Equipment.data survey - report

The Jisc has provided the equipment.data, research equipment sharing, service since 2016 and it has grown to encompass a dataset of over 15,000 individual equipment items spread across 55 institutions. As part of development of a set of research equipment sharing case studies and use cases, the Hapsis project team has reviewed a range of documentation associated with the equipment.data service, including market research, technical evaluation and hosting options. From this work it was clear that there was a gap in Jisc’s knowledge relating to the users currently registered on the service. This knowledge would greatly aid the development of equipment.data as a sustainable service. Step 4 of the roadmap, created by the project team, proposed running a survey to bridge this gap. The survey aimed to understand the views and practices of registered users and their use of the service. Specific issues the survey explored included: ● How the service is viewed by the equipment contacts ● The use of the service in practice ● Benefits and barriers to using the service ● Levels and type of usag

Next generation [digital] learning environments: present and future

Co-design 2016 saw the launch of the Next Generation Digital Learning Environments challenge asking: » What would an environment do for sta and students? » What kind of learning experiences would an environment need to support? » What learning and teaching practices aren’t currently supported in environments? The changing nature of student and sta behaviours was something highlighted by many commentators; technology-led pedagogies, and emphasis on system features was another; and of course many people in the sector were commenting on the rise of analytics and the role that data may play in future systems. This retrospective of Jisc’s co-design work is therefore focused on technology and practice now, and what is emerging. It aims to inform the sector and provide a base from which new developments may emerge

Next generation [digital] learning environments: present and future Executive summary

Co-design 2016 saw the launch of the Next Generation Digital Learning Environments challenge asking: -What would an environment do for staff and students? -What kind of learning experiences would an environment need to support? -What learning and teaching practices aren’t currently supported in environments? The changing nature of student and staff behaviours was something highlighted by many commentators; technology-led pedagogies, and emphasis on system features was another; and of course many people in the sector were commenting on the rise of analytics and the role that data may play in future systems. This retrospective of Jisc’s co-design work is therefore focused on technology and practice now, and what is emerging. It aims to inform the sector and provide a base from which new developments may emerge

Synchrotron X-ray distinction of seasonal hydrological and temperature patterns in speleothem carbonate

Synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) spectrometry is used to reveal trace element patterns within speleothem calcite at the sub-annual scale and provide one of the first calibrations to prevailing meteorological conditions. Mapping of Zn and SO42– within speleothem calcite was performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility over three annual cycles (1977–1979). Peaks in µXRF Zn concentrations occur on an annual basis, although banding of lower XRF intensity reveals multiple events at the sub-annual scale. The delivery of Zn to the speleothem was found to be dependent upon the presence of a water excess, the condition of any overlying snowpack and the pH of the soil solution as controlled by microbial activity. This generated a pattern of Zn event laminae that documented increasing concentrations from winter through to the following autumn and complies with existing models inferring surface-active trace metals are delivered to the point of speleothem growth in association with natural organic matter (referred to as NOM–metal complexes). Minimum and maximum concentrations of speleothem SO42– coincide with winter and summer respectively, in contrast to the near constant SO42– concentrations of the drip water. Fluctuations in speleothem SO42– levels closely follow changes in cave external temperatures, thereby validating existing models of sulfate incorporation into carbonate minerals thought to be driven by cave ventilation dynamics and internal cave atmospheric pCO2 (partial pressure). At the current resolution of analysis, this represents some of the first evidence linking event-based meteorological (temperature and precipitation) records to the trace element content of speleothem calcite, building towards reconstruction of indices of climatic change beyond the instrumental period