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Zheng et al. ([56]) utilized X-ray computed tomography to obtain evolutions of particle breakage and particle shape of crushable sands through a series of one-dimensional compression tests. The addition of water weakened microhardness and strength of particles, resulting in an increase in particle breakage and particle surface corrugation. The special collection on Testing and Modeling on Particle Breakage for Granular Soils is available in the ASCE Library (https://ascelibrary.org/ijgnai/testing modeling granular soils). [Extracted from the article]

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the information seeking behaviour of postgraduate students who are studying in different agricultural science disciplines at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCS HAU), Hisar, India. In the study, it was also try to determine what the information requirements of the targeted respondents are, and to determine their awareness of library services available to them currently. For data collection, survey method was adopted with the aid of structured questionnaire. The data were collected over a period of 20 days between January and February 2021. Total 200 postgraduate students, who were studying in different agricultural sciences departments were approached randomly and shared questionnaires to them in the library premises. Out of total 200, 177 valid questionnaires were collected and considered for final analysis, which representing the response rate @88.5 percent. The study found that library & its resources (44.64 percent), and Internet & social media are the two main sources of information seeking for the respondents. More than 70 percent respondents were preferred to search their required information from electronic information resources due to easy to search and use, whereas, around 39 percent of the respondents seeking information for preparing examination and 23.72 percent respondents seeking information for preparing class assignments. About 70 percent of the respondents were quite satisfied with the staff of the library, whereas, 14.12 percent respondents were rated staff behaviour and support as excellent. 50.84 percent respondents were opined that the services and facilities provided by the university library has very effective and plays a very important role in their academic and research work. The outcome of this research would help the similar type of other institutions of the country as well as of other countries to understand the changing needs and behaviour of students and researchers and to develop information resources and services in their premises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the level of undergraduates' satisfaction and their perceptions towards library resources and services provided by the Science Library, University of Peradeniya. The survey research method was adopted to achieve the above objectives. A questionnaire was administered to 442 undergraduates of the Faculty of Science. 371 duly filled questionnaires were returned, were then analyzed. The findings revealed that more than 60% of the undergraduates visited the library daily and weekly, while more than 80% of them visited the library for multiple purposes. Regarding the available resources, the majority of the undergraduates were satisfied with the library book collection, periodicals and available magazines. Yet, only 39% and 32% of students reported that they were satisfied with e-resources and audiovisual materials available in the library respectively. Considering the library services, the majority of respondents were satisfied with lending, reference, referral and photocopying services. However, 11% of them were not satisfied, where as 13% of the students were not even aware of online services provided by the library. Further, the findings demonstrated that limited number of computers, unavailability of Wi-Fi facilities, unawareness of the library website, difficulties of accessing the Internet and searching research articles were the main reasons for students' dissatisfaction. However, the majority of the undergraduates praised the library staff for offering an impressive service. The results proved that undergraduates have positive perceptions towards the library and its services. Based on the findings, some suggestions were made to increase user satisfaction and to enhance the library resources and service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The B African Books Collective b now has 150 African publisher member, from 22 countries, These members publish in all genres, from children's books, political biographies, and queer poetry to climate science, religion, and linguistics. For further information visit: https://aupresses.org/programs-events/global-partner-program/ Online articles B Conceptualizing, Financing and Infrastructuring: Perspectives on Open Access in and from Africa b by Angela Okune, Sulaiman Adebowale, Eve Gray, Angela Mumo, and Ruth Oniang'o An interesting article in the latest issue of I Development and Change. i Contemporary scholarly publishing on the African continent remains largely dominated by Western corporate academic publishers, the authors say: "Even as the notion of open access has gained popularity, a growing body of scholarship indicates that the concept is in fact re-entrenching the power of traditional academic publishers under a revised business model. To support scholarship during challenging times, ABC makes its digital book collection freely available in library and academic spaces - not only benefitting the scholarly community but also the African publishers whose material is temporarily widely shared, therefore drawing attention to the intellectual work and knowledge production produced on the continent, and ultimately furthering its reach to benefit authors and publishers. The Prize was established in 2020 by Nigerian writer, filmmaker and publisher of B Hattus Books b , Onyeka Nwelue, in honour of James Currey, the leading publisher of academic books on Africa, who was dedicated to distributing books about Africa in Africa. [Extracted from the article]

