Lead soaps in paintings: Friends or foes?

The origin(s) and role(s) of metal soaps in paints are a worldwide concern today. These hybrid compounds, containing both fatty acid chains and metals associated with a carboxylate function, are increasingly identified in paints. As reviewed in the first part of this work, the presence of metal soaps in paints is differently interpreted in scientific publications: metal soaps are sometimes considered to play a positive role as anchor points, during paint drying processes; they can also be considered as responsible for many degradation processes (protrusions, efflorescences, darkening, etc.). Their origins are also interpreted in various ways. In some paintings (in particular from the twentieth century), they have sometimes introduced on purpose, as additives, to modify the physical properties of the painting materials. In older paintings, metal soaps are usually thought to result from an uncontrolled reaction of oil with lead-based pigments, in particular lead white, red lead, and lead tin yellow. In the second part of this work, the review of historical recipes of lead-based paint shows an important number of recipes based on controlled mixing of oil with lead driers. In the third part, the experimental reproduction of such traditional recipes using walnut oil and litharge (PbO) shows that lead soaps can be formed, both in about one hour at ～100°C, or in about one month at room temperature. It shows as well that after a few years, litharge is no longer detected in the paint medium, while different lead carbonates are. Finally, the micro-infrared spectroscopy and micro-X-ray diffraction re-analysis of protrusions from a nine-year model painting shows together with lead soaps, the presence of Pb₅(CO₃)₃(OH)₂O (‘synthetic plumbonacrite’), an unusual phase recently observed in a protrusion from a painting by Vincent Van Gogh. This work highlights (i) the multiple origins and roles of metal soaps in paints and (ii) the importance of combining the analysis of fragments from historical paintings with the analysis and reproduction of historical recipes. In particular, we show that the components detected today in historical paintings may severely differ from those originally used or prepared by the painter, complicating the assessment of the painter's intentions. More than the presence of metal soaps, the key questions to be tackled should be about their origins and (re)mobilization.     

Where are you Coming from?

The increasing prominence of transparency as a news value warrants discussion over its effects in various forms of media. Literary journalism provides a useful platform to assess the function of transparency because of its position on the margins of mainstream journalistic practice. This paper analyses the function of disclosure and participatory transparency against the truth-claims of a book-length work of literary journalism. It concludes that while transparency is valuable in building a journalist's credibility, significant thought needs to be given to how disclosure transparency interacts with the rhetorical effects of narrative in sustaining the truth-claims made about a text.     

A Marriage of Friends or Foes? Radio,Newspapers, and the Facsimile in the 1930s

The 1930s represent a contentious period between the radio and newspaper industries. In the middle of the press-radio war, a new technology, the broadcast radio facsimile, emerged with the potential to bring together the warring industries. Although the radio facsimile was short lived, its story, seen through the lens of the press-radio war, provides an interesting look at the forces shaping a new technology.

Envisioned as a technology that would allow subscribers to receive the newspaper via a radio receiver, the facsimile presented an interesting dilemma: Who would control the creation and dissemination of news—the newspaper or radio industry? This article explores this question through an examination of industry narratives about the facsimile. In analyzing the discourses, this study focuses on how the newspaper and radio industries envisioned the future of the facsimile. Was the facsimile viewed as a means for cooperation or as a point of contention?     

Why Do University Students Refrain from Using E-Books in Libraries? Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

E-books have increasingly penetrated the academic world. However, despite efforts from Vietnamese universities and colleges to establish and broaden their e-books collection, students seem reluctant to use these digital books. This study aims to examine the barriers to using e-books in libraries among Vietnamese students. Data were obtained from 355 undergraduate students who were interested in e-books. The findings demonstrate that some key barriers impeding students from using e-books include the lack of computers and e-books in libraries, limited information and knowledge about e-books and their preference of using print books. Interestingly, female students tend to perceive the barriers to be stronger than their male counterparts. This study’s findings have important implications for universities, libraries and publishers who seek to promote e-books to students.     

E-government: What can China learn from Europe?

This article compares China with European Union （EU） in e-government readiness and e-participation. The research shows that China has made remarkable progress in recent years. Nevertheless, EU is still leading in the e-government development. Then based on the further analysis of the e-government implementation experiences in EU, we propose some suggestions for the future development of e-government in China.     

Does grant funding foster research impact? Evidence from France

Policymakers are interested in assessing the effectiveness of the competitive grant funding model in producing impactful research. In the French context, we compare the impact of scientific articles supported by competitive grants with the impact of articles not supported by grants using a probabilistic matching procedure. We rely on publication acknowledgments to retrieve funding information and on citation data to assess the articles’ impact. We find that articles supported by competitive grants receive more citations than articles not supported by grants in the long run, while the difference is not significant in the short run. We find heterogeneity across fields.     

Should citations be counted separately from each originating section?

Articles are cited for different purposes and differentiating between reasons when counting citations may therefore give finer-grained citation count information. Although identifying and aggregating the individual reasons for each citation may be impractical, recording the number of citations that originate from different article sections might illuminate the general reasons behind a citation count (e.g., 110 citations = 10 Introduction citations + 100 Methods citations). To help investigate whether this could be a practical and universal solution, this article compares 19 million citations with DOIs from six different standard sections in 799,055 PubMed Central open access articles across 21 out of 22 fields. There are apparently non-systematic differences between fields in the most citing sections and the extent to which citations from one section overlap with citations from another, with some degree of overlap in most cases. Thus, at a science-wide level, section headings are partly unreliable indicators of citation context, even if they are more standard within individual fields. They may still be used within fields to help identify individual highly cited articles that have had one type of impact, especially methodological (Methods) or context setting (Introduction), but expert judgement is needed to validate the results.     

