‘Open-ish Access’ and Collaborative Solutions for Sensitive Information: the University of New Mexico’s Native Health Database

For over 25 years, the UNM Native Health Database (NHD-www.nativehealthdatabase.net) has functioned as a centralized repository for abstracts describing Indigenous health information, though content was frequently hidden behind physical, digital, and monetary barriers. In 2020, UNM’s Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center began a project to migrate over 10,000 records into a new database, supported by the Mukurtu CMS (www.mukurtu.org) platform. In addition to providing direct access through embedded content, this new platform provides for the ability to establish nuanced access protocols to prevent unintended access to sensitive materials. The creation of these protocols is predominantly Indigenous-led, with content creators & depositors--as well as users-- understanding that materials may be subject to various access protocols that are intended to prevent exploitation and harm for those to whom the materials pertain. A new collaborative NHD advisory council, composed of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals in the fields of health policy, research, and librarianship, are helping navigate the future of this resource. “Open-ish Access” for the NHD promotes the inclusion of critical stakeholders in determining the extent to which the principles of Open Access are both applicable and appropriate for the sharing of health-related resources focused on Indigenous communities

Exploring Sustainable Practices for Cold Storage for At-Risk Collections

This project will help plan for specialized storage for the fragile visual materials. These include photographs, negatives, moving images, and magnetic media that form a significant part of the rare and original archival collections housed in the Special Collections and Archives unit of the library. Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant opportunity will bring in a team of specialized experts who will work collaboratively to plan for a storage environment that will significantly deter the degradation of these irreplaceable items

Connecting Cline Library with tribal communities: A case study

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public state university with a commitment to Native American students (Hughes and Tsosie 2013). The university’s Cline Library strongly supports the values of academic excellence, student engagement, and student success. NAU is a unique academic institution because it has a Native student community population of 4%; according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2006 Native students at US universities averaged only 1% of the entire student population. As of 2016, the Native American population at NAU was 825 students. Compared to the overall student population Native students comprise about 3% of student growth. In 2005 NAU’s strategic plan defined a commitment to Native Americans and to “become one of the nation’s leading universities serving Native Americans.” This goal is currently under revision by the university’s Commission for Native Americans and the Vice President for Native American Affairs (Chad Hamill, PhD). What does this goal mean for the university? This is the only goal in the university’s strategic plan where a specific community is mentioned and highlighted as a priority. The institution’s commitment to serving Native Americans has a direct impact on the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates for Native American students. The university commitment to developing collaborative services and outreach programs to Native American communities and promoting engagement and appreciation of Native American cultures and tribal nations within the university and broader community is still a top goal (NAU Strategic Plan 2005-2010). Today over a hundred tribes from across the country are represented at NAU. A large portion of students come from the geographic region of Northern Arizona and New Mexico. Beginning in 2008, Cline Library sought out ways in which it could align its activities with the university's strategic commitment to serving Native Americans. Cline librarians and archivists work to support indigenous students, researchers, scholars, and communities through collecting and preserving Indigenous scholarship. In order to achieve the university’s commitment to Native Americans Cline Library needs a robust collection and services available for Native students. This paper will focus on themes that emerge from a critical analysis of the library’s collections and their work with American Indian communities. It will start by describing how the library applies concepts of critical librarianship and teaching and learning to collection development. The conversation continues with the critical role of librarians and archivists at Cline Library in supporting faculty and students. Finally, as an independent yet integrated department, the library’s Special Collections and Archives unit responds to the Native American community’s tribal concerns with the collaborative management of cultural materials in ways that balance archival theory and practice with access to sensitive information. The conclusion offers strategies to improve on existing efforts at Cline and ties together many of the themes woven throughout the article

Unforeseen Consequences of Visual Literacy: Alternative Mechanisms for Creating a More Inclusive Environment

Acknowledging the commendable efforts of colleagues in articulating significant concepts and theoretical approaches to enhance visual literacy within the LIS field, this work critically examines the Visual Literacy (VL) Framework. The analysis calls for a more inclusive representation of diverse experiences, particularly those of individuals with disabilities. Drawing inspiration from the conceptualization of critique as care, the study emphasizes a collaborative approach to integrate social justice, equity, and inclusion principles better into LIS work. While recognizing the VL Framework\u27s value as a starting point, the study identifies gaps related to universal accessibility and challenges in the language used. The chapter emphasizes the need for practical guidance on implementing the VL Framework components in real-time. The chapter delves into the language used in discussing visual literacy, highlighting its potential perpetuation of exclusion. In the context of visual literacy pedagogy, the study poses reflective questions to promote inclusivity in higher education settings. Ethical considerations regarding material interactions and institutional access are also explored.https://medica-musc.researchcommons.org/faculty-books/1004/thumbnail.jp

Testing isosource : stable isotope analysis of a tropical fishery with diverse organic matter sources

Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecology 87 (2006): 326–333, doi:10.1890/05-0721.We sampled consumers and organic matter sources (mangrove litter, freshwater swamp-forest litter, seagrasses, seagrass epiphytes, and marine particulate organic matter [MPOM]) from four estuaries on Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia for stable isotope (δ13C and δ34S) analysis. Unique mixing solutions cannot be calculated in a dual-isotope, five-endmember scenario, so we tested IsoSource, a recently developed statistical procedure that calculates ranges in source contributions (i.e., minimum and maximum possible). Relatively high minimum contributions indicate significant sources, while low maxima indicate otherwise. Litter from the two forest types was isotopically distinguishable but had low average minimum contributions (0–8% for mangrove litter and 0% for swamp-forest litter among estuaries). Minimum contribution of MPOM was also low, averaging 0–13% among estuaries. Instead, local marine sources dominated contributions to consumers. Minimum contributions of seagrasses averaged 8–47% among estuaries (range 0–88% among species). Minimum contributions of seagrass epiphytes averaged 5–27% among estuaries (range 0–69% among species). IsoSource enabled inclusion of five organic matter sources in our dual-isotope analysis, ranking trophic importance as follows: seagrasses > seagrass epiphytes > MPOM > mangrove forest > freshwater swamp-forest. IsoSource is thus a useful step toward understanding which of multiple organic matter sources support food webs; more detailed work is necessary to identify unique solutions.This research was funded through a research joint venture agreement between the USDA and CMP at the University of Georgia

Head Size of Male and Female Lizards Increases with Population Density Across Island Populations in the Bahamas

In polygynous lizards, male–male competition is an important driver of morphologic and behavioral traits associated with intraspecific dominance. The extent to which females engage in aggressive behavior and thus contribute to competition-driven morphologic variation is not well studied. We used injury frequencies of brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) in 16 island populations to test the hypothesis that injury-inducing aggressive encounters increase with population density in both male and female lizards. We further asked whether intraspecific competition is a potential driver of phenotypic traits related to dominance by using population density as proxy for intraspecific competition. We found that the proportion of individuals with injuries was greater in populations with higher densities, suggesting that agonistic competitive interactions increase with population density. Size-adjusted head length of male and female lizards increased with population density, suggesting that larger heads might be advantageous when intraspecific competition is strong. We detected differences in morphology and injury frequency among islands for both males and females, which suggests that agonistic competitive interactions among females may be stronger than previously appreciated. Further research is needed to determine whether aggressive encounters involving females are restricted to intrasexual competition or whether they also involve males, and how morphologic traits of females are related to competitive dominance and reproductive success

Polarization Measurements of the Polluted White Dwarf G29-38

We have made high-precision polarimetric observations of the polluted white dwarf G29-38 with the HIgh Precision Polarimetric Instrument 2. The observations were made at two different observatories – using the 8.1-m Gemini North Telescope and the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope – and are consistent with each other. After allowing for a small amount of interstellar polarization, the intrinsic linear polarization of the system is found to be 275.3 ± 31.9 parts per million at a position angle of 90.8 ± 3.8◦ in the SDSS g band. We compare the observed polarization with the predictions of circumstellar disc models. The measured polarization is small in the context of the models we develop, which only allows us to place limits on disc inclination and Bond albedo for optically thin disc geometries. In this case, either the inclination is near-face-on or the albedo is small – likely in the range 0.05–0.15 – which is in line with other debris disc measurements. A preliminary search for the effects of G29-38’s pulsations in the polarization signal produced inconsistent results. This may be caused by beating effects, indicate a clumpy dust distribution, or be a consequence of measurement systematics

Polarization measurements of the polluted white dwarf G29-38

We have made high precision polarimetric observations of the polluted white dwarf G29-38 with the HIgh Precision Polarimetric Instrument 2. The observations were made at two different observatories -- using the 8.1-m Gemini North Telescope and the 3.9-m Anglo AustralianTelescope -- and are consistent with each other. After allowing for a small amount of interstellar polarization, the intrinsic linear polarization of the system is found to be 275.3 +/- 31.9 parts-per-million at a position angle of 90.8 +/- 3.8 degrees in the SDSS g' band. We compare the observed polarization with the predictions of circumstellar disc models. The measured polarization is small in the context of the models we develop which only allows us to place limits on disc inclination and Bond albedo for optically thin disc geometries. In this case either the inclination is near face-on or the albedo is small -- likely in the range 0.05 to 0.15 -- which is in line with other debris disc measurements. A preliminary search for the effects of G29-38's pulsations in the polarization signal produced inconsistent results. This may be caused by beating effects, indicate a clumpy dust distribution, or be a consequence of measurement systematics.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted to MNRA

Putting the geology back into Earth models

New digital methods for data capture can now provide photorealistic, spatially precise, and geometrically accurate three-dimensional (3-D) models of rocks exposed at the Earth's surface [Xu et al., 2000; Pringle et al., 2001; Clegg et al., 2005]. These “virtual outcrops” have the potential to create a new form of laboratory-based teaching aids for geoscience students, to help address accessibility issues in fieldwork, and generally to improve public awareness of the spectacular nature of geologic exposures from remote locations worldwide. This article addresses how virtual outcrops can provide calibration, or a quantitative “reality check,” for a new generation of high-resolution predictive models for the Earth's subsurface