"Mechanical and fatigue behavior of resistance spot welded dual-phase and twinning-induced plasticity steel joints." The special collection on Impact Dynamics for Advanced Aerospace Materials and Structures is available in ASCE library (https://ascelibrary.org/jaeeez/impact dynamics aerospace materials). Chen et al. ([3]) examined the dynamic compression behavior and energy-absorption capability of composites with sinusoidally periodic helicoidal fiber architectures in their paper, "Defense mechanism of bioinspired composites with sinusoidally periodic helicoidal fiber architectures." Gulla et al. ([10]) investigated the low-velocity impact failure behavior of sandwich plates made from composites skins and a foam core as well as the influence of infusion process parameters in their paper, "Impact behaviors of sandwich composites produced by liquid resin infusion: Influences of the process parameters.". [Extracted from the article]

ODFM is a data management system that integrates comprehensive omics information for microorganisms associated with various fermented foods, additive ingredients, and seasonings (e.g. kimchi, Korean fermented vegetables, fermented seafood, solar salt, soybean paste, vinegar, beer, cheese, sake, and yogurt). The ODFM archives genome, metagenome, metataxonome, and (meta)transcriptome sequences of fermented food-associated bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic microorganisms, and viruses; 131 bacterial, 38 archaeal, and 28 eukaryotic genomes are now available to users. The ODFM provides both the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search-based local alignment function as well as average nucleotide identity-based genetic relatedness measurement, enabling gene diversity and taxonomic analyses of an input query against the database. Genome sequences and annotation results of microorganisms are directly downloadable, and the microbial strains registered in the archive library will be available from our culture collection of fermented food-associated microorganisms. The ODFM is a comprehensive database that covers the genomes of an entire microbiome within a specific food ecosystem, providing basic information to evaluate microbial isolates as candidate fermentation starters for fermented food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In academic libraries, the obligation to pay a fine for overdue books is a common global phenomenon. As university libraries try to meet the growing expectations of their users with limited resources, it is important to ensure that the existing collection is available in circulation. This study investigated overdue returns at the BRAC University library, Bangladesh, focusing on the reasons why users returned their books late; students' satisfaction with the current overdue policies; and suggested improvements to the overdue procedures. The study was carried out using a quantitative methodology. Structured questionnaires were distributed to the students and data was collected over a period of 60 days between March and April 2019. Of the 300 questionnaires distributed, 258 were returned, with a response rate of 86%. The primary reasons for users' late return of books were forgetfulness and not completing the task required from the book. It is a positive fact of the study that, most students did not show unwillingness to use the library again after fine had been imposed for a late return; a large number of them managed to pay the fine out of their pocket money. The library's current policies were considered to be satisfactory. The students considered them to be a form of discipline, which made them return items at the appointed time. There was no gender bias in their reactions. Suggestions for improvement included increasing the collection of hard-copy and e-books. The outcomes of this research may help to develop the overdue and circulation policies of academic libraries in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aaron Copland in Latin America: Music and Cultural Politics. By Carol A. Hess. (Music in American Life.) Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2023. [xi, 317 p., ISBN 9780252044854 (hardcover), $125; […]

This special collection provides a forum for discussion of the recent advances in computer-aided structural integrity and safety of structures and structural components. To ensure the integrity and safety of structures and structural components, computational tools and algorithms must consider a high number of variables that influence the assessment/analysis of engineering problems. The special collection on the computer-aided structural integrity and safety is available in the ASCE Library (https://ascelibrary.org/jpcfev/computer aided structural). [Extracted from the article]

