Embracing the Non-Traditional: Incorporating Non-Traditional Elements into Library Identity

A shift in library and librarian identities occurs as libraries and library workers evolve and explore new practices. These changes prompt a discussion of what constitutes “traditional” and “non-traditional” practice in libraries. Identity and gatekeeper theories provide a lens through which the process of introducing and incorporating professional practices in libraries can be understood and offer insights into how ‘non-traditional’ ideas can be incorporated into the concepts of what constitute library collections and services for library workers and other stakeholders. Acceptance of non-traditional practice is aided by three factors. First, library organizational and professional identities must be sufficiently broad to incorporate non-traditional elements. Second, non-traditional elements must be successfully linked to stakeholders’ perspectives of libraries’ missions and mandates. Finally, institutional barriers to the introduction of non-traditional elements should be identified and addressed

Library Orientation Practices in Special Libraries

Purpose The library orientation session is an important marketing tool because it offers the first opportunity for library staff to connect with new clients (Craft and Ballard-Thrower, 2011; Rhoades and Hartsell, 2008). This paper aims to explore library orientation practices in special libraries and information centers with the goal of surveying current practices and identifying guidance for successful orientation program design and delivery. Design/methodology/approach This study explored library orientation practices in special libraries and information services through an electronic survey. The survey questions were developed based on themes that emerged from case studies on library orientations from the academic library literature. These themes included reasons for library orientation program redesigns, the importance of partnerships in orientation design and delivery and the tools and techniques used in the delivery of orientation sessions. Findings The results revealed that library orientations are taking place in special libraries, but there is no consistent approach to library orientation delivery. Even within a single library, multiple approaches to library orientations are taken based on client availability, demand and information needs observations of library staff. Participants’ responses were analyzed to develop recommendations for special library orientations. These include developing partnerships (particularly with human resource departments), using technology strategically, considering the timing of orientations for new potential clients in relation to their start as new employees in the host organization, customizing library orientations based on client segment, engaging in ongoing outreach, and being flexible in design and delivery methods. Research limitations/implications This study represents a starting step in an exploration of library orientation practices in special libraries. The key limitation of this study was the low response rate leading to small sample size. A larger sample of special libraries would be needed to produce a quantitative analysis of the prevalence of practices with an acceptable degree of statistical significance. Alternately, smaller samples of special libraries organized by characteristics such as size or type (e.g. corporate libraries, law libraries and medical libraries) could be conducted to determine if distinctive trends exist within these special library types. Practical implications This study revealed information about key practices and challenges that can be used by special library practitioners seeking to implement or redesign a library orientation program in their library. Originality/value While academic and practitioner literature exists detailing library orientation activities in academic and school libraries, there are very few papers on special library orientations. This study fills a gap in the literature by investigating library orientation practices in special libraries and information centers

Positroid cluster structures from relabeled plabic graphs

The Grassmannian is a disjoint union of open positroid varieties $P_v$, certain smooth irreducible subvarieties whose definition is motivated by total positivity. The coordinate ring of $P_v$ is a cluster algebra, and each reduced plabic graph $G$ for $P_v$ determines a cluster. We study the effect of relabeling the boundary vertices of $G$ by a permutation $r$. Under suitable hypotheses on the permutation, we show that the relabeled graph $G^r$ determines a cluster for a different open positroid variety $P_w$. As a key step of the proof, we show that $P_v$ and $P_w$ are isomorphic by a nontrivial twist isomorphism. Our constructions yield many cluster structures on each open positroid variety $P_w$, given by plabic graphs with appropriately relabeled boundary. We conjecture that the seeds in all of these cluster structures are related by a combination of mutations and Laurent monomial transformations involving frozen variables, and establish this conjecture for (open) Schubert and opposite Schubert varieties. As an application, we also show that for certain reduced plabic graphs $G$, the "source" cluster and the "target" cluster are related by mutation and Laurent monomial rescalings.Comment: 45 pages, comments welcome! v2: minor change

The Associations Among Sport-Related Concussion, Head Impact Biomechanics, and Emotion Dysregulation in High School Athletes

