Cobalt biogeochemistry in the Atlantic Ocean using Flow Injection-Chemiluminescence

As ~ 50% of global photosynthesis occurs in marine environments, the factors regulating this process e.g. trace metal availability, have an impact on the global carbon cycle. The key cyanobacteria genera Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus have an absolute requirement for Co. Dissolved cobalt (dCo) concentrations in the open ocean are extremely low (5–120 pM). A sensitive flow injection technique using chemiluminescence detection (FI-CL) was developed (detection limit 4.5 pM dCo, RSD ≤ 4%). Seawater samples must be UV-irradiated prior to analysis, in order to liberate organically-bound Co. A field study in the Sargasso Sea, demonstrated that aerosol Co was significantly more soluble than aerosol Fe over a range of aerosol dust deposition fluxes (1–1040 μg Fe m-2 d-1) (8-100% for Co versus 0.44-45% for Fe). The dry deposition flux of aerosol Co was of the same order of magnitude as the advective upwelling flux (47-1540 pmol m-2 d-1 and 1.7-1430 pmol m-2 d-1 respectively). Wet deposition, dominated the total aerosol flux (~ 85%). The vertical distribution of dCo influenced Prochlorococcus abundance. A regional study in the eastern North Atlantic gyre demonstrated that the highest rates of N2 fixation occurred with the highest dFe concentrations (9.8 nM N L-1 h-1, 0.6 nM respectively). No increase in primary production following additions of trace metals (Co, Cu, Fe, Zn) was observed. The addition of N resulted in an increase in primary production. However, there was no synergistic effect of trace metal plus N addition, suggesting that alleviation of N-limitation shifted the system to P-limitation. On a meridional transect from ~ 50°N–50°S in the Atlantic Ocean, the highest concentrations of dCo (> 80 pM) coincided with low-O2 (< 150 μM) upwelled water. The lowest dCo (< 20 pM) was observed in the eastern North Atlantic gyre. Lateral advection of continental Co and upwelling were identified as important sources of Co. The highly efficient recycling of Co in the euphotic zone is an important additional source

Textbook Affordability Initiatives and Open Educational Resources: Complementary or Competing Approaches to a Persistent Problem?

This presentation investigates library support for textbook affordability initiatives and Open Educational Resources (OER) to consider the relative opportunities and limitations of both approaches. The literature has shown that the cost of textbooks—which has increased far beyond the rate of inflation—can be an obstacle to student success, especially for students from underrepresented groups. By sharing findings from published literature and results from focus groups and interviews conducted with teaching faculty, the speakers highlight both the incentives faculty have to collaborate with librarians to address the increasing costs of assigned materials as well as the challenges they face in adopting an OER or more affordable texts. The findings suggest that no single approach will solve this crisis and that creating viable solutions will require the support and buy-in of a variety of stakeholders

Having a Textbook Locks Me into a Particular Narrative : Affordable and Open Educational Resources in Music Higher Education

This paper reports music scholars\u27 experiences with and perspectives on commercial textbooks and Open Educational Resources and situates these within the context of music instruction in higher education. Interviews with twenty-one music scholars in various subdisciplines explored the course materials they assign and their motivations or obstacles with respect to integrating open or affordable resources in their courses. Participants articulated a variety of concerns about both commercial and open course materials and spoke to institutional support for creating or adopting open and affordable course materials. Analysis of the interviews reveals tension around audience and gatekeeping, the value of music scholars\u27 labor, and institutional support

Music Scholars and Open Access Publishing

Interviews with twenty-one music scholars in various subdisciplines explored experiences and motivations that led them to publish their work OA as well as factors that have discouraged them from doing so. Each participant discussed the availability of OA publishing opportunities in their subdisciplines of music, how these are perceived, how they are evolving, and how they compare to opportunities in other disciplines. Participants also spoke to ways in which institutions support or value OA. The authors found that perspectives on OA publishing among music scholars vary considerably, ranging from those who identify as “an evangelist for open access” to those who are “totally against it.” Several issues stand out for their interactions with OA publishing: green OA, peer review, pedagogy vs. “serious” scholarship, digital humanities, prestige publishing, tenure and promotion, and employment status. For OA to be sustainable, it will need infrastructure and systems that reward reviewers, editors, and authors for their labor. The authors hope that this paper will foster conversations within the community of music scholars about the desirability of such changes

