Smithsonian Libraries

This critical article expounds on what 'intangible cultural heritage' is and the historical background of UNESCO's attempts to safeguard and protect the world's living cultural heritage in the wake of modernization, global mass culture and the diminishing of national identities. By the mid-1990s, as international awareness dramatically increased, UNESCO sponsored surveys of national actions (1995-99) as well as regional conferences, which led to a List of Intangible Masterpieces (2001) and a Convention (2003). The latter is still considered as a work in progress wherein experts and community members, policy-makers and scholars will try to figure out how to improve its provisions over the coming years. Indeed, the Convention looks idealistic and very challenging for several reasons: the conceptual distinction of the tangible and intangible can be problematic among the diversity of the world's people; intangible heritage must be consistent with human rights, exhibit the need for mutual respect between communities, and be sustainable; nations are expected to develop inventories and action plans for safeguarding this heritage; and those who practice the traditions should have the major responsibility for their safeguarding. The Convention imposes obligations upon states that may construct unintended negative consequences and obstacles to its success. The call to take 'necessary measures' to 'ensure the viability of intangible cultural heritage' is unrealistic as culture changes and no coercive measures may stop this evolution. More appropriate is giving aid to traditional cultural practices and their practitioners to ensure survival without influencing the outcome. In addition, the discussed inventories and UNESCO lists may have value for recognizing and valorizing various traditions, but they alone will not save them. This causes the author to question whether the Convention is adequate for the task of safeguarding living cultural practices.

BACKGROUND: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) has been reported with various neurodegenerative disorders, most frequently in disorders with Lewy body pathology. RBD often precedes the onset of PD, and a recent prospective study showed that 38% of patients with RBD eventually developed PD. METHODS: We identified 37 patients with degenerative dementia and a history of bursts of vigorous movement of the arms and legs with vocalization during sleep and associated with dream recall. Patients with and without two or more signs of parkinsonism were compared. Clinical, laboratory, and neuropsychometric features were analyzed, and criteria for the clinical diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) were applied to all patients. RESULTS: Thirty-four of the 37 patients were male with mean age at onset of 61.5 years for RBD and 68.1 years for cognitive decline. RBD commenced before or concurrently with dementia in all patients but two. Parkinsonism (two or more signs) occurred in 54% of the sample (20/37), with a mean age at onset of 69.1 years. Polysomnography (PSG) confirmed RBD in all patients studied. Neuropsychological testing demonstrated impaired perceptual-organizational skills, verbal fluency, and marked constructional dyspraxia in more than one-half the patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of clinical features or in neuropsychological performance between patients with and without parkinsonism. Thirty-four patients (92%) met criteria for clinically possible or probable DLB. Three patients were autopsied; all had limbic with or without neocortical Lewy bodies. CONCLUSIONS: We report a group of predominantly male patients with a characteristic association of RBD and degenerative dementia. The clinical and neuropsychometric features of the groups of patients with and without parkinsonism are similar. We hypothesize that the underlying pathology in these patients is DLB.

Abstract Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has emerged as a transformative tool for applied ecology, conservation and biodiversity monitoring, but its potential contribution to fundamental ecology is less often discussed, and fundamental PAM studies tend to be descriptive, rather than mechanistic. Here, we chart the most promising directions for ecologists wishing to use the suite of currently available acoustic methods to address long‐standing fundamental questions in ecology and explore new avenues of research. In both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, PAM provides an opportunity to ask questions across multiple spatial scales and at fine temporal resolution, and to capture phenomena or species that are difficult to observe. In combination with traditional approaches to data collection, PAM could release ecologists from myriad limitations that have, at times, precluded mechanistic understanding. We discuss several case studies to demonstrate the potential contribution of PAM to biodiversity estimation, population trend analysis, assessing climate change impacts on phenology and distribution, and understanding disturbance and recovery dynamics. We also highlight what is on the horizon for PAM, in terms of near‐future technological and methodological developments that have the potential to provide advances in coming years. Overall, we illustrate how ecologists can harness the power of PAM to address fundamental ecological questions in an era of ecology no longer characterised by data limitation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Clu< s 1 1 exemplum fecuti , in obfer^uatis cafte tradendis , in adornandis paucularum fpecierum , quas incognitas fciverint , defcriptio- fiibus &* iconibus potius defudaffent ; multo nitidior perfeCiior hodie exifteret Scientia naturalis ^minus lcboraretur in ad- pellationibus centies tranftatis &^m utatis, reliquisque compilatio- num vitiis. Neque anfam hodierni dedijjent detreClatoribus , Na- tura cognitionem nominum fcientiam appellandi. > Hac funt , quce

Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communities are richer in tropical areas; however, despite decades of research, a general consensus has not yet emerged. In addition, global biodiversity patterns are being rapidly altered by human activities. Here, we aim to describe large-scale patterns of species richness and diversity in terrestrial vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages, which provide key ecosystem functions and services. We used a worldwide dataset comprising 43 sites, where vertebrate scavenger assemblages were identified using 2,485 carcasses monitored between 1991 and 2018. First, we evaluated how scavenger richness (number of species) and diversity (Shannon diversity index) varied among seasons (cold vs. warm, wet vs. dry). Then, we studied the potential effects of human impact and a set of macroecological variables related to climatic conditions on the scavenger assemblages. Vertebrate scavenger richness ranged from species-poor to species rich assemblages (4-30 species). Both scavenger richness and diversity also showed some seasonal variation. However, in general, climatic variables did not drive latitudinal patterns, as scavenger richness and diversity were not affected by temperature or rainfall. Rainfall seasonality slightly increased the number of species in the community, but its effect was weak. Instead, the human impact index included in our study was the main predictor of scavenger richness. Scavenger assemblages in highly human-impacted areas sustained the smallest number of scavenger species, suggesting human activity may be overriding other macroecological processes in shaping scavenger communities. Our results highlight the effect of human impact at a global scale. As species-rich assemblages tend to be more functional, we warn about possible reductions in ecosystem functions and the services provided by scavengers in human-dominated landscapes in the Anthropocene.

This monograph concludes the revision of the deep-sea caenogastropods from the northeast Atlantic. The area surveyed covers the Atlantic north of 30 N, east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, in cluding the Mediterranean and the Norwegian Sea. Previously described material from 'historical' expeditions is revised, and new material from recent deep-sea programs is studied.

Journal Article Tudor Rule and Revolution. Essays for G.R. Elton from his American friends Get access Guth DeLloyd J. McKenna John W.. eds., Tudor Rule and Revolution. Essays for G.R. Elton from his American friends. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. xiv, 418 pp. $52.50. Nancy L. Matthews Nancy L. Matthews Smithsonian Institution Libraries Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 32, Issue 1, January 1988, Pages 86–88, https://doi.org/10.2307/845999 Published: 01 January 1988

As long as empirical research has existed, researchers have been doing “data management” in one form or another. However, funding agency mandates for doing formal data management are relatively recent, and academic libraries’ involvement has been concentrated mainly in the last few years. The National Science Foundation implemented a new mandate in January 2011, requiring researchers to include a data management plan with their proposals for funding. This has prompted many academic libraries to work more actively than before in data management, and science librarians in particular are uniquely poised to step into new roles to meet researchers’ data management needs. This study, a survey of science librarians at institutions affiliated with the Association of Research Libraries, investigates science librarians’ awareness of and involvement in institutional repositories, data repositories, and data management support services at their institutions. The study also explores the roles and responsibilities, both new and traditional, that science librarians have assumed related to data management, and the skills that science librarians believe are necessary to meet the demands of data management work. The results reveal themes of both uncertainty and optimism—uncertainty about the roles of librarians, libraries, and other campus entities; uncertainty about the skills that will be required; but also optimism about applying “traditional” librarian skills to this emerging field of academic librarianship.

The forests of southern Chile, which may be phytogeographically divided into the Valdivian, North Patagonian, and Magellanic rain forest regions, on the whole are perhaps the ecologically least known temperate forests of the world. The present work is a sumary of the current state of knowledge of the forests of southern Chile placing particular emphasis on classification and ecological characterization. Based on an extensive review of the phytosociological and phytogeographical literature as well as on the present authors' personal observations and research, a preliminary revised classification of these forests is proposed. Each forest type is briefly described physiognomically and floristically, its distribution is indicated, and its habitat described. Under the heading of forest dynamics, changes in the distribution of the forest vegetation in relation to possible recent climate changes are discussed. The role of the common bamboos (Chusquea spp.) in the forest dynamics of the Valdivian rain forest is also summarized. Finally, the importance of periodic catastrophic disturbances in the dynamics of Nothofagus dominated forests is analyzed.

