From the Programmer’s Point of View: Imagining Creative Solutions to Serve our Patrons

When seeking to expand our services and the experiences that we offer to our patrons, librarians have the opportunity to find creative solutions in ways that provide a meaningful improvement and demonstrate an engagement with modern systems. As the shift to exclusively computer-based resources, online channels of communication, and web services continues, the information side of library information science requires that we take up the task of becoming familiar with computer programming, software engineering practices, and data handling in order to provide the best services possible. The need for computer literacy, more specifically how to think programmatically, in all areas of our community is paramount in the face of every conceivable library resource and service converting to or existing exclusively in the digital realm. This need is compounded by the expectation from our patrons that we provide compelling experiences that are competitive with those of the consumer technology that they are exposed to throughout their daily lives. While there is a rich history and fertile ecosystem of library led IT projects, including projects that rival and surpass many commercial offerings, there exists a need for librarians outside of IT roles to wield an understanding of programming and information systems. For many technology-oriented projects librarians have traditionally been faced with two less than ideal options. The first, to shop around for a vendor-supplied but not-quite-perfect product or solution that often includes a high-cost and having to settle on an existing product. The second, to appeal to our institutional or municipal IT departments or other departments with expertise. While both options can and do often work, librarians with programming literacy have the tools needed to forge our own path. The program will look at how librarians can become familiar with different aspects of computer technology from the programmer’s point of view. The results of which can lead to knowing what is possible, knowing how to ask for exactly what we want, and how to take up small scale software development and technology projects. Specifically, small scale custom development allows us to glue together larger systems to better serve the needs of our users while avoiding the high cost, long build times, and the close-but-not-perfect outcomes of other options. A small amount of coding skills and interest in technology coupled with the abundance of programmable platforms can lead to highly customized and engaging experience for our patrons with a relatively low cost and time commitment. In addition to the improved user experience, these types of projects help to reflect our changing profession. The design and implementation of two projects will be explored in detail. These include a standalone Twitter bot incorporating Raspberry Pi hardware, 3D printing, and programming and an online Reserves listing kiosk incorporating programming, iPad hardware, and Google Docs. The common thread is the small amount of programming literacy that allows for the leveraging of larger systems and platforms to rapidly create custom solutions

Absurdist trends in american children's theatre : the case of "Noodle Doodle Box" by Paul Maar (1972) and "In a room somewhere" by Susan Zeder (1985)

Anne Cirella-Urrutia evalúa el nacimiento del movimiento del absurdo en la historia del teatro juvenil americano. En particular, el artículo analiza el uso de técnicas del absurdo en las obras Noodle Doodle Box, escrita en 1972 por el dramaturgo alemán Paul Maar, y In a Room Somewhere, por la dramaturga americana Susan Zeder, actuada en 1985. La autora señala cómo estas obras adaptan fuentes familiares del Absurdo para ajustarse a su audiencia, con esta innovación estilística. Además, el artículo muestra los múltiples cambios temáticos, genéricos e interpretativos que Maar y Zeder ponen en acción para dirigirse a los niños

Absurdist trends in american children's theatre : the case of "Noodle Doodle Box" by Paul Maar (1972) and "In a room somewhere" by Susan Zeder (1985)

Anne Cirella-Urrutia evalúa el nacimiento del movimiento del absurdo en la historia del teatro juvenil americano. En particular, el artículo analiza el uso de técnicas del absurdo en las obras Noodle Doodle Box, escrita en 1972 por el dramaturgo alemán Paul Maar, y In a Room Somewhere, por la dramaturga americana Susan Zeder, actuada en 1985. La autora señala cómo estas obras adaptan fuentes familiares del Absurdo para ajustarse a su audiencia, con esta innovación estilística. Además, el artículo muestra los múltiples cambios temáticos, genéricos e interpretativos que Maar y Zeder ponen en acción para dirigirse a los niños

Creativity and science parks: more than just a physical platform?