Open Access

[Conclusion] While the embrace of Open Access within music scholarship and librarianship has been somewhat spotty and circumstantial to date, there are some patterns to celebrate. Music librarians have collaborated with stakeholders to create a number of high-value and openly-licensed online collections, libraries and publishers are exploring models that will better fund OA research by arts and humanities scholars, professional societies are responding to members’ prompts and formalizing their support through new OA publications, and the increased incorporation of linked open data standards will better connect information that was once siloed. It is challenging to predict the state of the OA landscape within music librarianship after the next couple of decades have passed, but progress will likely be incremental as long as the effort comes primarily from individuals rather than the larger systems (libraries, institutions, and societies) in which they work

Textbook Affordability Initiatives and Open Educational Resources: Complementary or Competing Approaches to a Persistent Problem?

This presentation investigates library support for textbook affordability initiatives and Open Educational Resources (OER) to consider the relative opportunities and limitations of both approaches. The literature has shown that the cost of textbooks—which has increased far beyond the rate of inflation—can be an obstacle to student success, especially for students from underrepresented groups. By sharing findings from published literature and results from focus groups and interviews conducted with teaching faculty, the speakers highlight both the incentives faculty have to collaborate with librarians to address the increasing costs of assigned materials as well as the challenges they face in adopting an OER or more affordable texts. The findings suggest that no single approach will solve this crisis and that creating viable solutions will require the support and buy-in of a variety of stakeholders

In Their Own Words Music Scholars Share Their Experiences with Open Access

Although scholars have investigated the intersection of Open Access (OA) and the humanities, the specific obstacles and incentives music researchers encounter in their adoption of OA have not been analyzed. With this project, we have sought to identify and document how music scholars in a variety of disciplines (musicology/ethnomusicology, music theory, music education, and music therapy) perceive the benefits and disadvantages of OA publishing, both in terms of their own research and the resources that they use in their teaching. Issues of textbook affordability and digital access to learning materials have only escalated in the past decade. The need to document music faculty preferences for sharing music sources in diverse formats—whether for professional publication or among their students—is timely. In this presentation we report our findings of a survey and interviews with music scholars at various stages in their careers to establish first-hand how OA aligns, or does not, with disciplinary conceptions of scholarly communication. This presentation will help inform music librarians’ approaches to engaging with arts and humanities faculty about open access publishing and use of open sources in their teaching

See Me Shine: Developing Character Through Books for Children Ages 3-6

Selecting books for the preschooler and beginning reader that engage the young audience and yet teach values that parents and educators desire is an elusive task. This first volume of the See Me Shine series offers reading recommendations focusing on distinct character traits such as caring, courage, responsibility and more for ages 3 to 6. Each character trait offers 20+ book recommendations, as read-aloud or independent reading, and each recommendation includes a description of each title, critique, awards, list of related subjects, and the distinct character themes demonstrated in the text. Whether your role is one of parent, grandparent, guardian, counselor, or educator, you will find this resource one that you will return to often

Deep Understandings and Thick Descriptions: Tackling Questions about Race

In this article, three professors of color speak out in response to the continuation of White police killings of Black people in the United States. We contend that there is a strong need for everyone, professors and educators in particular, to be proactive in confronting racism by tackling not avoiding, difficult questions and conversations. We propose that through the enactment of deep understandings and thick descriptions in our classrooms at all levels we may encourage a critical humanitarian response to the challenges of not knowing the diverse “Other.” We present real experiences from our teaching to illustrate the kinds of activities that can be done to engage our students in developing thick descriptions and deep understandings of diverse Others. When we all participate in the development of deep understandings and thick descriptions, maybe the killings and misperceptions will cease and we will think first before making devastating and destructive actions, statements and assumptions about “Others” because we truly recognize our shared humanit

Texts on Repeat: Examining the Persistence of Assigned Course Materials

Many academic libraries’ collection development policies have discouraged the acquisition of assigned textbooks, but recent trends to support textbook affordability, student success, and online learning have caused some library personnel to rethink this approach. Through recent efforts at our library to purchase available e-copies for assigned course textbooks, we became curious about title persistence, or the frequency with which a unique title is assigned across multiple semesters and within a single semester across multiple sections. In this presentation we provide some background and context for our textbook affordability efforts and examine several years of assigned textbook data at Illinois State University for title persistence, prevalence within fields of study, and the relationship between title persistence and specific publishers