Abstract Aim Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a free Web‐based spatial analysis platform that requires only a web browser and an Internet connection to programmatically access and analyse data from its multi‐petabyte catalog of regularly updated satellite imagery (e.g. MODIS, Landsat, Sentinel) and other geospatial datasets. The high computing capacity of GEE can make computationally demanding analyses more accessible to researchers and practitioners, especially those with limited access to advanced computational resources. Here, we present a workflow in GEE to fit species distribution models, offering direct access to a multi‐petabyte catalog of raster products to obtain estimates of habitat suitability. Innovation We implemented a workflow for species distribution modelling in GEE that includes importing species occurrence data into the GEE platform, selecting and preparing predictor variables, and performing model fitting with spatial or temporal split‐block cross‐validation techniques. We present three case studies that demonstrate: (i) a baseline SDM workflow that produces informative model predictions, (ii) a workflow that accounts for temporal variability in predictor variables to study changes in habitat suitability over time and (iii) a complex and computationally demanding analysis incorporating thousands of satellite images for modelling habitat suitability at high spatial resolution. Main Conclusions Our SDM workflow allows users to benefit from the high speed and performance of GEE without the need for significant computing infrastructure. This workflow may be especially beneficial to researchers in countries where computing power is limited, as SDMs frequently require the download, storage and processing of large raster datasets. We also discuss key limitations of implementing SDMs in GEE, such as user memory limits and the lack of high‐level functions. We include a step‐by‐step guide for the general model workflow and for each of the case studies presented to facilitate its implementation.

§ 26.On the magnetization of light and the illumination of magnetic lines of force*.^f i. Action of magnets on light.^[ ii.Action of electric currents on light.^[ iii.General considerations.^[ i. Action of magnets on light.2146. 1 HAVE long held an opinion, almost amounting to conviction, in common I believe with many other lovers of natural knowledge, that the various forms under which the forces of matter are made manifest have one common origin ; or, in other * The title of this paper has, I understand, led many to a misapprehension of its contents, and I therefore take the liberty of appending this explanatory note.Neither accepting nor rejecting the hypothesis of an ether, or the corpuscular, or any other view that may be entertained of the nature of light ; and, as far as I can see, nothing being really known of a ray of light more than of a line of magnetic or electric force, or even of a line of gravitating force, except as it and they are manifest in and by substances ; I believe that, in the experiments I describe in the paper, light has been magnetically affected, i. e. that that which is magnetic in the forces of matter has been affected, and in turn has affected that which is truly magnetic in the force of light : by the term magnetic I include here either of the peculiar exertions of the power of a magnet, whether it be that which is manifest in the magnetic or the diamagnetic class of bodies.The phrase " illumination of the lines of mag- netic force" has been understood to imply that I had rendered them luminous.This was not within my thought.I intended to express that the line of magnetic force was illuminated as the earth is illuminated by the sun, or the spider's web illuminated by the astronomer's lamp.Employing a ray of light, we can tell, by the eye, the direction of the magnetic lines through a body ; and by the alteration of the ray and its optical effect on the eye, can see the course of the lines just as we can see the course of a thread of glass, or any other transparent substance, rendered visible by the light : and this was what I meant by illumination, as the paper fully ex- plains.-

There has been major progress over the last two decades in digitising historical knowledge of biodiversity and in making biodiversity data freely and openly accessible. Interlocking efforts bring together international partnerships and networks, national, regional and institutional projects and investments and countless individual contributors, spanning diverse biological and environmental research domains, government agencies and non-governmental organisations, citizen science and commercial enterprise. However, current efforts remain inefficient and inadequate to address the global need for accurate data on the world's species and on changing patterns and trends in biodiversity. Significant challenges include imbalances in regional engagement in biodiversity informatics activity, uneven progress in data mobilisation and sharing, the lack of stable persistent identifiers for data records, redundant and incompatible processes for cleaning and interpreting data and the absence of functional mechanisms for knowledgeable experts to curate and improve data. Recognising the need for greater alignment between efforts at all scales, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) convened the second Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference (GBIC2) in July 2018 to propose a coordination mechanism for developing shared roadmaps for biodiversity informatics. GBIC2 attendees reached consensus on the need for a global alliance for biodiversity knowledge, learning from examples such as the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) and the open software communities under the Apache Software Foundation. These initiatives provide models for multiple stakeholders with decentralised funding and independent governance to combine resources and develop sustainable solutions that address common needs. This paper summarises the GBIC2 discussions and presents a set of 23 complementary ambitions to be addressed by the global community in the context of the proposed alliance. The authors call on all who are responsible for describing and monitoring natural systems, all who depend on biodiversity data for research, policy or sustainable environmental management and all who are involved in developing biodiversity informatics solutions to register interest at https://biodiversityinformatics.org/ and to participate in the next steps to establishing a collaborative alliance. The supplementary materials include brochures in a number of languages (English, Arabic, Spanish, Basque, French, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese). These summarise the need for an alliance for biodiversity knowledge and call for collaboration in its establishment.

Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions in the United Kingdom and the United States joined in 2005 to develop a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections and to make that literature available for open access and responsible use as a part of a global `biodiversity commons.' Headquartered at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is one of the cornerstones of the Encyclopedia of Life, a global effort to document all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on earth. This paper provides an overview of the BHL and its potential impact on biodiversity research, describes the BHL portal and its innovative search services, and provides a case study of the process from one of the members: the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

salient features was provided by Cassini in his article on the Helianthees in volume 20 of the Dictionnaire ( 1 82 1 : 3 70) La calathide est ordinairement radiee, souvent incouronnee, quelquefois discoide.Le clinanthe est ordinairement squa- mellifere, souvent inappendicule, jamais fimbrillifere.Les squames du pericline sont ordinairement uniseriees ou bis- eriees, egales ou peu inegales, souvent imbriquees.Les feuilles sont ordinairement opposees, souvent alternes, souvent tri- nervees.Les tiges sont ordinairement herbacees, souvent ligneuses.Les fleurs sont ordinairement Jaunes, souvent blanches, quelquefois purpurines.The tribe included the subgroups Prototypes, Rudbeckiees, Goreopsidees, Heleniees, Tageti- nees, and Miilerinees.The only major element of the present concept that Cassini omitted was the Ambrosiees, with its various specializations of

Much has been said about the technological dimensions of the largely digital library of the future, but little has been said about the service values librarians must advance to make this environment work effectively for all of the library’s users. Libraries must retain the timeless service values of equity of access, personal service, and services tailored to the needs of individuals while exploring new values such as integrating technologies, maintaining holistic computing environments, delivering core services through the network, making technology work for all, and collaborating across administrative lines.

Metaphase Anaphase Fic. I.-Chromosomes of the First Maturation Division of Crepidula. Various authors have called attention to the variety in the form of the chromosomes of the first maturation division (v. Klinckowstrm '96, Van der Stricht, 98, Foot 798, Lillie 798, Griffin 99). Foot and Lille figure 3-part chromosomes in the metaphase of the first maturation of Al/olobophora and Unzo entirely similar to those in Crepzdula, and Lillie shows these chromosomes split longitudinally, as they must be, if formed from crosses as shown in text fig. I, le C.

va a n LIBRARIES^SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION '^NOlinili; 07 - > 05 z 07 r: 07 Q -s^njosti^^~'s.^VASf^o ' .

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility and impact of a concise community-based program on diabetes self-management education (DSME), according to frequency of emergency department visits and knowledge of, prescriptions for, and control of A1C, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. METHODS: A free community-based DSME program was placed in a public library. Adults with diabetes (N, 360) consented to participate in this prospective nonrandomized cohort study with preintervention-postintervention design. The small-group interactive DSME (two 2.5-hour classes) focused on improving cardiovascular disease risk factors and facilitating communication with the primary care physician. RESULTS: An increase in knowledge of American Diabetes Association-recommended targets for A1C, blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol from baseline to postintervention was seen among participants. Significant clinical outcomes included reduction in self-reported emergency department visits and reduction in mean A1C. However, despite an increase in prescriptions written for lipid-lowering drugs, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol did not change. Participants who started on insulin were more likely to achieve or maintain A1C < 7% compared to those who either did not take or stopped taking insulin during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Offering DSME classes for African Americans at a public library was feasible and significantly affected 6-month clinical outcomes, including a reduction in A1C, an increased likelihood of attaining a target A1C of < 7% if insulin was started during the study period, and a two-thirds reduction in emergency department visits for uncontrolled diabetes. Observed results suggest that partnering with community-based organizations such as public libraries offers an accessible and well-received location for offering DSME programs.

The evolution from print to electronic resources and services continues to pose significant challenges for academic libraries. This article presents a systematic, evidence-based approach to guide this transition, which resulted in an exhaustive reorganization of library staffing and services. The approach begins with the necessity of accumulating and then evaluating data on staff workloads and responsibilities. At the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Library, this evaluation revealed that a preponderant amount of time was still spent on print-related activities that were no longer considered to be library priorities. The corrective actions taken to remedy this misalignment are then discussed.

We are destroying the life-support systems of Earth rapidly, making our future uncertain. Ecosystems—the complex sets of organisms that form the globe's living landscape—regulate the atmosphere, water, and soils. They supply humanity its food, most medicines, and many other essential products, and they fill our lives with beauty. But they are falling apart as, one by one, their constituent species are lost. To save what we can and provide our children and grandchildren with a sustainable future, studies must be conducted not only in nature but also, to an increasing extent, on the billions of specimens preserved in the world's natural history collections. For many species barely hanging on in their endangered habitats, these samples will one day be all that we have.