Embedded Librarians and the TEACH Act

Embedded librarians who work in online courses in American post-secondary institutions should embrace the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act, or TEACH Act, the federal law that governs online teaching and learning. As embedded librarians take on online instructional assignments, knowledge of TEACH will provide guidance in their role as online instructors. In addition, as they come to a better understanding of TEACH and copyright issues the law covers, based in part on their knowledge of copyright concerns in library-related situations, embedded librarians will have more clarity about the work they can and cannot do in an online environment. Finally, as embedded librarians increase their presence in online classes in varied ways, the embedded librarian position evolves into a version of Bell and Shank\u27s blended librarian who serves as both a librarian and educator, and becomes a more valuable member of the academic community. The current lack of discussion about the provisions of the TEACH Act among embedded librarians who write about the work they have done in online courses, however, is a troubling sign. Knowledge of the TEACH Act will help protect embedded librarians and others from copyright infringement and aid in the further development of embedded librarianship

OaklandTeenZone: Humming its own new tune

On January 17, 2009, after years of planning, fundraising, and construction delays, the Oakland Public Library (OPL) finally overcame all obstacles and opened its much-anticipated, newly remodeled TeenZone Department. Planning began in 2001 with the vision that OPL TeenZone would accommodate, educate, and celebrate the city\u27s youth; eight years later this teen space is fulfilling that mission

Productivity growth in the Greek banking industry: A non-parametric approach

This paper investigates productivity growth and technical efficiency in the Greek banking industry for the period 1982-1997. It also compares the 1982-92 and 1993-97 sub-periods, since after 1992 the Greek banking sector experienced substantial changes. The Malmquist productivity index and the DEA method are used to measure and decompose productivity growth and technical efficiency, respectively. Productivity growth is higher after 1992. Recent growth is mainly attributed to technical progress, while until 1992 growth is mainly attributed to improvements in efficiency. Furthermore, after 1992, pure efficiency is higher, and scale efficiency is lower, indicating that although banks achieved higher pure technical efficiency, they moved away from optimal scale. Finally, Tobit results show that size and specialization have positive effects on both pure and scale efficiency.Greek banking, efficiency, productivity growth, Malmquist index, DEA

Correlation of the scaling exponent of the diffusivity-density function in viscous liquids with their elastic properties

Fundamental thermodynamical concepts and a solid-state point defect elastic model are used to formulate a diffusivity-density scaling function for viscous liquids. It is proved in a straightforward manner that the scaling exponent describing the density scaling of the diffusivity, is related with the pressure derivative of the isothermal bulk modulus.Comment: J. Chem. Phys. (in print