Generation of new DNA constructs is an essential process in modern life science and biotechnology. Modular cloning systems based on Golden Gate cloning, using Type IIS restriction endonucleases, allow assembly of complex multipart constructs from reusable basic DNA parts in a rapid, reliable and automation-friendly way. Many such toolkits are available, with varying degrees of compatibility, most of which are aimed at specific host organisms. Here, we present a vector design which allows simple vector modification by using modular cloning to assemble and add new functions in secondary sites flanking the main insertion site (used for conventional modular cloning). Assembly in all sites is compatible with the PhytoBricks standard, and vectors are compatible with the Standard European Vector Architecture (SEVA) as well as BioBricks. We demonstrate that this facilitates the construction of vectors with tailored functions and simplifies the workflow for generating libraries of constructs with common elements. We have made available a collection of vectors with 10 different microbial replication origins, varying in copy number and host range, and allowing chromosomal integration, as well as a selection of commonly used basic parts. This design expands the range of hosts which can be easily modified by modular cloning and acts as a toolkit which can be used to facilitate the generation of new toolkits with specific functions required for targeting further hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the mandate to review all available literature in the study's inclusion parameters, systematic review projects are likely to require full-text access to a significant number of articles that are not available in a library's collection, thereby necessitating ordering content via interlibrary loan (ILL). The aim of this study is to understand what effect a systematic review service has on the copyright royalty fees accompanying ILL requests at an academic health sciences library. Case Presentation: The library created a custom report using ILLiad data to look specifically at 2018 ILL borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews. This subset of borrowing activity was then analyzed to determine its impact on the library's copyright royalty expenditures for the year. In 2018, copyright eligible borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews represented only approximately 5% of total filled requests that involved copyright eligible borrowing. However, these systematic review requests directly or indirectly caused approximately 10% of all the Spencer S. Eccles Library copyright royalty expenditures for 2018 requests. Conclusion: Based on the sample data set, the library's copyright royalty expenditures did increase, but the overall financial impact was modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to find out the current scenario of library resources and services viz. collection including infrastructure, staff position, library services available in the private university libraries in the state of Assam, India. Methodology: Physical survey of all the five libraries has been conducted for which a questionnaire was designed. Findings: With the increasing number of library users, there should be adequate number of library staff to maintain all the different collections and services of the library. Private university libraries e-books and e-journals facility is not sufficient to cater the increasing demands of the users. Research Limitations: The study is applied to private university libraries within the geographical barrier within the state of Assam. It is applied only on the basic level library resources and services expected from a library. Practical Implications: It will provide an opportunity to the library authority to fill up the gap in providing their basic library services. The method and technique of the study may be applied to any other libraries where the libraries are managed by library science professional with proper library procedures. Originality/value: The study is itself a unique one as no such study was conducted in the area of private university libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If an item is not readily available in an academic library's collection, is it quicker to buy it or does is make better sense to borrow it? At a public, four-year institution, acquisitions and interlibrary loan (ILL) are exploring a new relationship to improve the users' experience. The question is determining what triggers the decision to borrow versus buy an item. The exploration is born of the institution's ongoing migration from a traditional to a demand driven based collections strategy. This article will elucidate how acquisitions and ILL can work together to effectively deliver what users need when they need it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When searching for information in response to a query, their own library's online public access catalog (OPAC) and databases remain the most preferred resource for most aquatic science librarians. This preference does not vary regardless of age, gender, educational degree, position or designation, country classification, or type of library. While the Internet acts as a supplement to the library collection, whenever the requested information is not available at the library, librarians prefer Googling instead of looking at other sources. Other than aquatic science-specific open access repositories and databases, some of the librarians have identified Google Scholar, DOAJ, ResearchGate, and Academia, among many others as valuable resources that help them fulfill their clientele's query. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the kings of Iran, Shah Abbas I, in Safavid period, is a prominent figure who is mentioned in popular tales. In the stories attributed to him, there are outstanding features that have attracted the attention of researchers due to their high frequency. The purpose of this study is to analyze the salient features contained in the stories of Shah Abbas I and to explain the origin of these features. The method of the present study was analyticaldescriptive in terms of purpose and based on library studies in terms of data collection. Visiting the library and searching through reliable sources, the authors have collected all the available stories about Shah Abbas I and then analyzed their salient features and origins. Research findings show that these characteristics are either of historical origin or originated from the imagination of the creators of the stories. Some of these characteristics are specific to Shah Abbas and others are general characteristics of kings. Feelings of the unseen voice, professional dervishes, nightlife, simplicity, wisdom and shrewdness, interest in art, gossip, fulfilling desires, solving problems, marrying the poor and accepting humiliation are some of the characteristics of this king. On the other hand, power, justice and fairness, acceptance of judgment and justice, compassion and mercy, punishment of the oppressors and forgiveness (bestowal and forgiveness, and forgiving taxes) are common features for Shah Abbas and other kings. In this article, an attempt has been made to collect the salient features contained in the stories of Shah Abbas and to analyze them based on their origin. Accordingly, the reader realizes the hidden goals of these features and becomes acquainted with their creators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]