Background: Current recommendations advise athletic trainers to develop and implement plans for athletes’ with psychological concerns.[1] Associations between head impact severity (impact frequency, location, and magnitude) and sport-related concussion (SRC) have been identified in football players. However, it is unknown if the inclusion of emotion dysregulation measures may improve clinicians’ ability to identify at-risk players at baseline with respect to head impact biomechanics and incident SRC. Objectives: This prospective longitudinal study included four objectives: 1) To assess the associations between concussion history and preseason emotion dysregulation measures in high school student-athletes, 2) to assess the associations among preseason baseline emotion dysregulation scores, competition Impact Severity Profiles (ISP), and in-season incident concussion in high school football players, 3) To determine the associations among in-season incident SRC, full season ISPs and emotion dysregulation change-scores in high school football players, and 4) To determine the association of in-season incident SRC and full season emotion dysregulation change-scores (postseason-preseason) in high school student-athletes over one season. Methods: 1,053 student-athletes (age = 15.59 ± 1.21) from three high schools completed preseason and postseason concussion history and emotion dysregulation questionnaires during the 2013/14–2015/16 academic years. Of these individuals, 182 football players were chosen to have their helmets instrumented with Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS) accelerometers. Data from these sensors were used to formulate Impact Severity Profiles (ISP) (normal, moderate, poor). Our emotion dysregulation measures included depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), impulsivity (BIS-11), and aggression (BPAQ), and perceived stress (PSS4, covariate only). Linear regressions were utilized for all analyses. Results: Our data only supported our first hypothesis. Concussion history was associated with significantly higher depression (p=0.004) and impulsivity (p=0.014, p=0.002). Preseason scores were associated with age, sex, concussion history and sport. Conclusions: The emotion dysregulation scores were not significantly associated with the competition or full season ISPs, or in-season incident concussion. Our emotion dysregulation data supported preseason sex-related findings as well as novel associations that had not previously been reported. These findings indicate that the current protocol still requires further investigation before it could be utilized as an effective prediction method for at-risk athletes.Doctor of Philosoph

Biocharred Pathways to Sustainability? Triple Wins, Livelihoods and the Politics of Technological Promise

Biochar’ is currently the focus of extraordinary levels of both technological optimism and debate. As a substance, biochar refers quite simply to the carbon-rich product that results when biomass – from wood or leaves to manure or crop residues – is burned under oxygen-deprived conditions. But around the idea of biochar and the processes of generating and then burying it are emerging claims and hopes with far-reaching implications. The promise of biochar is generating a mass of research, imagination, and investment that for the moment far outpace actual practices, implementation and systems on the ground. Critique and counter-arguments are swirling too, in a mass of sometimes heated and polarized debate. This paper tracks key narratives and positions in this emerging ‘politics of technological promise’ around biochar, and thus reflects on the prospects of biochar becoming part of pathways to sustainability that also meet the livelihood priorities of small farmers in rural African settings and beyond.ESR

Traditional Owners and Sea Country in the Southern Great Barrier Reef – Which Way Forward?

[Extract] For over 20 years, Traditional Owners (TOs) from across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have been coming together to explore and call for a collective approach to achieving their aspirations for ownership, access to, and involvement in the management of sea country. Over these years, people have made real progress in securing improved recognition of their rights and developing local capacities to govern and manage their sea country. Despite these wins, and good engagement by Commonwealth and State governments on occasions, there has been no lasting, continuously improving GBR-wide approach to engaging TOs. With the future health of the GBR under threat, the current Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan (Reef 2050) recognises the significance of Traditional Owner rights and interests in the management of sea country and the Marine Park. There are considered and significant Indigenous implementation actions embedded right across Reef 2050. Implementation, however, lies ahead. Given the long history of Traditional Owner attempts to influence sea country management across the GBR, they consider that, without strong partnerships, there could be a real risk of implementation failure. At this point, the mechanisms for cohesive and coordinated implementation of the Reef 2050 do not yet fundamentally engage Traditional Owners as real partners in the long-term management of sea country, consistent with international guidelines for their engagement in protected area management, which emphasise the required for prior informed consent and ongoing equity

Neutral Assessment of the National Research Council Canada Evaluation Function

Federal government departments and agencies are required to conduct a neutral assessment of their evaluation function once every five years under the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Policy on Evaluation (2009). This article describes the National Research Council’s experience conducting the first neutral assessment of its evaluation function. Based on learning from this first assessment, best practices that NRC intends on replicating, as well as lessons learned for future assessments, are discussed. This article may be of interest to both federal and non-federal organizations seeking to conduct a neutral assessment in an effort to improve their evaluation services and products.Les ministères et les agences du gouvernement fédéral doivent effectuer un examen neutre de leur fonction d’évaluation une foisà tous les cinq ans selon la politique du Secrétariat du Conseildu Trésor sur l’évaluation (2009). Cet article décrit l’expérience du Conseil national de recherches du Canada dans le cadre de la réalisation du premier examen neutre de sa fonction d’évaluation. À partir des apprentissages découlant du premier examen, les bonnes pratiques ainsi que les leçons apprises que le CNRC entend répliquer dans des exercices futures sont discutées. Cet article pourrait s’avérer d’intérêt pour les organisations fédérales et non-fédérales cherchant à mener un examen neutre dans le but d’améliorer leurs services et produits d’évaluation