Practice, organisation and quality control of digitization projects

In the previous paper Dennis Schouten discussed the different aspects of preservation microfilming in projects carried out within the scope of Metamorfoze, the Dutch national preservation programme for library materials. I will do the same now for digitisation projects, which are executed within the framework of Metamorfoze. I will focus on the planning, workflow and implementation of Metamorfoze digitisation projects, on quality control and organizational aspects, and will relate these facets to preservation. In 2001 Metamorfoze received a second four year subsidy from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences to continue its national programme via its core-business of preservation microfilming. Part of the subsidy was earmarked for a new path, that of digitisation of collections that are already or will be preserved by microfilming also. With this new trajectory the ministry subscribes to the view of the hybrid method which is based on the technical connection between microfilming and scanning, or more generally, the coherence between preservation and digitisation projects: preservation via substitution microfilming and digitisation to increase access. It seems clear that combining the two processes offers considerable financial, organizational, practical and logistic advantages, in contrast to carrying out the two separately. Firstly, one can imagine that a combination saves time and that the knowledge of the structure of the collection and the metadata which is built up during preservation can be very useful in the process of digitisation. Secondly, a choice can be made for a high quality microfilm company which is also specialized in scanning and OCR. To keep both processes within one business, prevents problems such as that the microfilms to be digitised are not optimally suited for scanning. We have realized that there are missed opportunities when the two processes of microfilming and digitisation are carried out separately. Various activities have to be duplicated and because of the missed anticipation to digitisation, occurring errors need to be corrected or even ignored. Thirdly, for a filming and scanning business, building up knowledge of the collection while filming can also be very useful when scanning. Fourthly, when at the start of a project it is known that besides microfilming, also digitisation will be involved, one can plan for digitisation. Already in the microfilming phase the future digitisation has to be taken into account, which can have considerable consequences for specifications for the preservation microfilms - as we have learned from the RLG Guidelines for Microfilming to support Digitization (Dale, 2003) and the paper of Hans van Dormolen yesterday. And last but not least, the physical condition of the collection will gain from a combination of preservation and digitisation. Handling is damaging to collections; in uniting the two processes, handling can be considerably reduced

The impact of integrated infant and young child feeding and micronutrient powder intervention on feeding practices and anemia in children aged 6-23 months in Madagascar

This study assesses the impact of an integrated infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and micronutrient powder (MNP) intervention on children's risk of anemia and IYCF practices in Madagascar. Quantitative baseline and endline surveys were conducted in representative households with children 6-23 months from two districts, where an 18-month IYCF-MNP intervention was implemented. Relative risks comparing children's risk of anemia and maternal IYCF knowledge and practices at baseline versus endline, and also at endline among MNP-users versus non-users were estimated using log-binomial regression models. 372 and 475 children aged 6-23 months were assessed at baseline and endline respectively. Prevalence of anemia fell from 75.3% to 64.9% from baseline to endline (p = 0.002); the reduction in the risk of anemia remained significant in models adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (ARR (95% CI): 0.86 (0.78, 0.95), p = 0.003). In endline assessments, 229 out of 474 (48.3%) of children had consumed MNPs. MNP-users had a lower risk of anemia (ARR (95% CI): 0.86 (0.74, 0.99), p = 0.04) than non-users, after controlling for child's dietary diversity and morbidity, maternal counseling by community-health-workers, and sociodemographic characteristics. Mothers interviewed at endline also had greater nutrition knowledge and were more likely to feed their children ≥4 food groups (ARR (95% CI): 2.92 (2.24, 3.80), p < 0.001), and the minimum acceptable diet (ARR (95% CI): 2.88 (2.17, 3.82), p < 0.001) than mothers interviewed at baseline. Integration of MNP into IYCF interventions is a viable strategy for improving children's consumption of micronutrients and reducing risk of anemia. The addition of MNP does not negatively impact, and may improve, IYCF practices.We are grateful to all of the mothers and children and participating communities, as well as data enumerators, and the USAID-supported SALOHI project team for the technical and financial support during the baseline and endline surveys. We also thank Jacky Raharinjatovo the PSI-Madagascar statistician for support in analyses as well as Roland Kupka, France Begin and Jennifer Marcy for their comments and feedback on this manuscript. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions or policies of their affiliated institutions. Both the baseline and the endline surveys were funded by USAID/SALOHI. (USAID; USAID/SALOHI)Published versio

Big Changes in How Students are Tested

For the past decade, school accountability has relied on tests for which the essential format has remained unchanged. Educators are familiar with the yearly testing routine: schools are given curriculum frameworks, teachers use the frameworks to guide instruction, students take one big test at year’s end which relies heavily upon multiple-choice bubble items, and then school leaders wait anxiously to find out whether enough of their students scored at or above proficiency to meet state standards. All this will change with the adoption of Common Core standards. Testing and accountability aren’t going away. Instead, they are developing and expanding in ways that aim to address many of the present shortcomings of state testing routines. Most importantly, these new tests will be computer-based. As such, they will potentially shorten testing time, increase tests’ precision, and provide immediate feedback to students and teachers

Binaries discovered by the SPY project. IV, Five single-lined DA double white dwarfs

