Deterioration of building materials and artworks in the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church,Saluzzo (Italy): Causes of decay and possible remedies

An in-depth scientific survey revealed the deterioration mechanisms affecting the ‘Santa Maria della Stella’ church in Saluzzo, Italy, where various salt crystallization processes are strongly damaging the building materials and artworks. Rainwater seepage permeates the vault and interior, causing: (1) epsomite growth as interstitial columnar crystals (resulting in pictorial coating detachment) or superficial, powdery efflorescence; (2) formation of nesquehonite/hydromagnesite crusts on wall paintings; and (3) nitratine growth causing pigment staining and detachment. These processes involve selective Mg²⁺ mobilization from magnesian-lime mortars and bacterial-induced formation of nitrates from guano, with consequent precipitation of degrading salts. The study confirms how characterization of all deterioration agents is fundamental to planning a viable cultural heritage conservation and restoration programme.     

Exploring the “awakening effect” in knowledge diffusion: a case study of publications in the library and information science domain

Inspired by “sleeping beauties in science”, we proposed that the awakening effect in knowledge diffusion is ubiquitous, whereas the “prince” paper has the strongest effect. To test this hypothesis, a three-layer super-network model depicting the knowledge diffusion trajectory is designed and the diffusion path of the awakening effect (defined on the basis of influential strength) is simulated. In detail, the model is built based on the citation network and collaboration network of 63785 publications in the library and information science domain. Through meta-paths in this super-network, the influential strength of a paper and the awakening effect from neighboring papers can be quantified into 36 numerical features. By testing the effectiveness of these features in citation counts prediction, we try to prove our hypothesis. Thus an effective predictor in machine learning is trained upon these features. Using this predictor, we showed that most neighboring papers in the super-network had effects on future citation counts. The effectiveness of these features is again demonstrated through experiments on papers with different publication years. We also did a case study on papers that were significantly affected by the awakening effect, and found that the model proposed in this paper can also be used to explain some common phenomena in knowledge diffusion. All results show that the awakening effect could be not only ubiquitous but also quantifiable.     

Class markers in the mass movie audience: A case study in the cultural geography of moviegoing, 1926‐1932

In the 1920s, Hollywood moved to normalize a vertically integrated industrial structure based on centralized control over film production, distribution, and exhibition. The intensity of this effort at greater corporate rationalization increased dramatically between 1926 and 1932, as major studios aggressively assumed ownership of key first‐run movie palaces in cities and towns across America. Current studies of moviegoing during this period often suggest that studio control over exhibition helped standardize the contexts of film reception, thereby pressing pre‐existing class specificities of moviegoing into a more easily managed and legitimized middle‐class form of cultural practice. The case study presented here offers a theoretically‐informed but empirically grounded investigation of film exhibition and moviegoing during this period, and argues that film exhibition and moviegoing continued to be marked by cultural distinctions that helped articulate class relations in the wider social formation.     

Faculty–library collaborations in digital history: A case study of the travel journal of Cornelius B. Gold

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors present a case study on a teaching and learning initiative in digital humanities at Connecticut College. The article outlines a project in which students in a midlevel history course collaborated with library staff and faculty to develop a digital exhibition on a nineteenth-century journal in the College's collection. The cooperative approach and institutional support that the team received provided an effective and flexible means for achieving common goals. As students applied emergent technologies to college collections, they were able to conduct meaningful research and bring archival resources to new audiences.     

Are we a product of our environment? Assessing culturally congruent Green advertising appeals,novelty, and environmental concern in India and the U.S.A.

In response to rising consumption effects on the environment, green advertisers have employed different tactics to advertise their unique products. Limited research has explored the impact of culturally congruent appeals in green advertising. A total of 118 (N) adults participated online to assess the influence of these appeals in a cross-cultural context. Findings indicate that collectivistic appeals worked best among Indian consumers while individualistic appeals were more effective for Americans. Ad novelty and environmental concern were important covariates. Implications for advertisers are discussed.     

An examination of the materials,techniques and restoration of Fra. Ricardo Pilar's Christ in Martyrdom in the Monastery of São Bento,Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This paper discusses the technical examination of Christ in Martyrdom, painted in 1690 by Fra. Ricardo Pilar for the Monastery of São Bento, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The painting, which hangs in the sacristy, has recently been restored; this restoration and three previous restorations are described. The characteristic pose of Christ in the composition has been found in mediaeval German sculpture and was popular in Spanish painting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The techniques used for Christ in Martyrdom have been compared with contemporary Spanish and Portuguese treatises and selected paintings in the collection of the National Gallery, London, to illustrate Pilar's original style. The palette and the linseed oil medium are typical of Spanish painting and are likely to have been imported from Europe.     

