Investigating Primary Source Literacy

Primary source research requires students to acquire specialized research skills. This paper presents results from a user study testing the effectiveness of a Web guide designed to convey the concepts behind “primary source literacy”. The study also evaluated students’ strengths and weaknesses when conducting primary source research

In the Parlor: The Personal Lives of Marylanders

Booklet prepared for exhibit in Maryland Room Gallery, January - June 2004.Drawing on diaries, letters, photographs, scrapbooks, published materials, government records, and memorabilia, "In the Parlor: The Personal Lives of Marylanders," considers how the stories of the lives of eight Marylanders illuminate and reflect larger historical themes and realities, such as religion, war, politics, race, careers, and family life. The people and collections highlighted in this exhibit span a wide range of political, religious, social, and economic spheres. Their lives spanned the 19th and 20th centuries. The materials that these people left behind, either intentionally with the historical record in mind, or merely as a part of their daily routine, provide an intimate look at both private and public life, and yet altogether they comprise only a portion of Maryland history. Included are the stories of Maryland politicians, women, teachers, scientists, writers, and people involved in the University of Maryland community. In many ways, their lives overlapped, although none of the individuals in this exhibit, to our knowledge, were acquainted with each other

Onset and Progression of Behavioral and Molecular Phenotypes in a Novel Congenic R6/2 Line Exhibiting Intergenerational CAG Repeat Stability

In the present study we report on the use of speed congenics to generate a C57BL/6J congenic line of HD-model R6/2 mice carrying 110 CAG repeats, which uniquely exhibits minimal intergenerational instability. We also report the first identification of the R6/2 transgene insertion site. The relatively stable line of 110 CAG R6/2 mice was characterized for the onset of behavioral impairments in motor, cognitive and psychiatric-related phenotypes as well as the progression of disease-related impairments from 4 to 10 weeks of age. 110Q mice exhibited many of the phenotypes commonly associated with the R6/2 model including reduced activity and impairments in rotarod performance. The onset of many of the phenotypes occurred around 6 weeks and was progressive across age. In addition, some phenotypes were observed in mice as early as 4 weeks of age. The present study also reports the onset and progression of changes in several molecular phenotypes in the novel R6/2 mice and the association of these changes with behavioral symptom onset and progression. Data from TR-FRET suggest an association of mutant protein state changes (soluble versus aggregated) in disease onset and progression

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Catching Up: Creating a Digital Preservation Policy

The University of Maryland Libraries have been managing digital content for about a decade without an official digital preservation policy. The Libraries’ 2013 Strategic Plan called for the development of preservation plans, including "bit-preservation, digital object preservation, and metadata management pertaining to preservation of digital objects and their aggregations." A task force examined policies at other institutions and evaluated needs and strategic directions. The resulting high-level policy and appendix based on the Trusted Repository Audit Checklist (TRAC) will direct all future planning, policies, and implementation. This case study will describe the process and planned steps towards implementation