Polishing procedure and surface characterization lead tungstate crystal scintillator Road No. 723 and No. 754

Step by step procedures are given for polishing the scintillator rods. A Strasbaugh spindle polishing machine was used along with visual inspection and hand polishing. Extensive data is given on pre-polish surface characterization, profilometry, microphotography, and interferometry

Intellectual property: Everything the digital-age librarian needs to know [book review]

Book review of Intellectual property: Everything the digital-age librarian needs to know by Timothy Lee Wherry

Statistics & the Single Girl: Incorporating Statistical Literacy into Information Literacy Instruction

This article will address how subject specialists and general instruction librarians can integrate numeric information (in the form of statistics) into library instruction sessions and information literacy programs. In this context, data refers to numeric datasets which typically require analysis using statistical or spreadsheet software and statistics refers to compiled or summarized data

Teaching information literacy: A conceptual approach [book review]

Book review of Teaching information literacy: A conceptual approach by Christy Gavin

Hacking Blackboard: Customizing Access to Library Resources Through the Blackboard Course Management System

Academic libraries have long been trying to gain access to users through their favorite online spaces, such as social networking sites. In this article a project of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's University Libraries, which integrated library resources with the campus course management system, Blackboard, is detailed. The main objective was to push the best resources to students based on their actual needs. For years, static HTML Web pages were created, but the proliferation of these pages required tremendous maintenance. In addition it is not certain that students are able to access the most relevant resources buried deep in the Web site. Because of these challenges, the Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal were created to provide high levels of customization based on information that was gathered from users as they log into Blackboard. The tools have been customized so that subject specialist liaisons can integrate library resources at the major, department, course, and course section levels. Despite some difficulties in launching and promoting these projects, there has been positive feedback. There was also an increase in usage statistics that rivals the use of the library's main Web site. This article describes the tools, documents the difficulties with each phase of the project, and discusses the lessons learned. Also, a brief overview of possible expansions of the Blackboard Course Resources Tool and the Library Resources Portal is provided

The Who, What, and Where of America: Understanding the American Community Survey [Book Review]

This article is a review of the book The Who, What, and Where of America: Understanding the American Community Survey by Deirdre A. Gaquin

The American Community Survey: Benefits and Challenges

In the United States' decennial census, all persons living in the US are asked to fill out a short form asking basic questions such as age, race, and number of people living in a housing unit. In addition to the short form, starting in 1960 a sample of housing units were asked to fill out a long form with both the basic demographic questions plus questions about socioeconomic topics, such as education, income, housing characteristics and more. In 2010 the United States will conduct its constitutionally mandated census of the population, but a major change will occur. The long form will no longer be distributed and in its place will be the American Community Survey (ACS). This article discusses the development of the survey and its benefits and challenges. The ACS will provide researchers and policymakers more timely information of the characteristics of area

Ensuring Access to Government Information

In the United States, the dominant paradigm of research libraries as content managers for printgovernment documents and access portals for digital government information and data took asubstantial turn in late 2016. With the change in Presidential administration, academics,journalists, and other constituencies whose work relies on uninterrupted access to federalinformation expressed concern about the specter of political threats to data and informationproduced and disseminated with public funding. In particular, public access to climate andenvironmental data was suddenly seen as fragile and vulnerable.The response over the past year has been, frankly, remarkable. Longstanding library work tocollect, describe, and preserve federal government information in print and digital formats, muchof it in partnership with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and other governmentagencies, received renewed attention, even as new energy poured into experimental andtransformative models for capturing digital content at risk for loss from trusted public sources.News outlets featured and valorized the work of library and information professionals insafeguarding the public’s right to know, even as libraries and public advocacy groups scrambledto organize hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers eager to save government information

Introduction

With the appearance of big data, open data, and particularly research data curation on many libraries’ radar screens, data service has become a critically important topic for academic libraries. Drawing on the expertise of a diverse community of practitioners, this collection of case studies, original research, survey chapters, and theoretical explorations presents a wide-ranging look at the field of academic data librarianship. By covering the data lifecycle from collection development to preservation, examining the challenges of working with different forms of data, and exploring service models suited to a variety of library types, this volume provides a toolbox of strategies that will allow librarians and administrators to respond creatively and effectively to the data deluge. Edited by Kristi Thompson and Lynda Kellam, Databrarianship: The Academic Data Librarian in Theory and Practice provides advice and insight on data services for all types of academic libraries and will be of interest to library educator