A case study: the evolution of a ��facilitator model�� liaison program in an academic medical library

Question:

What type of liaison program would best utilize both librarians and other library staff to effectively promote library services and resources to campus departments?

Setting:

The case is an academic medical center library serving a large, diverse campus.

Methods:

The library implemented a “facilitator model” program to provide personalized service to targeted clients that allowed for maximum staff participation with limited subject familiarity. To determine success, details of liaison-contact interactions and results of liaison and department surveys were reviewed.

Results:

Liaisons successfully recorded 595 interactions during the program''s first 10 months of existence. A significant majority of departmental contact persons (82.5%) indicated they were aware of the liaison program, and 75% indicated they preferred email communication.

Conclusion:

The “facilitator model” provides a well-defined structure for assigning liaisons to departments or groups; however, training is essential to ensure that liaisons are able to communicate effectively with their clients.     

Analysis of the restoration of an historical organ: The case study of the Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Merced Church in Burgos,Spain

Abstract

The restoration of the Cavaillé-Coll Romantic organ housed in La Merced Church of Burgos, Spain is described in this paper. The organ was affected by a fire that took place in the church. The effect of the fire on the pipes differed depending on their location within the instrument. A combination of analytical techniques (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, particle-induced X-ray emission, metallography, and specific density) allowed the accurate determination of the microstructures and compositions of the alloys used to make the different pipes of the organ, some of which had a high tin content and others which had a high lead content. The most damaged pipes were replaced by reconstructed pipes made out of metallic sheets of the same composition as the originals, to ensure a historically accurate sound.     

A “white elephant” in the library: a case study on loss of space from the Arizona Health Sciences Library at the University of Arizona

The Arizona Health Sciences Library is housed in a 4-story building that serves 4 University of Arizona colleges in Tucson. In October 2005, the dean of the college of medicine informed the library director that one floor of the library had to be converted to open classroom space by June 2006. Library staff planned and participated in the conversion of the space. Twenty thousand seven hundred square feet of library space (34% of public space in the building) was used briefly for large classes but is now rarely used. The space is now largely open and contains a variety of moveable seating and tables not suited for quiet study.     

Who's been using my cd-rom? Results of a study on the value of cd-rom searching to users in a teaching hospital library

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Acquisition of multilingual materials; Through a central resource agency or by individual libraries?: Contribution to the panel on finding,selecting, and purchasing materials for multilingual libraries in the 80s,New York, 30 June 1986

Different ways are explored of organizing acquisitions work for multilingual public library collections, on the local, national and international scale. The respective technical pros and cons of three methods—decentralized acquisitions, centralized acquisitions to rotating deposit collections, centralized cooperative acquisitions—are set forth. Mention is also made of some external demographic and social factors which influence the library's choice of an acquisitions method. Flexibility and responsiveness to reader needs are stressed.     

Reinvisioning and redesigning “a library for the fifteenth through twenty-first centuries”: a case study on loss of space from the Library and Center for Knowledge Management,University of California,San Francisco

The University of California, San Francisco, is an academic health sciences campus that is part of a state public university system. Space is very limited at this urban campus, and the library building''s 90,000 square feet represent extremely valuable real estate. A planning process spanning several years initially proposed creating new teaching space utilizing 10,000 square feet of the library. A collaborative campus-wide planning process eventually resulted in the design of a new teaching and learning center that integrates clinical skills, simulation, and technology-enhanced education facilties on one entire floor of the building (21,000 square feet). The planning process resulted in a project that serves the entire campus and strengthens the library''s role in the education mission. The full impact of the project is yet unknown as construction is not complete.     

Models,methods, and assumptions: The usefulness of a multi‐method approach to the examination of influence in TV pricing

The author explores the use of different mathematical modelsin considering influences on prices of television advertising rates and concludes that significant variability exists between models due to assumptions and level of data employed. The author argues that existing research on advertising price influences should be reconsidered in like of the differences among models, assumptions, and data used.     

Integrating with users is one thing,but living with them? a case study on loss of space from the Medical Center Library,University of California,San Diego

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center is the primary hospital for the UCSD School of Medicine. The UCSD Medical Center Library (MCL), a branch of the campus''s biomedical library, is located on the medical center campus. In 2007, the medical center administration made a request to MCL for space in its facility to relocate pharmacy administration from the hospital tower. The university librarian brought together a team of library managers to deliberate and develop a proposal, which ultimately accommodated the medical center''s request and enhanced some of MCL''s public services.     

