Using Technology to Connect Public Libraries and Teens

Today’s teens use technology in most aspects of their lives: 95% of teens go online; 80% of online teens use social media (Lenhart et al., 2011); and 87% of older teens have a mobile phone (Lenhart, 2012). This article explores how public libraries can use technology to effectively connect with and serve their young adult patrons. A review of current literature suggests that librarians begin by involving teens in the planning of young adult services and teen library spaces. These services should include librarians trained in working with teens as well as access to technology and gaming. Libraries must understand how and why teens use technology and the Internet. They should then use this knowledge to plan and develop an online presence. Today’s librarians should use library websites and social networking sites to connect with teens. In addition, libraries must address other technologies that interest teens such as mobile devices and e-reading. Technology changes rapidly, and librarians must stay current on best practices for reaching out to and serving today’s teens

Remote sensing of cloud base charge

Layer clouds are abundant in the Earth's atmosphere. Such clouds do not become sufficiently strongly charged to generate lightning, but they show weak charging along the upper and lower cloud boundaries where there is a conductivity transition. Cloud edge charging has recently been observed using balloon-carried electrometers. Measurement of cloud boundary charging without balloons is shown to be possible here for low altitude (<1km) charged cloud bases, through combining their effect on the surface electric field with laser time of flight cloud base height measurements, and the application of simple electrostatic models.Comment: Proceedings of the Electrostatics Society of America conference, Ottawa, June 201

Electrical charging of ash in Icelandic volcanic plumes

The existence of volcanic lightning and alteration of the atmospheric potential gradient in the vicinity of near-vent volcanic plumes provides strong evidence for the charging of volcanic ash. More subtle electrical effects are also visible in balloon soundings of distal volcanic plumes. Near the vent, some proposed charging mechanisms are fractoemission, triboelectrification, and the so-called "dirty thunderstorm" mechanism, which is where ash and convective clouds interact electrically to enhance charging. Distant from the vent, a self-charging mechanism, probably triboelectrification, has been suggested to explain the sustained low levels of charge observed on a distal plume. Recent research by Houghton et al. (2013) linked the self-charging of volcanic ash to the properties of the particle size distribution, observing that a highly polydisperse ash distribution would charge more effectively than a monodisperse one. Natural radioactivity in some volcanic ash could also contribute to self-charging of volcanic plumes. Here we present laboratory measurements of particle size distributions, triboelectrification and radioactivity in ash samples from the Gr\'{i}msv\"{o}tn and Eyjafjallaj\"{o}kull volcanic eruptions in 2011 and 2010 respectively, and discuss the implications of our findings.Comment: XV Conference on Atmospheric Electricity, 15-20 June 2014, Norman, Oklahoma, US

INDEPENDENT ADVISORY GROUPS (IAG): MANAGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN COMMUNITIES AND POLICE IN KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND UNDERSTANDING

On November 24, 2022, Dr. Rachael Aplin, Senior Lecturer of Policing at York St. John University, presented Independent Advisory Groups (IAG): Managing the Divide Between Communities and Police in Knowledge Sharing and Understanding. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS-Vancouver executives. The key points discussed were the value and role of IAGs, the principal issues identified and addressed, and the challenges and benefits that the groups present.   Received: 2022-12-29Revised: 2023-01-0

Assets and Liabilities:

The living collections of botanic gardens can be described as dynamic, varying over time to suit the demands of the institute. The majority of gardens throughout the world have insufficient resources&nbsp;to maintain ever-increasing collections. In order to keep collections meaningful to research and conservation activities and to distribute plant material in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) they need to be carefully directed; a mechanism to facilitate this is the process of evaluation. Evaluation is the periodic assessment of part of the collection to determine whether it remains fit for purpose. If a garden’s aim is to strive at improving the potential usefulness of its holdings then evaluation should be omnipresent.This paper outlines the necessity for evaluation and suggests tried and tested procedures to conduct such analyses. Examples from evaluations carried out at the Royal Botanic Garden, Jordan and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (NBGB) are cited to illustrate the value of the process