ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks in public spaces has become a protective strategy. Field tests and questionnaire surveys were carried out at a university library in Guangzhou, China, during June 2021 and January 2022. The indoor environmental parameters were observed, thermal sensation votes of students on various environmental parameters were collected, symptoms of students wearing masks were quantified, and the appropriate amount of time to wear masks was established. To identify acceptable and comfortable temperature ranges, the relationship between thermal sensation and thermal index was investigated. During summer and winter, people wearing masks are symptomatic for a certain duration. The most frequently voted symptom was facial heat (62.7 % and 54.6 % during summer and winter, respectively), followed by dyspnea. During summer, more than 80 % of the participants subjects were uncomfortable and showed some symptoms after wearing masks for more than 2 h (3 h during winter). In the summer air conditioning environment in Guangzhou, the neutral Top was 26.4 °C, and the comfortable Top range was 25.1–27.7 °C. Under the natural ventilation environment in winter, the neutral Top was 20.5 °C, and the comfortable Top range was 18.5–22.5 °C. This study may provide guidance for indoor office work and learning to wear masks in Guangzhou. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd
ABSTRACT
The library was already undergoing change. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have uprooted whatever remained of the traditional library, giving way to an uncharted course in the provision of library services. This prompted research into the preparedness of librarians, librarianship students, and other students in 50 higher education institutions in Nigeria. Social survey was carried out by using social media platforms-WhatsApp and Facebook-to administer questionnaires to the target group. Responses revealed that librarians were not emotionally prepared for the pandemic and would prefer not to witness another. The use of libraries during the pandemic was minimal, and the availability of online resources was undermined by poor infrastructural development. Moving forward, increase in the use of digital resources is expected as well as creation of creative and flexible, technology-driven library spaces. Librarians will need more training, and a change in the curriculum of library schools is inevitable. © 2021 David Baker and Lucy Ellis Published by Elsevier Ltd.
ABSTRACT
In this article David Wills, the Librarian of the Squire Law Library, offers a brief description of the extraordinary range of architecture at the University of Cambridge with particular reference to the David Williams Building, designed by the world-renowned architects Foster + Partners. He suggests that, in the context of the Squire Law Library, which occupies the top three floors of the David Williams Building, the building has truly come of age;he looks at some of the features and challenges of its modern design;and notes that the building looks set to play a major part in the education and research activity of legal scholars and university students into the distant future. This article is a personal reflection based on the author's experience of using and working in the building for some 26 years since it was constructed and opened in the mid-1990s.