The „Bibliotheksindex“ (library index BIX) for academic libraries - a critical discussion

Im Rahmen der politischen Diskussionen um eine Modernisierung der Staatsverwaltung wird neben dem Abbau von Bürokratie der Einführung von outputorientierten Steuerungsmodellen eine entscheidende Bedeutung beigemessen. Auch Hochschulen und deren wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken sollen stärker als bislang ausweisen, inwiefern sie ihrem öffentlichen Leistungsauftrag genügend entsprechen. Ein Steuerungsinstrument dieser Leistungsmessung ist der „Bibliotheksindex“ für wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken, kurz BIX-WB genannt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird zunächst das Phänomen der Leistungsmessung an wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken mittels Indikatoren und das Benchmarking als Grundlage des BIX-Projekts beleuchtet. Hiernach werden Organisation, Funktion und Methodik des BIX-WB ausführlich dargestellt und abschließend kritisch gewürdigt.In the context of political discussions on modernising public administration, great importance is ascribed to the implementation of output-based controlling instruments. Thus in Germany, universities and their academic libraries are supposed to show in a more detailled way than before how they meet their public task. A controlling instrument of this performance measurement is the the project “Bibliotheksindex” for German academic libraries (BIX-WB). The paper deals with the phanomenon of performance measurement at academic libraries using performance indicators and with benchmarking as the basis of the BIX-project. Thereafter organisation, task and methodology of BIX-WB are presented and finally evaluated critically

Conception and application of online tutorials and e-learning modules for teaching information literacy at academic libraries in Germany

Neben traditionellen Aufgaben wird die Vermittlung von Informationskompetenz zunehmend zu einem Kernbereich bibliothekarischer Dienstleistung an Universitäten. Wie dies mithilfe von Online-Tutorien oder E-Learning-Modulen umgesetzt werden kann, beschreibt die vorliegende Arbeit. Anhand von vier Kriterienbereichen (technologisch, mediengestalterisch, inhaltlich und didaktisch-pädagogisch) werden beispielhaft Angebote der Universitätsbibliotheken Tübingen, Konstanz, Freiburg i. Br. und Hamburg-Harburg dargestellt und bewertet.Apart from traditional tasks many university libraries offer new services in the field of information literacy. How to do this via online tutorials and e-learning methods, is shown in the paper. Exemplary services of four German university libraries (Tübingen, Konstanz, Freiburg i. Br. and Hamburg-Harburg) are presented and evaluated on the basis of four criteria (technology, design, contents and didactics)

Study on the properties of polyamide 6 blended with melamine polyphosphate and layered silicates

In this study, the flame retardancy and physical properties of polyamide 6, melt processed in a twin-screw extruder with various amounts of melamine polyphosphate and layered silicates, were examined. Generally, there were indications that exfoliated nanocomposites were produced. During compounding, the presence of layered silicates was found to result in polymer degradation, which was further enhanced by the addition of the flame retardant. The additives were also shown to restrain the ability of polyamide 6 for crystallization. Tensile modulus and tensile strength were substantially improved, however polymer's ductility deteriorated. The incorporation of the additives exerted a positive effect also on the flame retardancy of polyamide 6, leading to materials of UL94 V-2 classification

Development of passive and active barrier coatings on the basis of inorganic-organic polymers

With a new kind of barrier coating material, namely inorganic-organic polymers, it is possible to obtain excellent barrier properties against oxygen, water vapor, and flavor permeation. These hybrid polymers can be synthesized by the sol-gel technique. If extremely low permeation values are needed, the combination of hybrid polymer coatings with thin inorganic oxidic layers (SiOx, AlOx) is very effective and leads to permeation values for oxygen and water vapor below 10(-3) cm(3)/m(2) center dot d center dot bar or g/m(2) center dot d. These passive barrier layers can be further improved by the combination with active oxygen barrier layers which have been developed for the food packaging industry. This approach makes these multilayer laminates promising candidates for special applications in the food packaging industry as well as for sophisticated applications in technical areas: the encapsulation of sensitive organic devices like solar cells, organic light emitting diodes, or polymer electronic systems

Design and utilization of nitrogen containing flame retardants based on N-Alkoxyamines, Azoalkanes and related compounds

The desire to reduce the load on the ecosystem has in recent years driven flame retardant research toward halogen-free systems or at least toward combinations that permit a substantial reduction in the percentage of halogenated substances. This review provides a comprehensive and chronological insight into some novel developments within the family of nitrogen-based flame retardants and their structure-property relationships. It focuses on a series of different N-alkoxy hindered amines (NOR), azoalkanes (AZO) of the general formula R'-N. N-R, and related compounds such as azoxy, hydrazone, azine, triazene, tetrapotassium azo diphosphonate (INAZO), and bis(1-alkoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl)-4-diazene compounds. These nitrogen-containing flame retardants mainly exhibit self-extinguishing properties for polypropylene and polyethylene films or even in some cases for polypropylene moldings, polyurethane adhesives, and polystyrene. In addition, their performance in combination with various conventional flame retardant classes is discussed. Contrary to other nitrogen-containing flame retardants, such as melamines, the presented nitrogen-based flame retardants are effective at very low additive levels (<1. wt%), they do not weaken the mechanical or physical properties of the host polymer, and after structural optimization, they are likely to meet the criteria for sustainable production and development