A new library in Bloomsbury: relocating the UCL SSEES Library

Purpose – The paper seeks to describe the processes involved in an academic library building project, from the choice of site and appointment of the architects to the move itself. The focus is on finding solutions to problems caused by limited space, fixed deadlines and innovative design, and ensuring that the Library needs are fully understood throughout a complex project involving other interest groups over a number of years. Design/methodology/approach – The experience of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library is used as a case study to describe various issues around library design, working with architects and project managers, and managing a library move. Reference is made to the impact of the 7 July bombings in London on library staff. Findings – The case study outlines the importance of Library involvement in every aspect of the design, the impact of decisions about internal layout on library capacity, the adaptability of library staff to unusual and difficult working conditions, the possibility of providing a limited service in an incomplete building, the importance of balancing aesthetic and functional considerations in the final design, and the impact of those design decisions on the long-term functioning and use of the Library. Originality/value – The paper describes most of the processes and problems likely to be encountered in a major library building project and will be useful to any library setting out on such a project

Splitting pairs and the number of clusters generated by random pair incompatibilities

We consider a random fitness landscape on the space of haploid diallelic genotypes with n genetic loci, where each genotype is considered either inviable or viable depending on whether or not there are any incompatibilities among its allele pairs. We suppose that each allele pair in the set of all possible allele pairs on the n loci is independently incompatible with probability p=c/(2n). We examine the connectivity of the viable genotypes under single locus mutations and show that, for 0<c<1, the number of clusters of viable genotypes in this landscape converges weakly (in n) to N=2^{Psi} where Psi is Poisson distributed; while for c>1, there are no viable genotypes with probability converging to one. The genotype space is equivalent to the n-dimensional hypercube and the viable genotypes are solutions to a random 2-SAT problem, so the same result holds for the connectivity of solutions in the hypercube to a random 2-SAT problem.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Supporting Research in Area Studies: a guide for academic libraries

The study of other countries or regions of the world often crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries in the humanities and social sciences. Supporting Research in Area Studies is a comprehensive guide for academic libraries supporting these communities of researchers. This book explores the specialist requirements of these researchers in information resources, resource discovery tools, and information skills, and the challenges of working with materials in multiple languages. It makes the case that by adapting their systems and procedures to meet these needs, academic libraries find themselves better placed to support their institution's�� international agenda more widely. The first four chapters cover the academic landscape and its history, area studies librarianship and acquisitions. Subsequent chapters discuss collections management, digital products, and the digital humanities, and their role in academic projects. The final chapter explores information skills and the various disciplinary skills that facilitate the needs of researchers during their careers

Cultural Aspects of Trade Dispute Resolution in China

The increased level of economic interaction in the Pacific Rim region has brought with it a corresponding increase in the number of potential trade disputes. This paper describes a conceptual and methodological framework for examining cultural aspects of trade disputes and presents several case studies involving the People’s Republic of Chinatrade sector

Cultural Aspects of Trade Dispute Resolution in China

The increased level of economic interaction in the Pacific Rim region has brought with it a corresponding increase in the number of potential trade disputes. This paper describes a conceptual and methodological framework for examining cultural aspects of trade disputes and presents several case studies involving the People’s Republic of Chinatrade sector