Ultraviolet properties of IRAS-selected Be stars

New IUE observations were obtained of 35 Be stars from a list of stars which show excess infrared fluxes in IRAS data. The IRAS-selected Be stars show larger C IV and Si IV equivalent widths than other Be stars. Excess C IV and Si IV absorption seems to be independent of spectral type for IRAS-selected Be stars later than spectral type B4. This is interpreted as evidence for a possible second mechanism acting in conjunction with radiation pressure for producing the winds in Be stars. No clear correlation of IR excess of v sin i with C IV or Si IV equivalent widths is seen, although a threshold for the occurrence of excess C IV and Si IV absorption appears at a v sin i of 150 km/sec

Increasing Access and Success in Online Education for Students with Disabilities

Counselor educators are legally and ethically required to support individuals with disabilities in their courses. While this presentation focuses on visual and auditory impairments, all students benefit when accommodations and adaptations support a wide range of learning styles. The authors provide web accessibility principles and guidelines and operationalize practical suggestions for coursework. Off-the-shelf assistive technologies are readily available to support learners. Educators are encouraged to test course materials using assistive technologies to better understand how students with disabilities experience their courses

A Study Of The Perception Of Cataloging Quality Among Catalogers In Academic Libraries

This study explores the concept of "quality" in library cataloging and examines the perception of quality cataloging among catalogers who work in academic libraries. An examination of the concept of "quality cataloging" in library science literature revealed that even though there is some general agreement on how this concept is defined, the level of detail and focus of these definitions often vary. These various perceptions were dissected in order to develop a framework for evaluating quality cataloging definitions; this framework was used to evaluate study participants' definitions of quality cataloging. Studying cataloger perceptions of quality cataloging is important because it is catalogers (particularly original catalogers) who are largely responsible for what is included in bibliographic records. Survey participants (n = 296) provided their personal definition of quality cataloging as well as their opinions on their department's cataloging, their influence upon their department's policies and procedures, and the specific data that should be included in a quality bibliographic record. Interview participants (n = 20) provided insight on how their opinions of quality cataloging were formed and the influences that shaped these opinions

LGBTQ+ Catalog Users: A Brief Survey

To promote social justice, recent work in knowledge organization (KO) has focused on providing access for members of marginalized groups including LGBTQ+ persons. Expanding on this work, the current project explores demographics and library usage as well as the participant-provided identity terms of LGBTQ+ library catalog users. Using a survey methodology that collected 141 respondents’ information, researchers found that LGBTQ+ catalog users who responded were primarily young, educated, and identified as either Black or White. The majority of respondents reported regular use of the library catalog, though also found materials in a variety of other ways, including social media. When analyzed using facet analysis, terms used by respondents to express their identities were communicated in a range of ways with facets representing gender identity, gender alignment, gender expression, gender modality, physical attraction, emotional attraction, pronouns, and sociocultural identity all represented. Implications for the creation and application of specialized controlled vocabularies are discussed, with concerns about presumed simplicity of these approaches being questioned

LGBTQ+ Catalog Users: A Brief Survey

To promote social justice, recent work in knowledge organization (KO) has focused on providing access for members of marginalized groups including LGBTQ+ persons. Expanding on this work, the current project explores demographics and library usage as well as the participant-provided identity terms of LGBTQ+ library catalog users. Using a survey methodology that collected 141 respondents’ information, researchers found that LGBTQ+ catalog users who responded were primarily young, educated, and identified as either Black or White. The majority of respondents reported regular use of the library catalog, though also found materials in a variety of other ways, including social media. When analyzed using facet analysis, terms used by respondents to express their identities were communicated in a range of ways with facets representing gender identity, gender alignment, gender expression, gender modality, physical attraction, emotional attraction, pronouns, and sociocultural identity all represented. Implications for the creation and application of specialized controlled vocabularies are discussed, with concerns about presumed simplicity of these approaches being questioned

St. Petersburg's Man in Siam

RésuméL’homme de Saint-Pétersbourg au Siam : A.E. Olarovskij et la Mission de la Russie en Asie, 1898-1905Pendant les années 1890, par suite de l’expansion des intérêts de la Russie impériale en Chine et de son commerce maritime en Extrême-Orient, des consuls russes furent nommés dans les ports les plus importants de l’Asie du Sud-Est. Leur mission première consistait à protéger les intérêts commerciaux et maritimes de la Russie tout en entretenant des relations diplomatiques avec les puissances coloniales en place. Selon les périodes, ils furent chargés de prospecter la région pour rechercher tant des zones de stockage du charbon pour approvisionner les navires que de nouveaux marchés et d’observer de près les dirigeants coloniaux. Mais en aucune façon ils ne devaient se mêler des affaires de ces derniers ! Il ne s’est produit qu’une seule exception à cette règle, quand A.E. Olarovskij fut nommé ministre résident au Siam par le gouvernement russe. L’histoire des activités de ce diplomate dans le rôle croissant de la Russie en Asie du Sud-Est constitue l’un des épisodes les plus intéressants de l’histoire des consuls de la région et nous fournit une nouvelle approche des rêves tsaristes pour la mission de la Russie en Asie au tournant du siècle, à savoir l’extension des ambitions impériales en Asie du Sud-Est et en Chine et l’établissement de relations avec l’Empire colonial français en Indochine.AbstractThroughout the 1890s, with the expansion of Russia’s imperial interests in China and commercial shipping to the Far East, Russian consuls were appointed to the major ports along the Southeast Asian coast. Their primary mission was to safeguard Russia’s trade and shipping interests while maintaining diplomatic relations with the colonial powers in the region. At various times they were instructed to search for coaling stations or trading opportunities and to closely observe colonial rulers in the region. But in no respect were they to involve themselves in the affairs of colonial rulers! The one exception to this rule occurred when the Russian government appointed A.E. Olarovskii as minister-resident in Siam. The story of this diplomat’s activities in furthering Russia’s role in Southeast Asia is one of the most interesting in the history of the consuls in the region and provides a new and fresh regional perspective on tsarist dreams for Russia’s Asian mission at the turn of the century, the extent of its ambitions in Southeast Asia and China and the link to the French empire in Indochina

