Luteranizm w Polsce

W kolejnym interdyscyplinarnym tomie dokumentującym działalność uniwersyteckiego Ośrodka Badawczego Myśli Chrześcijańskiej zaprezentowano teksty pracowników różnych uczelni: KUL, UKSW, WSD w Łodzi, UW, UMCS oraz UŁ. Prace te stanowią efekt refleksji kręgów akademickich nad relacjami między tytułowymi kategoriami (kultura – myśl – edukacja), podejmowanej z perspektywy różnych dziedzin nauki – teologii, religioznawstwa i literaturoznawstwa. Autorzy odwołują się do wielorakich kontekstów kulturowych świadczących o dialogu Kościoła ze światem kultury i nauki, takich jak: myśl papieska, ekumenizm, teologia piękna i duchowości, inspiracje chrześcijańskie w literaturze, dyskurs religijny. Tytuł tomu zaczerpnięty został z adhortacji papieża Franciszka, który kieruje swoje przesłanie także do kręgów akademickich. W jego przekonaniu zarówno dziedziny nauki, jak i kategorie myślenia mogą stać się narzędziami ewangelizacji, a teologia – pozostawać w dialogu z innymi naukami i ludzkim doświadczeniem

Scholarly Communications and Open Access: An Introduction for Upper-level Undergraduates

This one-shot library instruction session is designed for upper-level undergraduates and can be applied to courses in a variety of disciplines. It is especially relevant for courses with a social justice component or where students are hoping to publish their work. The particular course at the University of San Diego (USD) in which this lesson was situated was an upper-level Ethnic Studies course: “Native American Indigenous Activism.

Come Together: Interdepartmental Collaboration to Connect the IR and Library Catalog

While institutional repositories (IRs) often include a built-in search tool and/or are indexed by Web search engines, some patrons go directly to the online library catalog with their information need. Rather than hope that users will stumble upon the IR from the library website or assume that they will start their research with a Google search, librarians can enhance IR discoverability and usage by integrating its content into the library catalog. With strong teamwork, good communication, and a shared vision, this endeavor transforms the IR and library catalog from separate, siloed platforms into a more cohesive collections package. At the University of San Diego, librarians and administrators across three departments came together to share information and work in concert to explore the benefits of auto-harvesting IR content into the library catalog. Driven by a vision of enhancing discoverability and access, as well as promoting the IR and enriching the catalog, the team members worked cooperatively to identify specific IR collections appropriate for harvest, investigate technical logistics, consult outside vendors (including Innovative Interfaces, Inc./III and bepress), and experiment with implementation

Institutional Repositories, Redefined: Reflecting Institutional Commitments to Community Engagement

True to their name, institutional repositories collect, preserve, and provide open access to the scholarly and creative work generated at a specific institution -- typically, a college or university. But is this focus on capturing and curating the work of institutional members -- faculty, staff, and students -- too narrow? What about institutional partnerships with the local community? By limiting the scope of the IR to the university, are we missing an important opportunity to further institutional goals, to create bridges between the institution and its surrounding neighborhoods, to foster collaboration and to cultivate goodwill? When we reimagine the collection development strategies of our repositories, broadening them to include artifacts borne from institutional collaboration with the local community, we have the ability to showcase the unique ways that our universities and local public populations are working together. This essay will explore why the academic library might expand the reach of the IR beyond its own campus, the benefits and challenges of doing so, and will highlight examples of IRs that feature institutional affiliation with the public

Good Research (Literally) Pays: The Library Prize for First-Year Research

The Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research recognizes an outstanding research paper written by a first-year Augustana College student for a class in the Liberal Studies or Honors sequence. The award promotes students’ active engagement in the processes of library research and encourages them to synthesize library research skills with the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills developed in the Liberal Studies First Year (LSFY) sequence

Academia.edu or Digital USD?

This presentation highlights similarities and differences between the academic social networking site Academia.edu and Digital USD, the University of San Diego\u27s institutional repository. It includes ideas for how faculty and students can use Digital USD, as well as examples of content included on the site

Living with climate variability and change: lessons from Tanzania

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May, 2015.There is sufficient evidence supporting that climate change and variability are pervasive realities that are strongly impacting on smallholder farmers in the Great Ruaha River sub-Basin of Tanzania. This PhD study examines smallholder farmers’ vulnerability, coping and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability (including non-climatic stresses), and investigates how such coping and adaptation may be constrained or enhanced given climate variability and change. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used when engaging with smallholder farmers and government officials. Primary data collection was undertaken in two phases, with phase one using participatory tools (e.g. focus group discussions, wealth ranking, community mapping and transect walk, and historical time lines). Data collected include climatic and non-climatic extreme events, farmers’ perceptions, coping and adaptation strategies. Phase two involved detailed individual interviews (questionnaire surveys) and key informant interviews (case studies), so as to obtain in-depth information on issues of interest. Secondary data were collected from existing statistical sources, literature surveys in archives, libraries and documentation centres, and from governmental agencies (e.g. TMA). Demographic, agricultural production and livestock statistics, and rainfall and temperature records were collected. Results from selected meteorological stations and farmers’ perceptions (74%) indicate that there has been an increase in average maximum temperatures, and both dry and wet years with varying magnitudes during the past four decades. Other climatic stresses include delayed onset and later cessation of the rain seasons. The agreement between farmers’ perceptions and rainfall trends provides good evidence that the climate has become increasingly variable in the GRRB during the past four decades. Achieving sustainable livelihoods is further compounded by non-climatic stresses such as access to markets and coordinating institutions. Results indicate that vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that entails two approaches (end-point and starting-point perspectives). The end-point perspective views vulnerability as the net projected climate change impacts after adaptation has taken place, whilst the starting-point perspective looks at both the current and future multiple stresses and places much emphasis in improving the adaptive capacity. In the study villages, such a nuanced picture highlighted areas for enhanced adaptation strategies. Farmers respond by using various strategies to deal with droughts, floods and other stresses when they occur. During droughts, they mostly use irrigation (canal, pumping and cans), or plant short-term maturing crops. During food shortages, farmers use strategies such as buying food, borrowing money, temporary migration, working in other people’s farms for cash, and reducing consumption. Moreover, the farmers’ choice of adaptation and coping strategies is influenced by factors such as location, access to resources, education levels and institutions. This calls for a whole system approach, which entails defining vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climatic and non-climatic stresses and thus designing appropriate response strategies. For example, mainstreaming adaptation to such stresses when considering development plans, projects, programmes and policies at all scales

“Donuts & Downloads” or (If Not Using Donuts) “Top Three in [The Name of Your IR]”

This Open Access Week activity celebrates the top three most-downloaded items in the institutional repository (IR) by awarding the departments that produced the content with an official letter of recognition and a complimentary box of donuts from the library