UMass’ World Librarians Program launches new initiative in Kenya

UMass’ World Librarians Program launches new initiative in Kenya

Professor Charlie Schweik recently traveled to Nairobi Kenya to present at the Association for Research on Civil Society in Africa conference [1] on the World Librarians Program he developed along with SPP MPP 2019 graduate Pammy Eisner, other UMass students from across campus, UMass librarian Jeremy Smith, and collaborator Carl Meyer in Malawi. After describing the operational World Librarians program in Malawi -- which now supports 20 schools and libraries -- to the entire conference audience, Schweik was approached by conference attendees interested in expanding the World Librarians program into other African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. During this visit, a new World Librarians Kenya Chapter was formed and launched [picture from left and right]: Wachira Warukira, founder and executive of Waruks Productions; UMass Professor Charlie Schweik; Daniel Patrick Muigai of Waruks Productions; Verah Owiti of Sustainable Rural Initiatives (www.srikenya.org); Ezekiel Chemwor of Banda Primary School; and Gladys Nyambura of Kangubiri Girl's High School. The World Librarian Program is...
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ECo and CPPA Students Present their Open Source Science and Policy Projects on Amherst Cable Access Channel 12

ECo and CPPA Students Present their Open Source Science and Policy Projects on Amherst Cable Access Channel 12

"The Fall "Open Source Science/Maker" class co-taught by Charlie Schweik (ECo/CPPA), Steve Brewer (Bio), Rick Peltier (Public Health) and Alex Schreyer (ECo) filmed an end-of-semester show at local cable access station, Amherst Media. The show, entitled "Makers@Amherst Media: Maker Class Presentations 12-14-2015" is part of the "Makers @ Amherst Media" video series. In the show, undergraduate and graduate students from Environmental Conservation, Public Policy and other programs presented their open source science or policy projects. Projects described include: 1) An open source tethered submarine called OpenROV for video capture of underwater objects  2) The use of unmanned aerial systems (e.g., quadcopters) for plant invasive species and storm damage inventories 3) Current public policy status on the use of unmanned aerial systems in the United States 4) The development of a low cost wearable open source environmental sensors for datalogging people's exposure to blue light 5) The development of a low cost, wearable open source sensor to log air quality (ozone) 6) The development of an "Outernet" installation...
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Professors Rick Peltier (Public Health) and Charlie Schweik (ECo, CPPA) Receive a Grant to Develop an International Collaboration in the Development and Deployment of Low-cost Air Pollution Sensors

Professors Rick Peltier (Public Health) and Charlie Schweik (ECo, CPPA) Receive a Grant to Develop an International Collaboration in the Development and Deployment of Low-cost Air Pollution Sensors

This proposal establishes a partnership between six international institutions on four continents to enable a platform for the development of inexpensive, user-configurable air pollution sensors. A particular focus of this application is building a network of solutions well suited for use in the developing world, where pollution levels, and corresponding public health risks, are highest. The team will construct a comprehensive framework for the development of low-cost air pollution sensing hardware and software, which can be used to address a global pandemic responsible for millions of premature deaths and altering our climate balance. The model follows a distributed effort approach, where WUN-affiliated investigators produce open-source and freely available software, coupled with hardware that is both inexpensive to obtain and easy to assemble. Providing these resources freely to our collaborators, as well as to anyone with internet access, will empower millions of people to build upon these developments providing a highly scalable and utilitarian instrument capable for answering a wide range...
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Schweik gives invited plenary talk at the Seventh International Workshop on Network Theory focusing on “Peer Production Networks” 

Schweik gives invited plenary talk at the Seventh International Workshop on Network Theory focusing on “Peer Production Networks” 

On October 29th, Charlie Schweik gave an invited plenary talk entitled “Reflections on Open Source Software and Open Science Peer Production” at the “Seventh International Workshop on Network Theory: Peer Production Networks” at Northwestern University. In his talk, Schweik presented findings from his large-scale empirical study of open source software as the ‘quintessential instance’ of peer production, and then reflected on his work in peer production in other domains, such as open educational resources and in open source hardware and science. The full workshop program and links to talks is available at: http://sonic.northwestern.edu/news/events/ann-sonic-nico-2015/  ...
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