Veritas University, Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria)

Welcome to your library Bulletin
 
Welcome to 2010 and best wishes for the new year.
We welcome new and existing readers to this issue of VUNALIBBUL. The aim of this Bulletin has been to keep the Veritas University Community informed on snippets of knowledge and information sourced from the University Library.
 
Editorial
 
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
Modern Librarians have to,not only work with technological devices,but have to make every effort to become familiar,if not proficient in the use of this tools in order to be in a position to offer end-users education and training. Among the latest innovations that is affecting the information world and transforming libraries in particular is the movement towards adoption of open source software for library operations.
 
Open Source is an approach to the design,development,and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to the software's source code. In other word,open source software licence gives users the freedom to run the programme for any purpose,to study and modify the programme,and to redistribute copies of either the original or modified programme(without having to pay royalties to previous developers).Although,the term open source was coined just a few years ago,the concept behind this particular way of developing software have existed since the early days of computers.
 
Indeed, in the 1960s,when IBM and others sold their first large-scale commercial computers,it came with free software. Free meant that the source code was free and available,and therefore the software could be improved and modified. In other word,hardware was the product being sold,not software. But by the mid 1970s software became a commercial proprietary product that could not be redistributed or modified.
 
As a result of this change,software could no longer be freely shared by programmers as it had been in previous times. This drastic change motivated some dedicated enthusiasts to promote the open source model,which allows for concurrent input of differing agendas and ideas in the development of software.
 
Essentially anyone can join in the collaboration effort with the goal of making the open source software stronger and more feature-rich. Some of the most successful open software developments includes:Linux operating system,Apache HTTP Servers,The Internet Address System/Internet Protocol and Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser. The open source community repeatedly points to this efforts as the poster children of how successful open source software can be. They also claim that their software has a much lower cost of ownership and provides users such as libraries with interfaces that are more responsive to the changing demands of the public.
 
But critics of the open source movement also point out the virtual absence of support infrastructure for clients to hold responsible if ones software fail to perform according to specification as a major drawback of this type of software.
 
HOMILY OF THE WEEK
 
WHICH WAY TO JESUS?
 
ISAIAH 60:1-6 EPHESIANS 3:2-3,5-6 MATHEW 2:1-12
 
In the stories of Jesus' birth,two special groups of people came to visit the new-born babe:the shepherds and the magi. The church has no special feast to commemorate the visit of the shepherds but the special feast of epiphany celebrates the visit of the magi. Why is that?.It is because the visit of the magi is an eye-opener. The shepherds learnt of the birth of Jesus through a direct revelation from angels appearing in the midnight sky. This is a direct and supernatural revelation. But the magi on the other hand,learnt of the birth of Jesus by observing a star. They had to interpret this natural sign of the star to know what it meant and where it led. If we remember that the magi or the three wise men were nature worshippers,people who divined God's will by reading the movements of the stars and other heavenly bodies,then we can see how the visit of the magi challenges some of our popular beliefs.
 
Indeed, religious people of all persuasions tend to think that their religious tradition is the only way to God. This is what some of us hear when we hear such words from Jesus as: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”(John 14:6).We hastily conclude that the way of God equals the way of our religious tradition. Yet the word of God cautions us against such narrow interpretation. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,says the Lord”(Isaiah 55:8).That is why we are fascinated with the story of the magi. It is a unique story that opens our eyes to the fact that God is not limited to any one religious tradition.
 
Notice how people of different religious tradition came to know that the Son of God was born. The shepherd who were regarded as unclean and could not take part in Temple worship without undergoing purification came to know through a direct vision of angels,the Magi knew through a reading of the stars and Herod's scribes came to know through searching the scriptures. Visions,stars,scriptures- different ways of arriving at the same truth. Notice how Matthew indicates that when the the guiding star got to Jerusalem,its light failed and the Magi had to consult the scriptures to direct them to Bethlehem. Over and above the natural light of the star the Magi still needed the supernatural scripture to finally get to Jesus.
 