Technical Services Education: Transformation and Advocacy

Though change has been constant in information settings for some time now, at the start of a new decade we are presented with an opportunity to review transformations in technical services education and how they may prepare professionals to deal with this continuous change. Education must consider not only how best to understand and serve end-users of systems (in order to anticipate their needs), but also how best to advocate for best practices in addressing needs, and how to implement best practices both ethically and with professionalism. This panel presents views on current and emerging issues concerning preparation and continuing education for technical services careers

Risk assessment of genetically engineered crops: fitness effects of virus-resistance transgenes in wild Cucurbita pepo

The development of crops genetically engineered for pathogen resistance has raised concerns that crop-to-wild gene flow could release wild or weedy relatives from regulation by the pathogens targeted by the transgenes that confer resistance. Investigation of these risks has also raised questions about the impact of gene flow from conventional crops into wild plant populations. Viruses in natural plant populations can play important roles in plant fecundity and competitive interactions. Here, we show that virus-resistance transgenes and conventional crop genes can increase fecundity of wild plants under virus pressure. We asked how gene flow from a cultivated squash (Cucurbita pepo) engineered for virus resistance would affect the fecundity of wild squash (C. pepo) in the presence and absence of virus pressure. A transgenic squash cultivar was crossed and backcrossed with wild C. pepo from Arkansas. Wild C. pepo, transgenic backcross plants, and non-transgenic backcross plants were compared in field plots in Ithaca, New York, USA. The second and third generations of backcrosses (BC2 and BC3) were used in 2002 and 2003, respectively. One-half of the plants were inoculated with zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), and one-half of the plants were maintained as healthy controls. Virus pressure dramatically decreased the fecundity of wild C. pepo plants and non-transgenic backcross plants relative to transgenic backcross plants, which showed continued functioning of the virus-resistance transgene. In 2002, non-transgenic backcross fecundity was slightly higher than wild C. pepo fecundity under virus pressure, indicating a possible benefit of conventional crop alleles, but they did not differ in 2003 when fecundity was lower in both groups. We detected no fitness costs of the transgene in the absence of the virus. If viruses play a role in the population dynamics of wild C. pepo, we predict that gene flow from transgenic, virus-resistant squash and, to a much lesser extent, conventionally bred squash would increase C. pepo fecundity. Studies such as this one, in combination with documentation of the probability of crop-to-wild gene flow and surveys of virus incidence in wild populations, can provide a solid basis for environmental risk assessments of crops genetically engineered for virus resistance

Active learning in technical services education

Technical services educators have needed to demonstrate creativity and foresight in providing venues for their students, especially in online classes, to engage meaningfully with material. In the past year, that has also meant facilitating learning in the midst of a global pandemic. In acknowledgement of the necessity of engaging students, especially online, this panel on active learning in technical services education will bring together panelists in discussion with the audience to share their expertise and offer insights into pedagogical best practices. A number of technical services courses were already being taught online when the COVID-19 pandemic required many schools to move all their in-person courses to a virtual environment. Although the modality of many technical services classes might not have changed, the disposition of the student body fundamentally did. Students were stressed and worried, starting in spring 2020 and continuing to present. The challenge then has become educating students more distracted than usual, while being compassionate and understanding. Technical services education has fundamentally shown itself to be resilient in this capacity, with efforts being made to engage students through active learning strategies. Active learning can be defined as “activities that students do to construct knowledge and understanding” [1]. In other words, instead of passively observing lectures and taking notes, students are expected to take a more central role in their learning by, for example, collaborating with fellow students, solving problems posed by the instructor, and discussing case studies. Active learning strategies are effective due to their focus on encouraging students to construct new knowledge and to engage in higher-order thinking. Active learning techniques are often explained with physical classrooms in mind. However, what about active learning in online classrooms? Can an online instructor facilitate active learning in the same way as an instructor in a physical classroom? In-person classroom engagement will always be different than it is online, but that does not mean active learning strategies cannot be applied in online courses. The panel will begin with a discussion of what active learning means in library and information science (LIS) education, and in technical services education in particular, with consideration given to challenges related to using active learning techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, it will look to both best practices and illustrations of active learning in technical services, providing concrete examples for the audience to consider. Finally, the panel will discuss strategies for engaging students in online classes, using the time to solicit input from audience members in a discussion of the topic. Audience members will be encouraged to ask questions and provide their own ideas for active learning in technical services education courses, both in-person and online. References [1] Brame, C. J. (n.d.). Active learning. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/Active-Learning.pd

Seeing red over black and white: popular and media representations of inter-racial relationships as precursors to racial violence

The recent murder in the UK of Anthony Walker attests to the lingering antipathy, indeed hostility, toward intimate inter-racial relationships, especially those involving black men and white women. Seventeen year-old Walker was brutally beaten then fatally assaulted with an axe to his head - the 'provocation' for the attack was this young black man’s relationship with his white girl friend. This paper assesses the historical and contemporary images and mythologies that continue to stigmatize inter-racial relationships. Specifically, we look at the representations disseminated through varied popular media forms. The paper suggests that these mediated constructs condition an environment that facilitates, if not encourages, violence against those in inter-racial relationships