An evaluation of implementing Koha in a Chinese language environment.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate issues of different scripts in the same record (in MARC21 and Chinese machine-readable cataloguing (CMARC)) and Chinese internal codes (i.e. double-byte character set) when implementing Koha. It also discusses successful efforts in promoting the adoption of Koha in Taiwan, particularly the contributions from Koha-Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach – A Koha CMARC/MARC21 testbed was set up to discuss issues of multi-scripts and Chinese internal codes when implementing Koha, and to determine to what extent the various features of CMARC, which are not present in MARC21, such as linking fields, can be supported in Koha and what is required to implement them if they are not available. Findings – In contrast to western characters, Chinese internal codes cause extra work, as special programming for character conversion is required when working with Koha. This situation is commonly seen in Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea. This paper recommends implementing CMARC, MARC21 or even any other type of MARC format in Koha with strong commercial-level support. Practical implications – Koha-Taiwan serves Koha Chinese users around the world. A successful Koha-Taiwan could be a model around the world. Originality/value – In recent years, the concept of implementing an open-source library management system has been coming to the fore. In Taiwan, the local-based commercial library system covers more than one quarter of the library system market in academic libraries because the company provides better tailor-made support, mainly in scripts and multiple internal codes, than do western-based commercial library systems. Evaluations and conclusions from this paper will be useful to countries where multi-scripts and double-byte character sets are issues

A study of XML in the library science curriculum in Taiwan and South East Asia

This paper aims to investigate the current XML-related courses available in 96 LIS schools in South East Asia and Taiwan’s 9 LIS schools. Also, this study investigates the linkage of library school graduates in Taiwan who took different levels of XML-related education (that is XML arranged as an individual course or XML arranged as a section unit in courses) and their professional qualification. Research questions include what is the availability of XML-related courses in countries in Taiwan and South East Asia? What are Taiwan LIS graduates’ views on degree of XML-related courses satisfaction, cognition of learning XML technology, and views of XML-related courses? What is the linkage of Taiwan LIS graduates who studied different levels of XML-related education and their professional qualifications? This study applies 3 research methodologies: information gathering from the internet; questionnaire surveys; in-depth interviews. Results of the analysis show that LIS schools should provide optional XML-related courses with practical sessions, and library associations should provide regular XML-related continuing education to enhance LIS students’ professional qualifications

Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell phase in the superconductor (TMTSF)2ClO4: Theory versus experiment

We consider a formation of the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) phase in a quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) conductor in a magnetic field, parallel to its conducting chains, where we take into account both the paramagnetic spin-splitting and orbital destructive effects against superconductivity. We show that, due to a relative weakness of the orbital effects in a Q1D case, the LOFF phase appears in (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ superconductor for real values of its Q1D band parameters. We compare our theoretical calculations with the recent experimental data by Y. Maeno's group [S. Yonezawa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{100}, 117002 (2008)] and show that there is a good qualitative and quantitative agreement between the theory and experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Pickoff and spin-conversion quenchings of ortho-positronium in oxygen

The quenching processes of the thermalized ortho-positronium(o-Ps) on an oxygen molecule have been studied by the positron annihilation age-momentum correlation techinique(AMOC). The Doppler broadening spectrum of the 511 keV gamma-rays from the 2gamma annihilation of o-Ps in O_2 has been measured as a function of the o-Ps age. The rate of the quenching, consisting of the pickoff and the spin-conversion, is estimated from the positron lifetime spectrum. The ratio of the pickoff quenching rate to the spin-conversion rate is deduced from the Doppler broadening of the 511 keV gamma-rays from the annihilation of the o-Ps. The pickoff parameter ^1Z_eff, the effective number of the electrons per molecule which contribute to the pickoff quenching, for O_2 is determined to be 0.6 +- 0.4. The cross-section for the elastic spin-conversion quenching is determined to be (1.16 +- 0.01) * 10^{-19} cm^2.Comment: 4 pages with 5 eps figures, LaTeX2e(revtex4

Repulsive Fermions in Optical Lattices: Phase separation versus Coexistence of Antiferromagnetism and d-Superfluidity

We investigate a system of fermions on a two-dimensional optical square lattice in the strongly repulsive coupling regime. In this case, the interactions can be controlled by laser intensity as well as by Feshbach resonance. We compare the energetics of states with resonating valence bond d-wave superfluidity, antiferromagnetic long range order and a homogeneous state with coexistence of superfluidity and antiferromagnetism. We show that the energy density of a hole $e_{hole}(x)$ has a minimum at doping $x=x_c$ that signals phase separation between the antiferromagnetic and d-wave paired superfluid phases. The energy of the phase-separated ground state is however found to be very close to that of a homogeneous state with coexisting antiferromagnetic and superfluid orders. We explore the dependence of the energy on the interaction strength and on the three-site hopping terms and compare with the nearest neighbor hopping {\it t-J} model

Behavior of a Geosynthetic Reinforced Sand

The method of geosynthetic reinforced earth incorporates a flexible but tension resistant synthetic material in soil to increase the tensile resistance of the composite. In this study, both static and dynamic responses of an Ottawa 30-40 sand reinforced with a nonwoven geosynthet1c, Bidim C-34, were investigated. Static triaxial tests were first conducted to examine the influence of the reinforcement on strength, Young\u27s modulus, and Poisson\u27s ratio of the composite soil. Cyclic triaxial tests and resonant column tests were then conducted to examine the variation of shear modulus and damping ratio at different strain amplitudes. The influence of geosynthetic on both static and dynamic properties of sand was discussed