We present results from our ongoing follow-up observations of double white dwarf binaries detected in the ESO SN Ia Progenitor SurveY (SPY). We discuss our observing strategy and data analysis and present the orbital solutions of five close double white dwarf binaries: HE0320−1917, HE1511−0448, WD0326−273, WD1013−010 and WD1210+140. Their periods range from 0.44 to 3.22 days. In none of these systems we find any spectral lines originating from the companion. This rules out main sequence companions and indicates that the companion white dwarfs are significantly older and cooler than the bright component. Infrared photometry suggests the presence of a cool, helium-rich white dwarf companion in the binary WD 0326−273. We briefly discuss the consequences of our findings for our understanding of the formation and evolution of double white dwarfs

Mapping technique of climate fields between GCM's and ice models

Here, we present a mapping method OBLIMAP, which projects and interpolates fields like surface temperature, surface mass balance, and surface height between a geographical based coordinate system of a General Circulation Model (GCM) and a rectangular based Ice Model (IM). We derive an oblique stereographic projection and its inverse, which holds for any area at the Earth's surface, and which can be combined with two different interpolation methods. The first one is suited to interpolate the projected fields of a coarse GCM grid on a fine meshed IM grid. The second one is appropriate for the opposite case. Both grids are allowed to be arbitrary and irregularly spaced. Therefore the OBLIMAP technique is suitable for any GCM-IM combination. After a first scan of the GCM grid coordinates and the specification of the IM grid, fast mapping of various fields is possible. To and fro (GCM-IM-GCM) mapping tests with the Climate Community System Model (CCSM) at T42 resolution (~313 km) and the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO) at ~11 km and ~55 km, show average temperature differences of less than 0.1 K with small standard deviations. OBLIMAP, available at GMD, is an accurate, robust and well-documented mapping method for coupling an IM with a GCM or to map state of the art initial and forcing fields available at geographical coordinates to any local IM grid with an optimal centered oblique projection. Currently, the oblique stereographic and the oblique Lambert azimuthal equal-area projections for both the sphere and the ellipsoid are implemented in OBLIMAP

UNICUM: a portal to Dutch academic heritage

The UNICUM development project, commissioned by the Academic Heritage Foundation (SAE), is being carried out by the five classic Dutch universities in 2010–11. UNICUM, short for ‘University Collections and University Museums’, has received a national government grant to create a digital portal to Dutch academic heritage. The portal will present both academic archives and museum and library collections. Images, collection metadata and items can be found on one site. The UNICUM idea is inspired by the Online Archive California. The project is important because it crosses the traditional sector boundaries between museums, libraries and archives, it creates awareness of the opportunities this cross-sectoral approach offers, and it retains the context of — and the relation between — objects within collections as a whole. Moreover, the joint effort brings to light the importance of creating metadata according to international standards to stimulate re-use and exchange of content. In addition, UNICUM has to be regarded as a technical project in which multi-level descriptions will be presented and browsed in a structured way (collections linked to objects and archives linked to separate documents). After the project is finished, the focus will shift to generating content. UNICUM aims to create structured and integrated access to academic heritage by: using international standards (CCO, CDWA Lite, Dublin Core) to stimulate exchange of metadata; examining the potential of EAD as an exchange standard for (non-archival) collections and for structuring related items; determining a common method and creating an input module for registration at collection level; formulating ‘Best Practice Guidelines’ for registration of material at collection and item level; choosing available and established thesauri which comprise all aspects of the future content; developing an integrated format for thematic and highlight descriptions; focusing on the interrelation between items on the one hand and collections as a whole on the other, and vice versa, an interrelation which tells the story of and gives meaning to cultural heritage; harvesting of the content of the aggregation by Europeana

Peculiar spectral and power spectral behaviour of the LMXB GX 13+1

We present results of an analysis of all 480 ks of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array data obtained from 17 May 1998 to 11 October 1998 on the luminous low mass X-ray binary GX 13+1. We analysed the spectral properties in colour-colour diagrams (CDs) and hardness-intensity diagrams (HIDs) and fitted the power spectra with a multi-Lorentzian model. GX 13+1 traces out a curved track in the CDs on a time scale of hours, which is very reminiscent of a standard atoll track containing an island, and lower and upper banana branch. However, both count rate and power spectral properties vary along this track in a very unusual way, not seen in any other atoll or Z source. The count rate, which varied by a factor of ~1.6, along a given track first decreases and then increases, causing the motion through the HIDs to be in the opposite sense to that in the CD, contrary to all other Z and atoll sources. Along a CD track, the very low frequency noise uniquely decreases in amplitude from ~5 to ~2% (rms). The high frequency noise amplitude decreases from ~4% to less than 1% and its characteristic frequency decreases from ~10 to \~5 Hz. The 57-69 Hz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) found earlier is also detected, and no kHz QPOs are found. In addition the entire track shows secular motion on a time scale of about a week. The average count rate as well as the amplitude of the very low frequency noise correlate with this secular motion. We discuss a possible explanation for the peculiar properties of GX 13+1 in terms of an unusual orientation or strength of a relativistic jet.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in A&