Science Librarians Analysis of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics: The Work of Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 was awarded to scientists from two different research collaborations that independently and contemporaneously discovered from observations of distant supernovae that the universe's expansion is accelerating. This article describes the winners publishing output, gives biographical information and a publishing analysis

Reorganizing the relationship of digital library resources and physical learning environments

Introduction. This preliminary study examines the application of contemporary practice-based approaches to generate data for guiding the design of information literacy learning environments. Method. This study was conducted by interviewing three engineering students who were participating at the Tools for master’s thesis course arranged by Aalto University Library’s Otaniemi Campus Library. The interview’s structure was two-fold, as it first sketched out the participant’s master’s thesis practices through Schatzki’s site ontology and secondly examined the perceived value of different information literacy learning tasks on the latter. Results. The master’s thesis practices of the interviewees were networked in complex ways with e.g. economic life and the interviewees invested much in them. Two of the interviewees worked with their thesis full-time with surroundings and tools provided by their employer. The interviewees valued most the lecture, which comprised of narratives of completed master’s thesis projects and the lecture of scientific writing. From the asynchronous online learning tasks, the interviewees valued most the information retrieval task and the concept map exercise. Conclusion. Spatial library spaces could be provided with asynchronous content such as descriptions of the library services through the tasks of the central user groups and e.g. introductory videos to information retrieval techniques. These contents could be spatially located so that they would serve as facile entrance points to the mobile digital library. The practice-based approaches seem to provide a fertile way of examining student learning and insights gained through them may prove to be valuable in designing new information literacy learning environments.Peer reviewe

Knowledge-enabled Engineering Design: Toward an Integrated Model

Librarians and engineering faculty have long understood that design is one of the defining processes of the engineering profession. In an increasingly knowledge-driven society, students need to efficiently locate, assess and integrate relevant information into their design process so that they can develop innovation solutions to emerging complex, global grand challenges. Increasingly, engineering curricula are incorporating design as early as the first year, but a question remains as to how effectively information literacy is being integrated into these early experiences of design. For example, the Engineering Change study found there has been very little improvement to lifelong learning skills in engineering graduates over the last decade, and indeed lifelong learning, one indicator of information literacy skills, was the lowest rated of the ABET student learning outcomes. Both librarians and engineering educators have studied the use of information in an engineering context, but our knowledge of the possible synergies between information literacy and engineering design is limited. This paper presents an integrated model of Information-Rich Engineering Design (I-RED), providing a detailed articulation of the specific information needs at different stages of the design process. Derived from both literatures, this model attempts to bridge the language and conceptual divide between librarians and engineering educators, to facilitate deeper and more meaningful collaborations between the two group

Integrating Information into the Engineering Design Process

Engineering design is a fundamental problem-solving model used by the discipline. Effective problem-solving requires the ability to find and incorporate quality information sources. To teach courses in this area effectively, educators need to understand the information needs of engineers and engineering students and their information gathering habits. This book provides essential guidance for engineering faculty and librarians wishing to better integrate information competencies into their curricular offerings. The treatment of the subject matter is pragmatic, accessible, and engaging. Rather than focusing on specific resources or interfaces, the book adopts a process-driven approach that outlasts changing information technologies. After several chapters introducing the conceptual underpinnings of the book, a sequence of shorter contributions go into more detail about specific steps in the design process and the information needs for those steps. While they are based on the latest research and theory, the emphasis of the chapters is on usable knowledge. Designed to be accessible, they also include illustrative examples drawn from specific engineering sub-disciplines to show how the core concepts can be applied in those situations. Part 1: Making the Case for Integrated Information in Engineering Design: Information Literary and Lifelong Learning (Michael Fosmire); Multiple Perspectives on Engineering Design (David Radcliffe); Ways that Engineers Use Design Information (Michael Fosmire); Ethical Information Use and Engineering (Megan Sapp Nelson); Information-Rich Engineering Design: A Model (David Radcliffe). Part 2: Pedagogical Advice on How to Implement in Courses: Build a Firm Foundation: Managing Project Information Effectively and Efficiently (Jon Jeffryes); Find the Real Need: Understanding the Task (Megan Sapp Nelson); Scout the Lay of the Land: Exploring the Broader Context of a Project (Amy Van Epps and Monica Cardella); Draw on Existing Knowledge: Taking Advantage of What is Already Known (Jim Clarke); Make Dependable Decisions: Using Trustworthy Information Wisely (Jeremy Garritano); Make It Real: Finding the Most Suitable Materials and Components (Jay Bhatt); Make It Safe and Legal: Meeting Standards, Codes, and Regulations (Bonnie Osif); Get Your Message Across: The Art of Sharing Information (Patrice Buzzanell and Carla Zoltowski); Reflect and Learn: Extracting New Design and Process Knowledge (David Radcliffe); Preparing Students to be Informed Designers: Assessing and Scaffolding Information Literacy (Senay Purzer and Ruth Wertz).https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/pilh/1000/thumbnail.jp

