The Relevance of Academic Libraries in the Twenty-First Century

The biggest challenge facing the library profession in the twenty-first century is staying relevant to its users. It is often stated that the Internet and Google have changed librarianship. This challenge, while significant, does not mean that libraries will go away. It is causing us to re-evaluate what we do, how we do it, and what role libraries have in the academy and in our culture at large. This column addresses some of the ways in which academic libraries can stay relevant throughout the twenty-first century

What integrated working practices support or hinder effective referral pathways from health to education services for blind and partially sighted babies and young children? (Sharing our experience, Practitioner-led research 2008-2009; PLR0809/026)

Evidence indicates that young children and parents benefit from receiving specialist visual impairment (VI) education service support from an early stage following identification of a child’s sight condition. Early referral is key to this. Although there are screening protocols for some very specific eye conditions, such as retinopathy of prematurity, there is no vision equivalent to Universal Newborn Hearing Screening with its related referral guidance. The aims of the research were to identify the pathways for referring blind and partially sighted babies and children from Health to Education; and explore models of effective practice in three VI services, i.e. one inner city authority in the east, one rural authority in the west, and a consortium from the south. The first stage of the research was a literature review in order to identify the pathways for referring blind and partially sighted babies and children from Health to Education. The second part of the study sought to address the second aim: to identify models of good practice in a small sample of local authorities and where there were delays in referring from Health to Education to understand the reasons for these delays. As a result of the study, it is recommended that key factors should be in place to support integrated working practices between Health and Education to facilitate effective referral procedures. These factors should include: • an embedded Early Support or a Team around the Child approach; • established multi-agency groups with a focus on visual impairment; • the appointment of a paediatric ophthalmologist to lead on children's issues; • attendance by VI service staff or ECLO at paediatric eye clinics; • incorporating hearing and vision services into LA sensory support services. These should be set out in written agreed protocols between LA education services and Health

Early French views of the Waikato and its inhabitants (1840-54)

This paper will investigate how the cultural background of these Frenchmen informed their descriptions of Waikato Maori and the Waikato environment. It will use the newly-published ten-volume collected correspondence of the pioneer Marists in the Pacific,the Lettres refues d'Odanie, as its principal source

Searches for Axion-Like Particles with NGC1275: Current and Future Bounds

Galaxy clusters contain large magnetic fields that make them excellent targets to search for ultralight Axion-Like Particles (ALPs). ALP-photon interconversion imprints quasi-sinusoidal oscillations on the X-ray spectra of point sources in or behind the cluster. The absence of substantial oscillations allows us to place bounds on $g_{a \gamma \gamma}$. Here the bounds from the {\it Chandra} X-ray observations of NGC1275 are presented, as well as those predicted for the {\it Athena} X-ray observatory, due to launch in 2028.Comment: Contributed to the 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Thessaloniki, May 15 to 19, 201

Earned Income Tax Credit: How to Use the Tax Credit to Build Assets

The purpose of this guide is to educate New Yorkers with disabilities about the Earned Income Tax Credit

Polarisation Observables in Antiproton Proton to Lepton Antilepton Reactions

The electromagnetic form factors of hadrons as measured both in the space like and time like domains provide fundamental information on the nucleon structure and internal dynamics. General expressions, including the lepton mass, for the spin averaged differential cross section for the annihilation reaction lepton antilepton to proton antiproton are given, as well as general formulae for the single and double spin asymmetries. The time reversed reaction would involve a kinematic factor. We also present general expressions for the helicity amplitudes for this reaction.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in the Proceedings of the 17th International Spin Physics Symposium (SPIN 2006), Kyoto, Japan; October 2-7, 200