Yet the crucial question must be asked: who actually got to find Jesus?.Herod and his scribes who had the scriptures failed to find Jesus,but the wise men who followed the natural stars were able to find him. Why? Because the Jewish authorities,even though they possessed the shining truth of the gospel did not follow it. It is not the possession of the truth that matters,it is how prepared we are to walk in the light of that we possessed.
Culled from http://www.munachi.com
 
SAINT OF THE WEEK
 
Saint Arcadius-Martyr January 12
 
The time of this Saint's martyrdom is not mentioned in the his acts:some place it under Valerian,others under Dioclesian: he seem to have suffered in some city of Mauritania,probably the capital Caesaria. The fury of tyrants raged violently,and the devil had instigated his soldiers to wage like so many wolves, a bloody war a bloody against the servants of Jesus. Upon the least suspicion they break into houses,made rigorous searches and if they found a Christian,they treated him upon the spot with the greatest cruelty,their impatience not suffering them to wait and bring them before a judge.
 
Every day new sacrileges were committed;the faithful were compelled to assist at superstitious sacrifices,to lead victims crowned with flowers through the streets,to burn incense before idols and to celebrate the enthusiastic feasts of Bacchus.
 
Arcadius seeing his city in great confusion left his estate and withdrew to a solitary place in the neighbouring serving Christ in watching, prayer, and other exercises of a penitential life. His flight could not be long a secret;for his not appearing at the public sacrifices made the governor send soldiers to his house, who surrounded it, forced open the doors and finding one of his relations in it ,who said all he could to justify his kinsman absence. They seized him, and the Governor ordered him to be kept in close custody till Arcadius should be found. The martyr informed of his relations danger,and burning with a desire to suffer for Christ,went into the city and presenting himself to the judge said: “If on my account you detain my innocent relation in chains,release him;I Arcadius, am come in person to give an account of myself, and to declare to you,that he knew not where I was”. “I am willing”answered the Judge “to pardon not only him but you also,on condition that you sacrifice to the gods”.
 
Arcadius replied “How can you propose to me such a thing ? “Do you not know the Christian,or do you believe that the fear of death will ever make me swerve from my duty? Jesus is my life,death is my gain. Invent what torments you please;but know that nothing will make me a traitor to my God”.
 
Culled from Catholic online@http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint-id=549.
 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the blood stream . It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same
-Ronald Reagan
 
DID YOU KNOW?
That the first paper was made about 2,000 years ago in China, by a man called Ts'ai Lun. He took the stringy inner bark of the Mulberry tree and pounded it in water until it became a mass of flattened threads. He then placed his pulped solution onto a flat tray of fine bamboo strips.
The water was allowed to drain through the bamboo, and the threads in the bamboo were left to dry. The dried result was a flat, fibrous material considered to be the very first paper. As with all new discoveries, improvements are gradually made.
 
The secret of paper making soon became world -wide knowledge as Chinese traders travelled to Russia and the Middle East. From there,the art of paper making spread to Europe.
 
The first continuous paper making machine was developed in France in 1798 by Louis Robert.
 
BREAKING NEWS @ VUNA
Veritas University Matriculates 119 freshmen students of the 2009/2010 session on January 29,2010.
 
 
BREAKTHROUGHS
 
The year 2009 marked another year for important scientific discoveries and advancement. Here's some of last years fascinating inventions.
MODUMENTAL
In addition to being more durable,energy absorbent and lighter than steel, modumental is stronger and may also be less expensive to produce than Steel. Developed by a Seattle based company of the same name, Modumental is grown from nano-laminate structures.
SILICON INK
The recent development of Silicon Ink,which can be used to print integrated circuits,sensors or displays marks a major break though in fabrication technology. Electronic manufacturing firm, Kavio solved the silicon ink challenge by relying on nanoparticles powder solvent.
 
POWER PLUG SIZE COMPUTERS
Computers have been getting smaller for decades,but last year,tiny cutting-edge computers entered the general computer market. The four - inch computer for platform developers features as much computing strength as some full size models,while consuming only a tenth of the power.
 
 
 
 
BOOK OF THE WEEK
 
Lemmens, R. (2008). Timbers of Tropical Africa - Conclusions and Recommendations based on PROTA 7(1). Nairobi, Prota. 84p
 
FINAL WORD
People should think less about what they ought to do and more about what they ought to be. If only their being good,their works would shine forth brightly. Do not imagine that you can ground your salvation upon actions;it must rest on what you are. Meister Eckhart.