Faculty and Instructor Perceptions of Open Educational Resources in Engineering

As open education initiatives aiming to lower the cost of course materials appeared at two universities, librarians became involved in identifying open educational resources (OERs) for university courses. However, when considering a number of subject areas—particularly in colleges focused on upper-division instruction—librarians encountered problems related to the availability of resources and materials selection processes. For this project, librarians selected one prominent subject area at their respective institutions—engineering—and worked to identify best practices for introducing OERs into courses. They surveyed engineering faculty and instructors to better understand their perceptions and needs related to OERs and, based on this work, they suggest best practices for liaison librarians in specialized fields who wish to incorporate OERs into their outreach work with a focus on upper-division courses.     

The Construction of Meaning from Text: possible effects of different reading strategies

An examination is reported of the effect of differences in reading strategies on the construction of meaning from novel length text. Following a brief review of psychological theory relevant to the question of how particular strategies could constrain meaning construction, specific differences are hypothesised in relation to Orwell's classic tale, Animal Farm. The results of an experimental examination using post‐graduate Diploma in Education students as subjects, and multidimensional scaling as the analytic technique, support the contention that reading strategies are important in the construction of differential meanings. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to the change in school practice from teacher‐directed reading to students reading more books but on their own or in small groups, without direct teacher intervention.     

Textbooks on the move: Transforming a textbook collection

Recently, The City College of New York (CCNY) libraries engaged in a collaborative project to transfer the bibliographic holdings for textbook course reserves to a new module when their integrated library systems, the Ex Libris Aleph Integrated Library System, underwent a system upgrade. In this article, the Chief of Circulation and the Chief of Cataloging share and analyze the various steps and challenges undertaken to complete this project, which took place over the span of three semesters. This article will serve to assist those who work in circulation and cataloging to aid in the planning of a large collaborative library-wide project.     

Ultrasonic phased array technology for the non-destructive testing of marble sculptures

The medical ultrasonic phased array technology was modified for the non-destructive testing of marble sculptures and the feasibility of the approach was evaluated. For this purpose, 1?MHz, 64-channel phased array electronic and phased array transducers were developed. The specifications of the electronics and the transducers are presented and discussed. Ultrasound images of inner structures of a marble sculpture are presented. The problem of the acoustic matching layers for different states of deterioration is discussed and the developments in view of a suitable matching layer solution are presented. This matching layer is combined with a new coupling technique that protects the marble surface. The results of experiments on ultrasound phantoms and on a marble sculpture are presented.     

Galileo and the Pendulum: Latching on to Time

Galileo changed the very concepts or categoriesby which natural philosophy could deal withmatter and motion. Central to these changeswas his introduction of time as a fundamentalconcept. He worked with the pendulum and withthe inclined plane to discover his new conceptof motion. Both of these showed him thatacceleration and time were important for makingmotion intelligible.