The Academic Book of the Future: Communities of practice

This paper explores the contexts in which the academic books of the future in the arts and humanities (A&H) are being shaped, with the aim of demonstrating how crucial it is that the communities of practice that produce those books continue to work together to build better bridges of understanding and collaboration. There is particular reference to the Arts and Humanities Research Council/ British Library Academic Book of the Future Project (2014–2017) and to a case study of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur

Multilayer Complex Network Descriptors for Color-Texture Characterization

A new method based on complex networks is proposed for color-texture analysis. The proposal consists on modeling the image as a multilayer complex network where each color channel is a layer, and each pixel (in each color channel) is represented as a network vertex. The network dynamic evolution is accessed using a set of modeling parameters (radii and thresholds), and new characterization techniques are introduced to capt information regarding within and between color channel spatial interaction. An automatic and adaptive approach for threshold selection is also proposed. We conduct classification experiments on 5 well-known datasets: Vistex, Usptex, Outex13, CURet and MBT. Results among various literature methods are compared, including deep convolutional neural networks with pre-trained architectures. The proposed method presented the highest overall performance over the 5 datasets, with 97.7 of mean accuracy against 97.0 achieved by the ResNet convolutional neural network with 50 layers.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures and 4 table

Spectral Energy Distributions for Disk and Halo M--Dwarfs

We have obtained infrared (1 to 2.5 micron) spectroscopy for 42 halo and disk dwarfs with spectral type M1 to M6.5. These data are compared to synthetic spectra generated by the latest model atmospheres of Allard & Hauschildt. Photospheric parameters metallicity, effective temperature and radius are determined for the sample. We find good agreement between observation and theory except for known problems due to incomplete molecular data for metal hydrides and water. The metal-poor M subdwarfs are well matched by the models as oxide opacity sources are less important in this case. The derived effective temperatures for the sample range from 3600K to 2600K; at these temperatures grain formation and extinction are not significant in the photosphere. The derived metallicities range from solar to one-tenth solar. The radii and effective temperatures derived agree well with recent models of low mass stars.Comment: 24 pages including 13 figures, 4 Tables; accepted by Ap

Perry Starlight, Ali Orbit and Kim Cosmos' alien encounter: creating a picturebook as information for children and parents participating in research

Purpose: This study explored whether the creation of an illustrated picturebook could explain the terms and practicalities of participatory, multi-method qualitative research to children aged four to eight years and their parents/carers, creating conditions to seek agreement to their participation, by using an age-appropriate design whilst adhering to ethical guidelines. The purpose of this paper is to explore how this was done addressing these issues. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the researcher's previous professional experience working in children's publishing and taking an innovative and collaborative approach to giving information to child and parent/carer co-researchers, the researcher and an illustrator created a picturebook both as an eBook and a paperback book to recruit and explain research and co-researchers’ roles to young children and their parents/carers. Findings: The picturebook successfully recruited 30 children and their parents/carers. Other children expressed their wish not to participate. These findings suggest that greater consideration should be given to the ways information is given to potential research participants, particularly the visual, material and paratextual elements of the information sheets and consent forms routinely used in research. Originality/value: This paper offers insight into the publishing practicalities of creating innovative ways of giving information about research participation to children and parents/carers and how these ways might foster rich data collection