Who benefits from a country’s scientific research?

When a publication is cited it generates a benefit. Through the country affiliations of the citing authors, it is possible to work upwards, tracing the countries that benefit from results produced in a national research system. In this work we take the knowledge flow from Italy as an example. We develop a methodology for examination of how the knowledge flows vary across fields, in each beneficiary country. We also measure the field comparative advantage of countries in benefiting from Italian research. The results from this method can inform bilateral research collaboration policies.     

What Do Distance Education Faculty Want from the Library?

Abstract

Much has been written on the importance of working with instructors teaching at a distance to provide library services to distant students and instructors. However, what distant instructors want and expect from the library has not been explored as directly, and definitely not on a large scale. Examining the small-scale studies that have been performed at various institutions, we can (1) identify what distance education faculty generally want from their library to supplement their instruction; (2) look at what services faculty would commonly like to see the library offer to their students; and (3) discover what further steps need to be taken to better understand the faculty we seek to serve.     

Scholarly journal publishing: where do we go from here?

The digitization of journal content and its availability online has revolutionized journal publishing in recent years, resulting in both opportunities and challenges for traditional journal publishers. The explosion of data and the emergence of new players such as Google, new business models like Open Access, and new content consumers and producers, for example, China are significantly changing the face of journal publishing. It is not yet clear what the impact of these changes will be but by continuing to collaborate with our existing stakeholders and building partnerships with these newcomers, as well as by maintaining and promoting the quality of our content, we can ensure our future growth and success.     

Know your RO from your AE? Learning styles in practice

In this article, Kolb's cycle of learning is put forward as a useful theory to consult when planning information literacy or other teaching sessions. The learning cycle is contextualised and Kolb's and other theories are briefly explored. The author then considers how learning style theories can be utilised when planning teaching and learning activities. The use of planning tools is advocated and ideas for sessions are suggested. HS.     

How responsive is E-Government? Evidence from Australia and New Zealand

Governments around the world are increasingly moving toward online service delivery in what is commonly called e-government. There are high hopes for e-government, particularly that the associated technologies provide the scope to make government services more responsive. This article reports on a 2006 study of one aspect of e-government responsiveness, namely, the basic capacity to answer a simple question posted by email. To this end, federal and state agencies in Australia, and central and local government agencies in New Zealand were emailed (n = 273). Data related to locating contact email addresses and subsequent responses was collected. The key finding was that the Australian agencies consistently did not perform as well as their New Zealand counterparts, bringing into question one component of their higher ranking in international e-government studies and also their potential to deliver on the Australian government policy that e-government means more responsive government.     

Who gets access to fast broadband? Evidence from Los Angeles County

Regulatory and market changes in residential (fixed) broadband have raised concerns about Internet Service Providers (ISPs) prioritizing investments in the most profitable areas, thus relegating low-income and minority communities to fewer broadband options and legacy networks. This study examines these concerns for Los Angeles (LA) County during the 2014–18 period. The analysis uses rollout data collected by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in combination with demographic information from the American Community Survey (ACS). Because the spatial distribution of broadband investments cannot be directly observed, competition and the availability of FTTH services are used as proxies. The findings indicate that competition and fiber-based services are less likely in low-income areas and minority communities, with the most severe deficits observed in census block groups that combine poverty and a large share of Black residents. We outline alternative policy tools to address intracity inequalities in broadband investments in the conclusion.     

Have(n't) We Been Here Before? Lessons from Telephone Reference

SUMMARY

Telephone reference services have been present in libraries for over seventy-five years. Chat reference services are a very recent addition to library services. Telephone and chat reference share some characteristics and the future of chat reference may be seen through an examination of the history of telephone reference. This article will examine issues of policy, staffing, and technology for telephone and chat reference.     

What satisfactions do self‐publishing authors gain from the process?

This paper, a follow‐up to our previous Learned Publishing paper ( http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/20130310 ), extends the reporting of new research into the motivations, demographics, processes, and outcomes of self‐publishing authors. The research findings challenge traditionally held notions about the lack of satisfaction in either the process or final product in self‐publishing. By contrast, the authors researched emerged as very satisfied with the process of self‐publishing, likely to do it again and recommend it to others – and these trends were observed across all the demographic categories and types of content. The generally high rate of republishing among the cohort can be taken as further evidence of associated satisfaction. The research offers conclusions that are relevant to all stakeholders in publishing and provides a foundation for more specific research within particular publishing sectors and roles.     

Do international nonstop flights foster influential research? Evidence from Sino-US scientific collaboration

The tacit nature of knowledge suggests that face-to-face interactions in international academic collaborations are irreplaceable. Yet, such anecdotal evidence has not been adequately examined in the extant literature. Using the difference-in-differences estimation strategy, this paper investigates the causal effect of international nonstop flights on the quantity of high-impact Sino-US joint publications over the period between January 2009 and December 2018. We find that, on average, US-China international nonstop flights boost the production of influential articles aggregated at Chinese cities, with cities with less human capital earning more benefits. We do not find evidence in support of the crowding-out effect indicating this positive effect comes at the expense of domestic and international collaboration opportunities with other countries. These findings remain robust with various specifications. Policy implications for promoting global collaboration through face-to-face communication are discussed in the end.     

Are first-circulation patterns for monographs in the humanities different from the sciences?

How many monographs acquired in a particular year circulate in that year? What percentage have their first circulation each successive year? Does the pattern differ for different broad subject areas, i.e., humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences? This article tests the assumption that the first-circulation pattern differs by subject. We conclude that the pattern does not differ. The finding is important for decisions about off-site storage, assessing collection development, maintaining departmental libraries, etc. Regardless of subject, if a book has not circulated at least once within a few years after acquisition, it is unlikely to find its reader.