This study explores how managerial practices can develop and enhance a creative climate in science parks. Based on a case study of one of the most important Italian science parks, Area Science Park, our results suggest that science park management can further enhance the park’s park potential and strengthen ties to its different actors by focusing on creative climate development. In particular, we identify and discuss key aspects that are relevant to this challenge, i.e. promotion of a shared identity, design of structured work processes, use of communal spaces and internal communication technology. Overall, the study contributes to show that creative climate development implies more than merely being located in the physical platform of a science park

Democrazia, comunicazione e attori La riforma dell'istituzione del matrimonio in Spagna

Introduzione Democrazia e opinione pubblica La comunicazione politica i movimenti sociali Attori coinvolti nella negoziazione Studio del cas

Sylvie Blum-Reid. Traveling in French Cinema. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Review of Sylvie Blum-Reid. Traveling in French Cinema. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. viii + 237 pp

Leading organizational transformation: an action research study

Purpose – This study addresses a specific gap in the literature that centers on individual perspective of leadership within the context of organizational transformation. It explores synergies between leadership, analyzed as a combination of individual and plural perspectives, and managerial drivers relating to organizational transformation (communicating, mobilizing, and evaluating), with a focus on capturing the essence of the context. Design/methodology/approach – The study examines a complex organizational transformation initiative faced by an Italian, family-owned fashion design company through an action research project. Findings – The results illustrate that context may play a role in accelerating the implementation of plural forms of leadership and their effectiveness during some phases of transformation. Specific emerging manifestations of leadership and synergies with transformation drivers are identified. Research limitations/implications – This is a single case study derived from an action research project. Although the approach is congruent with the nature of the phenomenon and the purpose of the study, it does not aim for generalizability, and as such further empirical investigation is advocated. Originality/value – The article offers an original perspective on leadership of organizational transformation, discussing in particular the co-existence of individual and plural leadership and the role of context

A global search inversion for earthquake kinematic rupture history: Application to the 2000 western Tottori, Japan earthquake

We present a two-stage nonlinear technique to invert strong motions records and geodetic data to retrieve the rupture history of an earthquake on a finite fault. To account for the actual rupture complexity, the fault parameters are spatially variable peak slip velocity, slip direction, rupture time and risetime. The unknown parameters are given at the nodes of the subfaults, whereas the parameters within a subfault are allowed to vary through a bilinear interpolation of the nodal values. The forward modeling is performed with a discrete wave number technique, whose Green’s functions include the complete response of the vertically varying Earth structure. During the first stage, an algorithm based on the heat-bath simulated annealing generates an ensemble of models that efficiently sample the good data-fitting regions of parameter space. In the second stage (appraisal), the algorithm performs a statistical analysis of the model ensemble and computes a weighted mean model and its standard deviation. This technique, rather than simply looking at the best model, extracts the most stable features of the earthquake rupture that are consistent with the data and gives an estimate of the variability of each model parameter. We present some synthetic tests to show the effectiveness of the method and its robustness to uncertainty of the adopted crustal model. Finally, we apply this inverse technique to the well recorded 2000 western Tottori, Japan, earthquake (Mw 6.6); we confirm that the rupture process is characterized by large slip (3-4 m) at very shallow depths but, differently from previous studies, we imaged a new slip patch (2-2.5 m) located deeper, between 14 and 18 km depth

Rupture process of the 2007 Niigata-ken Chuetsu-oki earthquake by non-linear joint inversion of strong motion and GPS data

We image the rupture history of the 2007 Niigata-ken Chuestu-oki (Japan) earthquake by a nonlinear joint inversion of strong motion and GPS data, retrieving peak slip velocity, rupture time, rise time and slip direction. The inferred rupture model contains two asperities; a small patch near the nucleation and a larger one located 10÷15 km to the south-west. The maximum slip ranges between 2.0 and 2.5 m and the total seismic moment is 1.6×1019 Nm. The inferred rupture history is characterized by rupture acceleration and directivity effects, which are stable features of the inverted models. These features as well as the source-to-receiver geometry are discussed to interpret the high peak ground motions observed (PGA is 1200 gals) at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant (KKNPP), situated on the hanging-wall of the causative fault. Despite the evident source effects, predicted PGV underestimates the observed values at KKNPP by nearly a factor of 10