Crossing the Curatorial Chasm - Lessons from the FACADE project

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PresentationsDate: 2009-05-19 01:00 PM – 02:30 PMThe FACADE project was tasked with developing a preservation strategy and program for proprietary, complex 3D CAD models used in architecture and design. In achieving this goal, the project created an expressive object model as an RDF ontology, wrote numerous curatorial applications to assist project comprehension and metadata creation, devised techniques for processing collections at large scale, and designed compelling visualization and discovery user interfaces. Actual instance collections were ingested into DSpace, and UIs manifested from them.Institute of Museum and Library Service

Pickering Brook Salt Marsh Restoration - Phase II

In the early 1900’s, the majority of coastal salt marshes in New England were ditched as part of an aggressive mosquito control program. In an attempt to eradicate mosquito-breeding habitat, open water areas were drained by a series of ditches excavated in the thick peat soils. Elimination of open water and the unnatural drainage patterns led to degradation of healthy, functional saltmarsh systems and the disappearance of critical habitat for American black ducks, wading birds, shorebirds, shellfish, and fish species, including those that eat mosquito larvae. The practice of mosquito ditching has since been found to have unintended consequences in salt marshes. The artificial ditch systems were found to hold shallow water just long enough for mosquitoes to successfully breed, while prohibiting access to predatory fish species that eat the larvae. Mosquito populations thrived. Ditching also lowered the water table and reduced soil salinities, thus increasing the potential for the invasion of non-native species, such as Phragmites australis (Daiber 1986). Overall, ditching decreased habitat for native species, disrupted the normal hydrologic functions of the salt marsh ecosystem and likely increased mosquito populations. The 23-acre salt marsh addressed in Phase II of this project is part of the larger 42-acre Pickering Brook salt marsh restoration project area (Phase I: 19 acres, Phase II: 23 acres). The Phase II salt marsh is located on the north side of Pierce Point, along Pickering Brook, adjacent to Great Bay in Greenland, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. It is located within the Great Bay Estuary and is identified as a high priority habitat in the Habitat Protection Plan of the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership. The goal of the Pickering Brook Salt Marsh Restoration Project Phase I and Phase II was to restore a more natural hydrologic regime and provide permanent open water areas on the marsh surface. Restoration activities included the creation and enhancement of surface pools and reclamation of the man-made ditches, while imposing the least impact to the marsh surface. The restoration will also manage mosquito populations, expand recreational opportunities and improve water quality on the marsh Phase II construction occurred under permit number 2002-02056 as amended. Ducks Unlimited contracted with SWAMP, Inc. to complete restoration activities with specialized low ground pressure equipment. Using a specialized wetland excavator, 13 man-made ditches were filled using marsh soils excavated during the enhancement of four permanent pools. To restore the marsh platform of the 23-acre Phase II salt marsh, approximately 470 CY of material was excavated for pool enhancement and then returned to the marsh through the filling or partial filling of existing ditches. Phase II earthmoving activities were completed by April 30, 2004. A monitoring plan was established for Pickering Brook based on a combination of the GPAC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Coastal Program protocols. Monitoring will provide data necessary to evaluate both restoration approaches and their rate of success at accomplishing goals for this site through the sampling of chosen parameters or indicators. Data analysis and conclusions are beyond the scope of this restoration project and will be conducted under a separate contract. Data was collected with the help of local landowners and volunteers from the Portsmouth Country Club, the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Parameters used to assess the success of this restoration include fish use, bird use, mosquito larvae abundance, water levels and salinity, and native vegetation growth. In the ever-evolving world of salt marsh restoration, it is important to incorporate an adaptive management plan into project design. For larger areas, a phased approach may also provide flexibility and benefit restoration efforts at a specific site under specific conditions. The completion of Phase I of the Pickering Brook restoration provided important information and feedback that were used to modify the Pickering Phase II restoration design. The two approaches used to reclaim man-made ditches at Pickering Brook were meant to address the goals and objectives of the restoration plan. Monitoring data collected in subsequent years will be analyzed to comparatively evaluate marsh recovery. Using these two techniques side by side creates an opportunity for study and will provide researchers and land managers with great insight into the response of this salt marsh community to these practices

Social media didn’t start the fire: proposals for the temporary shutdown of social media during riots are unlikely to prevent further unrest

The impact of the riots that took place across England last month are still reverberating. We have seen long sentences handed down for those involved and rhetoric from the government on the social media that was seen to have helped rioters organise themselves. Paul Reilly evaluates these accusations and concludes that a focus on the disruptive potential of social media obscures the need for an inquest into the contexts and motivations of those who riot

Palimpsests of Immaterial Assemblages Taken out of Context: Tracing Pompeians from the Void into the Digital

This paper explores some ontological aspects of archaeological voids and enclosures together with their translations and substitutions, and considers the nature of spaces within material archaeological deposits and artefacts. The dematerialized and rematerialized bodies of the victims of Vesuvius in CE 79 are reappraised as a case study. By problematizing the voids we are able to think critically about the ontological status of the victims’ persistent traces and residues. Specifically, using Gavin Lucas’ grid of forces models, we explore how these traces and residues have been transformed into different kinds of objects, including, most recently, rematerializations in the digital, through their ongoing intra-actions within the domains of archaeology, museology, and additive manufacturing. Through this analysis the ambivalent nature of these traces and residues becomes more sensibl

Connecting Seniors in Franklin County Vermont to Community Resources

Vermont currently has the second oldest population in the country and the elderly population is continuing to increase. Senior citizens define aging successfully as having good health, strong friendships, and being able to participate in activities. In order to meet the needs of seniors it is important to find ways to better connect them with available community resources. The aim of this project was to create a pamphlet of community resources available to seniors in Franklin County, Vermont to aid in connecting them to community involvement and support.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1274/thumbnail.jp

Harbouring discontent: Activism in 1930s Fremantle

The 1930s was a period of huge economic and political turmoil, with the Great Depression and the rise of fascism in Europe, leading to the Second World War. Western Australia has been portrayed as a place of relative calm and consensus during this decade. This research challenges this view, and examines local community activism in Fremantle in relation to unemployment, industrial strife and the rise of fascism in Europe, particularly the civil war in Spain. The research indicates a highly active and politically conscious labour movement in Fremantle in this decade

Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles in Droplet Flow Reactors

Synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles within droplet flow reactors is advantageous over batch synthesis due to the elimination of concentration and temperature gradients inside the reactor and prevention of reactor fouling. We present results on the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using aqueous droplets of copper acetate and acetic acid inside a bulk stream of sodium hydroxide in 1-octanol. Varying the copper acetate, acetic acid, and sodium hydroxide concentration resulted in needle-like and plate-like nanoparticles of varying sizes. The rate of mass transfer from the bulk to the droplet phase was found to increase with flow rate and addition of surfactants