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Nature Photonics, which Dantus
co-authored with Sunney Xie of
Harvard University.
“Smart lasers allow us to selectively
excite compounds—even
ones with small spectroscopic
differences,” says Dantus. “We
can shape the pulse of the lasers,
excite one compound or another
based on their vibrational signatures,
and this gives us excellent
contrast.”
In the past, researchers could approach
this level of contrast by introducing
fluorescent compounds.
With the breakthrough using
stimulated Raman scattering
microscopy, fluorescent markers
are unnecessary.
Rasmussen
BIRD SOUNDS
REPOSITORY
A growing online library of bird
sounds, photos and information
offers a new resource for backyard
birders and seasoned ornithologists
alike.
MSU’s Avian Vocalizations
Center, or AVoCet, offers free
downloads of bird sounds from
around the world. It also features
sonograms that visually chart the
sounds, photos of birds recorded,
Google Earth maps of recording
locations and links to other online
sound collections.
More than 10,200 recordings
from over 3,190 species in 45
countries are now available on
AVoCet, “and that’s growing
quickly,” says Pamela Rasmussen,
an assistant professor of zoology
and assistant curator at the MSU
Museum. “Soon recordings and
their data from many more species
and areas will be available for
download from AVoCet.”
There are, after all, 10,000 bird
species, all of which make sounds
of some type. Many birds, such
as cardinals, even sing in regional
dialects. Some birds have huge vocabularies
– a single male Brown
Thrasher is known to give 2,000
different notes.
Author of an exhaustive reference
work on the birds of South
Asia, Rasmussen has personally
recorded on all the continents
for this project. Her work in the
Philippines alone netted 597
recordings of 120 species, many
of which are threatened.
☛ For more information, visit
Avocet.zoology.msu.edu.
TOP 20 RANKING
IN BLOOMBERG
MSU’s Eli Broad College of
Business has vaulted into the top
20 of American business schools
in the latest biennial rankings by
Bloomberg Businessweek.
According to “The Best U.S. B-
Schools of 2010,” released Nov. 11,
the Broad College came in at 20th
overall and ninth among public
universities. This is the highest
Businessweek ranking ever for the
Broad College.
“This is just another indicator of
the hard work and dedication of
our students, alumni, faculty and
staff at the Broad College,” says
Dean Stefanie Lenway.
The ranking was based on
several factors, including student
satisfaction, the opinion of corporate
recruiters, and the number of
faculty articles in top journals.
MICHIGAN STATE MOMENTS
This account of MSU history preservation
was written by Cynthia Ghering, director of
MSU University Archives & Historical Collections.
In April 2010, the University Archives & Historical Collections
(UAHC) received a three-year, $251,079 grant from the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to test
an archival method to preserve electronic records series from the MSU
Office of the Registrar. These include the full catalog of academic
programs—including descriptions of courses, the student directory and
annual course schedules. The UAHC will implement a solution that can
be used by other institutions.
UAHC is collaborating with many campus units and also the Data Intensive
Cyber Environments (DICE) Center at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill. In addition, project progress and outcomes will
be shared with members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation
(CIC), a consortium of Big Ten universities and the University of
Chicago, and other interested colleges and universities. UAHC staff
plans to “capture” the four records series directly from the databases
and determine the data fields that hold historical information. Those
data fields identified as having historical value and subject to permanent
retention will be extracted from the databases and transferred to
UAHC’s custody for long-term preservation and research use. UAHC
will also develop a web interface for the archival records to enable continued
access by the alumni community and general public.
Through the three year NHPRC funded project, UAHC will build
an electronic records archives for MSU’s born-digital records of enduring
value—archives that UAHC will scale to store MSU’s many other
born-digital historical records and make available as a model for other
institutions. Project documentation, progress reports and links to
presentations and publications are posted at the Spartan Archive project
website, www.archives.msu.edu/about/spartan_archive.php.
Photos courtesy of
MSU Archives & Historical Collections
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