Renovated,repurposed, and still “one sweet library”: a case study on loss of space from the Health Sciences and Human Services Library,University of Maryland,Baltimore

Setting:

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL), University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), is located in an urban environment on the west side of downtown Baltimore. Founded in 1813, the library opened its current building in 1998 and is one of the largest health sciences libraries in the United States, with 6 floors and over 180,000 gross square and 118,000 net assignable square feet (NASF).

Project:

The initial discussions in late 2005 involved moving campus offices into the library. Almost immediately, it was recognized that a much larger renovation was needed due to the scope of the work. The vice president for academic affairs, the library executive director, and campus planners agreed that if the renovation was done thoughtfully, multiple needs could be met, including new office spaces, better user spaces, and synergy with the new campus center being built next door.

Planning:

The planning, design, and construction process was multifaceted and on a fast track. Although the final piece of the renovation was completed in June 2009, the majority of the planning, design, and construction took place between March 2006 and June 2008. All tenants were involved with office design. Library staff were involved in designing the public spaces and planning the strategy for weeding and shifting.

Outcomes:

Approximately 8,000 NASF was reallocated to new office space from shelving space, amounting to approximately 6.7% of the building NASF and approximately 10.6% of the public space in the building. The majority of new offices in the building report to the same vice president and are student focused and service oriented, with similar missions to that of the library resulting in a very harmonious cohabitation. Additional units with these missions and reporting structure are located in the new campus center, creating a synergy between the two buildings.     

A qualitative study of the academic,social, and cultural factors that influence students’ library use in a rural Ugandan village

The Kitengesa Community Library in rural Uganda is unique in that provides tailored collections and services for the community. This library, which was built in 2002, serves a small but diverse population including a large number of secondary school students who live in the area. Previous research on the impact of this library on the surrounding community revealed that the library influences reading habits, reading culture development, and the availability of locally relevant information. This is especially true for young adults, who represent Uganda's fastest growing population. Only 18 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys are enrolled in secondary school, rendering this group of students (ages 13–17) particularly vulnerable to a wide range of social and economic challenges. School libraries in Uganda are rare, and in this case, the Kitengesa Community Library serves as a de facto school library. Previous research by Dent and Yannotta (2005) revealed that secondary school students are among the heaviest users of the Kitengesa Community Library, and this qualitative study represents an attempt to characterize students' library use experiences across academic, social, and cultural domains. Findings suggest that the student experience consists of five factors – personal improvement, reading culture development, academic support, learning independence, and reducing isolation. There is a growing network of rural village libraries in Africa and the findings from this study will be used to inform development of additional library services and resources to better support student learning and interpersonal growth.     

A Review of: “David H. Weaver,Randal A. Beam,Bonnie J. Brownlee,Paul S. Voakes,and G. Cleveland Wilhoit. The American Journalist in the 21st Century: U.S. News People at the Dawn of a New Millennium.”

Amy Reynolds and Brooke Barnett (Eds). Communication and Law: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2006 394 pp., ISBN 0805849424 (hardcover).     

Is a more transparent,connected, and engaged city a smarter investment? A study of the relationship between 311 systems and credit ratings in American cities

It has been noted that “the impact of technologies to foster public value creation using open data and transparency websites, crowdsourcing and participation platforms, smart city sensors, or social media technologies, among others, remains broadly unexplored from the perspective of public sector management” (Criado & Gil-Garcia, 2019). The public value of having a higher municipal credit rating reduces borrowing costs and consequently lowers the cost to manage government programs. In this article, the relationship between credit ratings and local governments' decisions to utilize one of the first sets of information and communications technology (ICT) innovations is investigated—the 311 system (non-emergency versions of 911 that use phone, web, and mobile application interfaces)—the analysis pairs longitudinal financial data with information on the implementation of 311 systems. The results of our analysis demonstrate that access to 311 systems, particularly web/mobile-based 311, can positively influence a city's credit rating. Additionally, we find that the length of time since 311 was adopted is positively related to credit ratings. The effect is visible with phone-based and web/mobile-based 311. These results suggest that cities with 311 systems and those with 311 in place longer have higher credit ratings. These results could indicate that cities with 311 are better managed or simply more transparent to investors, thus posing lower risks.     

Political party archives: the system of recording and conveying information in local structures of the communist party in Poland ‘s Biała Podlaska province,from 1975 to 1989

The communist party had a developed organisational structure which consisted of numerous elements forming a system of mutual dependencies and a very unique office personnel who was in charge of managing the said system. The aim of the article is to describe the system of recording and the flow of information in local structures of communist party in Poland between 1975 and 1989 which were formed from provincial party organisation, meaning provincial party committees and all their subordinate committees and lower-level organisations. It was an enormous bureaucratic system which, in bigger provinces, could be made up from even a few thousand of activists, some involved more, some less in shaping the life of the society, distributing information and producing documentation about the party functioning.