologies to teacher learning, impacts on teacher development remain a matter for debate. Findings suggest that given the right conditions, uses of mobile technology can significantly enhance teacher professional learning and practice