V-slotted screw head and matching driving tool facilitate insertion and removal of screw fasteners

A V-slotted designed screw and a screwdriver with a V-shaped tang facilitate driving the screw into difficult locations and minimize axial forces thus avoiding damage to the screw

Notes on the use of RTP for shared workspace applications

The Real-time Transport Protocol, RTP, has become the dominant protocol for streaming audio and video in IP-based environments. A number of proposals have been made which attempt to build on this success and apply RTP for shared workspace applications. We discuss the needs of such applications and the features provided by RTP, with an aim to showing why RTP is not appropriate for such uses

Using ground relays for low-latency wide-area routing in megaconstellations

Large low earth orbit satellite constellations have the potential to provide global high-capacity low-latency Internet access, but early deployments lack dedicated inter-satellite links (ISLs). We investigate the use of ground-based relays as a substitute for ISLs to provide low-latency wide area networking. We examine how to route such huge networks, potentially using user-terminals as relays, and devise an enhanced routing algorithm to cope. We show that even without ISLs, such networks can still beat optical fiber networks for latency

Using non-participant observation to uncover mechanisms: insights from a realist evaluation

This article outlines how a realist evaluation of dementia care in hospitals used non-participant observation to support the refinement and testing of mechanisms likely to lead to the use of person-centred care. We found that comments and explanations of their actions from hospital staff during observation periods provided insights into the reasoning that generated their actions for care in real time. This informed subsequent data collection and analysis. Two worked examples of mechanisms first identified during non-participant observation demonstrate (1) how they were uncovered, and (2) how this informed research activities for theory refinement. Early, iterative engagement with the analytic process, primarily involving reflection and debate with the research team, maximised the potential of observation data to support surfacing underlying mechanisms, linking them to specific contexts and outcomes.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Financial aggregation of risks for MSMEs in developing economies: a conceptual framework of financial aggregation and microinsurance effects

Business vulnerability is a function of the extent of risks faced and the ability of the business to adapt to adverse changes in circumstances. Financial Aggregation arises out of the link between economic interactions at the micro level and their macro based risks Microbusinesses in developing countries are often highly vulnerable to a range of risks including natural disasters, corruption, poor weather conditions and illness. This vulnerability creates a need for insurance but ability to take out appropriate insurance is frequently limited by financial resources, availability of insurance policies and information on these policies and financial education levels. On the supply side, microinsurers are faced with high marketing and administrative costs and the microinsurance market is further distorted by information asymmetries, adverse selection and moral hazards. This limits interest in the microinsurance market from commercial providers, with microinsurance frequently being available through non-profit agents. This paper investigates the relationship between vulnerability, risk appetite of microbusinesses and their propensity to insure. In building a conceptual framework, we explore the factors that impact financial aggregation and the uptake of microinsurance. We observe additionally that improved financial education and more effective information may help to increase the extent and quality of microinsurance

Identity, Harm, and Hate in Special Collections

LIS studies of diversity, equity, and inclusion frequently separate workplace interpersonal issues from collections issues, divorcing organizational culture from organizational collections, especially in special collections. Weeding harmful or hateful materials from circulating collections can lead to their transfer to special collections, where library and archives workers as well as their users can be impacted. This presentation addresses assumptions of an unmarginalized, neutral, and impervious arbiter in special collections and suggests solutions to give special collections workers and users agency and accommodation in the types of materials they are asked to handle, based in scholarship from BIPOC, LGBTQ, and disabled library workers on resistance, self-preservation, and accommodation

In, Not Of, the Library: Queer Library/Archives Workers and Catholic Collections

For library and archives workers at institutions without a religious affiliation, the parallel world of Catholic librarianship may never surface. Even at Catholic academic institutions, workers in some positions may not fully realize that under the surface, a click or two away from a CFP, are entire Catholic library subject classification schemes, professional organizations, journals, #CatholicTwitter circles, and conferences that prohibit “scandalous” materials -a potentially treacherous sphere to be queer and trans. What does it mean for LGBTQ+ library and archives workers to collect, describe, preserve, and even teach with Catholic materials and collections that silence or condemn us? Is it possible to push toward justice? This lightning talk considers the positionality of maintaining (an) order to a Catholic special collection when your queerness is, according to church authorities in that collection, “intrinsically disordered.” These brief notes on Catholic library camp look at un/intentional queer and transgender iconography, transness as vocation, and how to partake in cafeteria Catholicism when you’re not Catholic but are, literally and entirely by accident, in a seminary cafeteria for a professional meeting. It also reflects on the potential, the rhetoric, and the limits of justice in the intertwined institutions of Catholicism and academia in the U.S., and why it’s important to recognize that, as artist Jonah Welch notes, “outside the church, the night is young.

Rethinking Reference Resources: Redesigning a Roman Catholic Reading Room

In this presentation, audiences learned about how collection assessment, strategic collection development, and curation of art and books on display redesigned the reading room of an historically Roman Catholic special collection. Library workers sought to better represent the diverse faith traditions, scholarship, and creative activity the library supports and better serve the variety of researchers who use the space, from first-year undergraduates in library instruction sessions to faculty and independent researchers. The presentation asked audiences to consider the positionality of their own institutional public spaces and visible collections and to identify tools to facilitate radically welcoming, multidisciplinary learning in them