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Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain
- Manuel Fernández-Götz, Dave Cowley, Derek Hamilton, Ian J. Hardwick, Sophie McDonald
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Northern Britain is one of a few areas in Western Europe over which the Roman Empire did not establish full control. In order to reassess the impact of Rome in this northernmost frontier, the new Leverhulme-funded project Beyond Walls is analysing the long-term transformation of settlement patterns in an area extending from south of Hadrian's Wall to north of the Antonine Wall. The results of a pilot study around Burnswark hillfort demonstrate the potential of such a landscape-based approach.
Ten new insights in climate science 2020 – a horizon scan
- Erik Pihl, Eva Alfredsson, Magnus Bengtsson, Kathryn J. Bowen, Vanesa Cástan Broto, Kuei Tien Chou, Helen Cleugh, Kristie Ebi, Clea M. Edwards, Eleanor Fisher, Pierre Friedlingstein, Alex Godoy-Faúndez, Mukesh Gupta, Alexandra R. Harrington, Katie Hayes, Bronwyn M. Hayward, Sophie R. Hebden, Thomas Hickmann, Gustaf Hugelius, Tatiana Ilyina, Robert B. Jackson, Trevor F. Keenan, Ria A. Lambino, Sebastian Leuzinger, Mikael Malmaeus, Robert I. McDonald, Celia McMichael, Clark A. Miller, Matteo Muratori, Nidhi Nagabhatla, Harini Nagendra, Cristian Passarello, Josep Penuelas, Julia Pongratz, Johan Rockström, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Joyashree Roy, Adam A. Scaife, Peter Schlosser, Edward Schuur, Michelle Scobie, Steven C. Sherwood, Giles B. Sioen, Jakob Skovgaard, Edgardo A. Sobenes Obregon, Sebastian Sonntag, Joachim H. Spangenberg, Otto Spijkers, Leena Srivastava, Detlef B. Stammer, Pedro H. C. Torres, Merritt R. Turetsky, Anna M. Ukkola, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Christina Voigt, Chadia Wannous, Mark D. Zelinka
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- Journal:
- Global Sustainability / Volume 4 / 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 January 2021, e5
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Non-technical summary
We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments.
Technical summaryA synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity; (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost; (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks; (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives; (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change; (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement; (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective; (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations.
Social media summaryStronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science.
7 - Reinventing information literacy at UTS Library
- from PART 2 - CASE STUDIES
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- By Sophie McDonald, University of Technology, Sydney Library, Jemima McDonald, University of Technology, Sydney Library
- Edited by Peter Godwin, Jo Parker
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- Book:
- Information Literacy Beyond Library 2.0
- Published by:
- Facet
- Published online:
- 09 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 23 March 2012, pp 83-90
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Summary
Introduction
At the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Library we are reinventing our information literacy (IL) programme and developing a dynamic new approach to engaging with clients. We realize that the information landscape of our clients is changing, and mobile devices have created a convergence of physical and digital information practices. At the same time, Web 2.0 has led to a more social approach to the way information is found, stored, used, created and shared. We have responded by reshaping our IL programme through experimentation and play, addressing the move towards active learning by developing a dynamic programme of generic and specialized IL workshops, both face-to-face and online. We have moved beyond just teaching clients how to find journal articles in a database, and now cover topics such as Google Skills, Collaborative Tools, Finding Images and Mobile Searching. Our IL programme supports a range of learning styles and provides formal and informal instruction through a diversity of access points. This allows for planned or just-in-time learning, extending beyond the classroom into flexible, personalizable, 24/7 physical, digital and mobile spaces.
Making it visual
On our library website we provide multiple access points for clients to engage with online IL, enabling self-directed or just-in-time learning. We have developed an open content system, called InfoSkills Bank, to house learning objects and allow greater discovery of and access to handouts, lesson plans, podcasts, vodcasts and screencasts. InfoSkills Bank objects have been added to our Endeca discovery layer so they are found alongside other catalogue items. Discovery layers are now commonly used to enhance library catalogues with extra content and features. For example, a search for Academic Search Premier will find the link to the database as well as a screencast on how to use it. An icon has been created to identify screencasts easily in the catalogue and it's also an option within faceted browsing.
We all know what it's like to attend a class and think we know it all, only to find when we return to our own computer that we seem to have forgotten everything! Feedback after classes indicated that, even after hands-on sessions, students were struggling with database searching. So in an effort to provide ongoing support after the initial class, we decided to create a screencast for every key database on which we deliver instruction to our students.
11 - There's a librarian in my pocket: mobile information literacy at UTS Library
- from PART 2 - PEOPLE AND SKILLS
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- By Sophie McDonald, University of Technology (USQ)
- Edited by Mohamed Ally, Gill Needham
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- Book:
- M-Libraries 3
- Published by:
- Facet
- Published online:
- 08 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 23 January 2012, pp 93-100
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Summary
Introduction
At the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Library we are considering how mobile and social technologies are changing the way our clients engage with information. In everyday life, at home and university, our clients are engaged in problem-based learning, collaboration and content creation. They are increasingly relying on mobile devices, flexible delivery of services and 24/7 access. As information literacy instructors, we recognize the need to be proactive in meeting the changing needs of clients and have been experimenting with ways of supporting learning in this new environment. This experimentation has led to the development of a more game-based learning model so as to move our information literacy programme beyond the classroom and into flexible, personalizable, 24/7, physical, digital and mobile spaces.
In 2009, UTS Library launched a mobile-friendly website accessible from most mobile devices. The IT team decided not to create an app because it wanted to be platform independent, and it didn't create a separate mobile site because it didn't want to manage content in multiple places. Instead, it developed a custom template engine that detects which device is requesting the website and returns the content in the appropriate format for the device. The team also wanted to avoid an all-or-nothing approach and decided to go with a rolling series of releases rather than wait for the entire site to go live. Clients can access a range of high-use content and search for resources using the mobile- friendly catalogue. When an item is found in the catalogue you can see a location map showing where to find it. The Library website is being made progressively mobile friendly and room bookings have recently been added. By the end of 2011 the whole website should be available in mobile format. Currently about 6% of our website traffic comes from a mobile device and 85% of these are Apple devices. We expect traffic to our mobile website to increase dramatically over the coming year as more and more of our clients upgrade to the latest smartphones and tablets – and based on current trends, these may not remain predominantly Apple.
Making it social
Social media sites are increasingly being accessed on mobile devices and it is essential to have a presence in these spaces so that we can connect with clients in their online communities.