Lost in the Cloud: Research Library Collections and Community in the Digital Age

Digital technologies, renewed attention to the purposes of higher education, and changing models for scholarship and learning challenge our historic understandings of research libraries and their collections. Common assumptions and goals are giving way to diverse local agendas, many of which also reflect increasingly limited budgets. Cooperative ventures are taking new forms as well, with straitened resources again the rule. Our adaptation to this uncertain environment requires research libraries to reconsider the elements that are now necessary for successOther Research Uni

Rethinking Research Library Collections: A Policy Framework for Straitened Times, and Beyond

Academic and research libraries today confront daunting financial pressures. Their faltering budgets also compound an intensifying existential crisis resulting from profound shifts in information, scholarship, technology, and academic organizations. The purposes of collections are particularly uncertain in this radically fluid context. Analyzing the most salient elements in today’s collections landscape can help to frame the guiding principles that will inform adaptive new approaches to collections and content

Clay flocculation effect on microbial community composition in water and sediment

Clay-based flocculation techniques have been developed to mitigate harmful algal blooms; however, the potential ecological impacts on the microbial community are poorly understood. In this study, chemical measurements were combined with 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the microbial community response to different flocculation techniques, including controls, clay flocculation, clay flocculation with zeolite, and clay flocculation with O2 added zeolite capping. Sediment bacterial biomass measured by PLFA were not significantly altered by the various flocculation techniques used. However, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed differences in water microbial community structure between treatments with and without zeolite capping. The differences were related to significant reductions of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and ammonia (NH4+) concentration and increase of nitrate (NO3-) concentration in zeolite and O2 loaded zeolite capping. The relative abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria increased four-fold in zeolite capping microcosms, suggesting zeolite promoted absorbed ammonia removal in the benthic zone. Zeolite-capping promoted bacteria nitrogen cycling activities at the water-sediment interface. Potential pathogens that are usually adapted to eutrophic water bodies were reduced after clay flocculation. This study demonstrated clay flocculation did not decrease bacterial populations overall and may reduce regulatory indicators and pathogenic contaminants in water. Zeolite capping may also help prevent nutrients from being released back into the water thus preventing additional algal blooms

Creating a Richer Patron-Driven Acquisitions Experience for Your Users: How the University of Arizona Forced Three PDA Programs to Play Nicely Together

Patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) has been an integral part of developing the collection at the University of Arizona Libraries (UAL). The Libraries currently has three PDA programs using two different vendors. The print PDA program from Ingram’s Coutts is the most complicated, involving several steps, including working with patron data to make sure the customer who placed the order is informed when the book is ready for checkout. The electronic PDA program from Ingram’s Coutts includes two files based on two different profiles. One is the standard UAL profile, but the other is a consortium profile that picks up local, fictional, and children’s titles. Currently, all Ingram’s Coutts e-books are on the MyiLibrary platform. The electronic PDA program from Yankee Book Peddler (YBP) is new, having started it in 2013. We are receiving e-books on both the ebrary and EBL platforms. In order to cut down on duplication, we send holdings updates monthly to each vendor. One possible future enhancement to our PDA program is the inclusion of print on demand. UAL purchased an on-demand book maker in 2013, and we are investigating how we can integrate this new service into our PDA program

Oil biodegradation and bioremediation: A tale of the two worst spills in U.S. history

The devastating environmental impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and its media notoriety made it a frequent comparison to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the popular press in 2010, even though the nature of the two spills and the environments impacted were vastly different. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to consume petroleum hydrocarbons. These oil degrading indigenous microorganisms played a significant role in reducing the overall environmental impact of both the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills

Comparative genomics and transcriptomics of Escherichia coli isolates carrying virulence factors of both enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic E. coli

AbstractEscherichia coli that are capable of causing human disease are often classified into pathogenic variants (pathovars) based on their virulence gene content. However, disease-associated hybrid E. coli, containing unique combinations of multiple canonical virulence factors have also been described. Such was the case of the E. coli O104:H4 outbreak in 2011, which caused significant morbidity and mortality. Among the pathovars of diarrheagenic E. coli that cause significant human disease are the enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). In the current study we use comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and functional studies to characterize isolates that contain virulence factors of both EPEC and ETEC. Based on phylogenomic analysis, these hybrid isolates are more genomically-related to EPEC, but appear to have acquired ETEC virulence genes. Global transcriptional analysis using RNA sequencing, demonstrated that the EPEC and ETEC virulence genes of these hybrid isolates were differentially-expressed under virulence-inducing laboratory conditions, similar to reference isolates. Immunoblot assays further verified that the virulence gene products were produced and that the T3SS effector EspB of EPEC, and heat-labile toxin of ETEC were secreted. These findings document the existence and virulence potential of an E. coli pathovar hybrid that blurs the distinction between E. coli pathovars.</jats:p

The Odd Couple: Teaming Up to Reduce Textbook Costs for Students

Since 2012, The University of Arizona (UA) Libraries have partnered with the UA BookStores to identify and make available e-book versions of required course materials accessible through the campus course management system and the BookStores’ website. These e-books have multi- or unlimited use licenses and are available at no cost to students. In advance of each semester, these two stakeholder groups work in partnership to acquire, make discoverable, and promote this service to faculty and students in a variety of ways. With the maturity of our partnership and of this service to faculty and students, the UA Libraries are investigating our current environment and working with the UA BookStores to develop a new model that will improve our workflows, processes, and service to our end users, most notably by inserting the libraries at an earlier stage in the textbook adoption process. This paper focuses on both our current process and how we got to this point as well as on our future strategic plans for developing and implementing a new model in collaboration with campus stakeholders. Both external considerations and internal library acquisition processes are considered to give a full picture of workflows and collaborations