Integrating Information into the Engineering Design Process

Engineering design is a fundamental problem-solving model used by the discipline. Effective problem-solving requires the ability to find and incorporate quality information sources. To teach courses in this area effectively, educators need to understand the information needs of engineers and engineering students and their information gathering habits. This book provides essential guidance for engineering faculty and librarians wishing to better integrate information competencies into their curricular offerings. The treatment of the subject matter is pragmatic, accessible, and engaging. Rather than focusing on specific resources or interfaces, the book adopts a process-driven approach that outlasts changing information technologies. After several chapters introducing the conceptual underpinnings of the book, a sequence of contributions go into detail about specific steps in the design process and the information needs for those steps

Agriculture and Biological Engineering/ Graduate Students/ Bracke & Fosmire/ Purdue University/ 2012

This case study was comprised of three workshops for a lab in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Data Information Literacy topics covered include developing and following a standard operating procedure, search for external data and creating metadata. Materials include a book chapter describing the case study, a data archiving checklist to follow for describing the types of data generated by the lab, a metadata entry form and an evaluation form used to gather feedback for each of the three sessions

Integrating Information into the Engineering Design Process

Engineering design is a fundamental problem-solving model used by the discipline. Effective problem-solving requires the ability to find and incorporate quality information sources. To teach courses in this area effectively, educators need to understand the information needs of engineers and engineering students and their information gathering habits. This book provides essential guidance for engineering faculty and librarians wishing to better integrate information competencies into their curricular offerings. The treatment of the subject matter is pragmatic, accessible, and engaging. Rather than focusing on specific resources or interfaces, the book adopts a process-driven approach that outlasts changing information technologies. After several chapters introducing the conceptual underpinnings of the book, a sequence of shorter contributions go into more detail about specific steps in the design process and the information needs for those steps. While they are based on the latest research and theory, the emphasis of the chapters is on usable knowledge. Designed to be accessible, they also include illustrative examples drawn from specific engineering sub-disciplines to show how the core concepts can be applied in those situations. Part 1: Making the Case for Integrated Information in Engineering Design: Information Literary and Lifelong Learning (Michael Fosmire); Multiple Perspectives on Engineering Design (David Radcliffe); Ways that Engineers Use Design Information (Michael Fosmire); Ethical Information Use and Engineering (Megan Sapp Nelson); Information-Rich Engineering Design: A Model (David Radcliffe). Part 2: Pedagogical Advice on How to Implement in Courses: Build a Firm Foundation: Managing Project Information Effectively and Efficiently (Jon Jeffryes); Find the Real Need: Understanding the Task (Megan Sapp Nelson); Scout the Lay of the Land: Exploring the Broader Context of a Project (Amy Van Epps and Monica Cardella); Draw on Existing Knowledge: Taking Advantage of What is Already Known (Jim Clarke); Make Dependable Decisions: Using Trustworthy Information Wisely (Jeremy Garritano); Make It Real: Finding the Most Suitable Materials and Components (Jay Bhatt); Make It Safe and Legal: Meeting Standards, Codes, and Regulations (Bonnie Osif); Get Your Message Across: The Art of Sharing Information (Patrice Buzzanell and Carla Zoltowski); Reflect and Learn: Extracting New Design and Process Knowledge (David Radcliffe); Preparing Students to be Informed Designers: Assessing and Scaffolding Information Literacy (Senay Purzer and Ruth Wertz).https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/purduepress_ebooks/1030/thumbnail.jp

Quantifying the Information Habits of High School Students Engaged in Engineering Design

stract This study measured the information gathering behaviors of high school students who had taken engineering design courses as they solved a design problem. The authors investigated what types of information students accessed, its quality, when it was accessed during the students’ process, and if it impacted their thinking during the activity. Students overwhelmingly relied on internet searching to acquire information, rather than printed materials available to them. The sites they found were generally popular rather than technical, and persuasive (i.e., trying to sell something) rather than informative. The high school students understood the need for information, as they sought a large volume of information, which they did, generally, incorporate in their solution development process, but their skill in locating high-quality information was relatively poor

An orbital-free molecular dynamics study of melting in K_20, K_55, K_92, K_142, Rb_55 and Cs_55 clusters

The melting-like transition in potasium clusters K_N, with N=20, 55, 92 and 142, is studied by using an orbital-free density-functional constant-energy molecular dynamics simulation method, and compared to previous theoretical results on the melting-like transition in sodium clusters of the same sizes. Melting in potasium and sodium clusters proceeds in a similar way: a surface melting stage develops upon heating before the homogeneous melting temperature is reached. Premelting effects are nevertheless more important and more easily established in potasium clusters, and the transition regions spread over temperature intervals which are wider than in the case of sodium. For all the sizes considered, the percentage melting temperature reduction when passing from Na to K clusters is substantially larger than in the bulk. Once those two materials have been compared for a number of different cluster sizes, we study the melting-like transition in Rb_55 and Cs_55 clusters and make a comparison with the melting behavior of Na_55 and K_55. As the atomic number increases, the height of the specific heat peaks decreases, their width increases, and the melting temperature decreases as in bulk melting, but in a more pronounced way.Comment: LaTeX file. 6 pages with 17 pictures. Final version with minor change