Resources on the Net: Catching Up with Technological Trends in Academic Libraries – Cloud Computing Services, Big Data and Digital Curation

One may reach a point in a long academic career where workplace conversations around the proverbial water cooler become somewhat incomprehensible. It is easy to lose oneself amongst all of the latest terminology and concepts behind the innovative technologies that accompany change in libraries. This column is intended to provide some relief to this perception by first listing and defining some of the trending terminologies and concepts and demonstrating why and how and where these technologies are being implemented. This column also attempts to illustrate the changing professional roles and responsibilities of librarians. [...]

Advancing BIM in Academia

In the early stages of the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) professionals were often the leaders, and some university faculty were caught unprepared. More recently, many universities have responded to the adoption of BIM technologies in the profession. No single approach to BIM curricula will suffice; each academic program is different, with unique and often innovative ways in accomplishing its goals of BIM integration. At USC, School of Architecture, rather than concentrating on a single strategy, multi-dimensional approaches are being developed that include at their core the recognition that the building delivery professions and academia must be better integrated, communication and interoperability are key components, and that BIM is one step, albeit with flaws, towards developing fully parametric design solutions. BIM technology should be broadly integrated throughout the curriculum; advanced seminars should stress interoperability and sustainability components; and the schools have a mission to outreach to the profession through conference hosting and executive education while being receptive to professionals’ advice. Not everyone is in agreement as to how this can be done or what methods should be implemented, and similar to the integration of CAD software and 3D modeling over the past 20 years, dissenting voices, heated dialogues, and solutions born in the crucible of academic/professional debate will accompany change.

Modelling soil productivity and pollution

Predictive models of soil and plant processes should be of much benefit both in developing and developed countries. They can assist in enabling agronomic practices to be better adjusted for differences in conditions; in avoiding disasters that can accompany change in land use; in minimizing waste and environmental pollution, and in modifying and implementing legislation. These views are discussed in the light of recent advances. Particular attention is drawn to (i) the excellent relationships linking average national yields, nutrient uptakes, etc. to single factors such as average fertilizer application; (ii) equations for predicting the behaviour of added chemicals and water in soil that have been obtained by rigorous deduction from physical and chemical laws; (iii) the discovery of semi-empirical, but nevertheless widely applicable quantitative relations for key soil and plant processes, and (iv) the formulation and use of computer models for field situations. There is a pressing need to find ways of presenting the outcome of this work so that it can be more widely applied in practice.

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the solvation of phosphorus(V) selenides, 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, and tris(dimethylamino)phosphine telluride by sulfur dioxide

31P and 77Se nmr spectra have been measured for a range of phosphorus(V) selenides, diphosphorus(V) diselenides, and triphosphorus(V) triselenides in the inert solvent CH2Cl2 and in liquid SO2. Significant roughly-correlated reductions in |1J(PSe)| and deshielding of the 77Se resonance accompany change of solvent from CH2Cl2 to SO2. These changes are shown to arise from 1:1 phosphorus(V) selenide:SO2 donor:acceptor complex formation. Approximate thermodynamic constants for the formation of the complexes have been determined and possible structures for the 1:1 complexes with the diphosphorus(V) diselenides discussed. It is shown from 1H and 31P nmr spectral changes that Ph2P(CH2)2PPh2 forms a 1:1 complex with SO2, and approximate thermodynamic data for the SO2 complexation of the diphosphine have been established. Complexation is indicated by changes in both |1J(PTe)| and δP when (Me2N)3PTe is dissolved in SO2, but the chemical reactivity of this system precluded detailed study.