Creative Programming for the Frugal Librarian

As state and local economies suffer, librarians can be too quick to dismiss innovative programming ideas in their libraries. Contrary to the assumptions of campus administration, many creative programs can be initiated and run with little or no expense. Learn how to transform your library from the building with all the books to a more lively space for engaged learners

The Eye of the Brainstorm: Transforming the Library through Creative Idea-Building

Research indicates that most people have capabilities for creativity if creative abilities are allowed to develop (Moser-Wellman, 2002). How can librarians get in touch with their creative potential to help energize and transform their libraries? This article discusses best practices for the use of group brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas

Library Research Tutorials and Course Reserves Online: Right at Home in ANGEL Learning Object Repositories

Buffalo State College is a forerunner in utilizing features of the ANGEL course management system to enhance teaching and learning. The system allows for easy sharing of resources, such as tutorials and course reserve materials, through Learning Object Repositories. E. H. Butler Library has combined forces with Buffalo State’s Instructional Resources (IR) to provide a basic research skills tutorial to the entire campus. This Foundations of Research tutorial, which includes gradable interactive activities, is made available through an ANGEL repository, which allows faculty to directly import the information to their courses. The library also uses an ANGEL repository to provide reserve materials through a convenient Course Reserves Online service, which has proven to increase resource usage and ease of delivery to students

Magnetic field directed assembly of two-dimensional fractal colloidal aggregates

The anisotropy of dipolar interactions can sometimes be a hindrance when assembling colloids, as it limits the diversity of structures that can be manufactured. Here we demonstrate that a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic colloids in a ferrofluid can be used to create a variety of fractal aggregates in the presence of a field. These aggregates exhibit growth both parallel and perpendicular to the field, a distinct departure from the linear chains that are typical of dipolar assembly. The fractal dimension of these aggregates displays a parabolic character as the ferrofluid concentration is increased and varies between 0.94 0.03 and 1.54 0.03—a wider range than that which is seen when colloids are assembled using shortrange forces. This behavior is explained by examining how the ferrofluid concentration affects the relative strength of the dipolar interactions between each type of particle. These dipolar fractal aggregates may find use in the study of gelation via long-range forces or the preparation of gels that can be activated using an external field

The first legal mortgagor: a consumer without adequate protection?

This article contends that the UK government’s attempt to create a well-functioning consumer credit market will be undermined if it fails to reform the private law framework relating to the first legal mortgage. Such agreements are governed by two distinct regulatory regimes that are founded upon very different conceptions of the mortgagor. The first, the regulation of financial services overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority, derives from public law and is founded upon a conception of the mortgagor as “consumer”. The other is land law, private law regulation implemented by the judiciary and underpinned by a conception of the mortgagor as “landowner”. Evidence suggests that the operation of these two regimes prevents mortgagors from receiving fair and consistent treatment. The current reform of financial services regulation therefore will change only one part of this governance regime and will leave mortgagors heavily reliant upon a regulator that still has to prove itself. What this article argues is that reform of the rules of private law must also be undertaken with the aim of initiating a paradigm shift in the conception of the mortgagor from “landowner” to “consumer”. Cultural shifts of this kind take time but the hope is that this conceptual transformation will occur in time to deter the predicted rise in mortgage possessions

Growth of root multiplicities along imaginary root strings in Kac--Moody algebras

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a symmetrizable Kac--Moody algebra. Given a root $\alpha$ and a real root $\beta$ of $\mathfrak{g}$, it is known that the $\beta$-string through $\alpha$, denoted $R_\alpha(\beta)$, is finite. Given an imaginary root $\beta$, we show that $R_\alpha(\beta)=\{\beta\}$ or $R_\alpha(\beta)$ is infinite. If $(\beta,\beta)<0$, we also show that the multiplicity of the root ${\alpha+n\beta}$ grows at least exponentially as $n\to\infty$. If $(\beta,\beta)=(\alpha, \beta) = 0$, we show that $R_\alpha(\beta)$ is bi-infinite and the multiplicities of $\alpha+n\beta$ are bounded. If $(\beta,\beta)=0$ and $(\alpha, \beta) \neq 0$, we show that $R_\alpha(\beta)$ is semi-infinite and the muliplicity of $\alpha+n\beta$ or $\alpha-n\beta$ grows faster than every polynomial as $n\to\infty$. We also prove that $\dim \mathfrak{g}_{\alpha+\beta} \geq \dim \mathfrak{g}_\alpha + \dim \mathfrak{g}_\beta -1$ whenever $\alpha \neq \beta$ with $(\alpha, \beta)<0$