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DECOR
The Database of Educational Crystallographic Online Resources
This is an online resource for the sharing and borrowing of educational resources for crystallography. This resource originated from the DECOR project set up by Mike Zdilla at Temple University. It’s a forum where crystallographic educators worldwide can share resources for teaching crystallography, and where anyone who wishes to teach a course in crystallography or pursue an informal education in the art of crystal structure determination may have access to teaching resources.
Use of these materials is completely free. The one condition is to provide appropriate citations and to credit the authors of the material when you use it. Many educators and teachers worldwide have committed hours of time to the development of these resources, it is only fair that they receive the credit they deserve. If you agree to these terms, you may access the material using the links below. The material has been donated by expert crystallographers and educators to help others teach crystallography. Although it is hosted by the CCDC to help provide our community with resources to teach crystallography it has not been peer reviewed or checked and should be used at your own risk and discretion.
If you have developed your own teaching materials on crystallography and would like to share them with the broader community, please contact us.
Topic
Type
Raw Data
Raw Data
This material has been donated by expert crystallographers and educators to help others teach the wonders of crystallography. Although it is hosted by the CCDC to help provide our community with resources to teach crystallography it has not been peer reviewed or checked and should be used at your own risk and discretion.
By downloading or accessing any of the files below you are agreeing to cite both the author and the institution given in brackets when you use any of these resources.
Websites
- RODIN
- An online resource providing raw diffraction images
Data Collection
Data Collection
This material has been donated by expert crystallographers and educators to help others teach the wonders of crystallography. Although it is hosted by the CCDC to help provide our community with resources to teach crystallography it has not been peer reviewed or checked and should be used at your own risk and discretion.
By downloading or accessing any of the files below you are agreeing to cite both the author and the institution given in brackets when you use any of these resources.
Websites
- RODIN
- An online resource providing raw diffraction images
X-ray Free-Electron Lasers
X-ray Free-Electron Lasers
Online Courses
- The revolution of XFELs - Chapter 13 of the Crystallography website from CSIC's Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology (from Prof. Martin Martinez-Ripoll)
- The content of this website is available in English and in Spanish (at this link)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource following the instructions within the website homepage.
- Topics: What is an XFEL?, Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SFX), SFX to determine the structure of macromolecules, Structural dynamics and molecular movies with XFELs, Experimental considerations for conducting serial crystallography experiments, Serial crystallography at synchrotron light sources, Compact pulsed X-ray light sources
Slides/Visual Aids
Slides/Visual Aids
Explore presentation slides donated by educators for teaching crystallography concepts. By downloading any of the files below you are agreeing to cite the authors when you use any of these resources.
Slides from George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
1. Introduction and Symmetry - Introduction to crystallography and symmetry - Last updated: 26/10/2010
2. Symmetry - Symmetry - Last updated: 23/09/2016
3. Lattices, Symmetry, Space Groups - Crystal lattices, Unit Cell, Bravais Lattice, symmetry, space groups - Last updated: 08/11/2010
4. Space Groups, Crystal Growth - Space groups, crystal growth, diffraction, instrumentation, X-rays
5. Diffraction, Reciprocal Space, Laue Group - Diffraction, reciprocal lattice, Bragg Equation, Laue Group, Symmetry, resolution - Last updated: 22/11/2010
6. Reciprocal Space, Space Group, Systematic Absences, Symmetry - Reciprocal Lattice, Space Group selection, systematic absences, centrosymmetry - Last updated: 29/11/2010
7. Space Group, Structure Factor, Phase - Space Group, Structure Factors, Phases - Last updated: 02/12/2010
8. Phase, Direct Methods, Dual Space - The Phase Problem, The Sayre Equation, Direct Methods, Dual Space - Last updated:14/12/2010
9. Heavy Atom Method - Patterson Methods - Last updated:11/01/2011
10. Refinement, Thermal Ellipsoids, Disorder, Fourier Difference - Refinement, ADP, Thermal Ellipsoids, Disorder, Libration, Fourier Difference Maps, Hydrogen atoms - Last updated:17/01/2011
11. Structure Factors, Constraints and Restraints, neutron diffraction - Structure Factors, Constraints and Restraints, ADP, Disorder, neutron diffraction - Last updated:26/01/2011
12. Powder Diffraction - Last updated:19/02/2011
13. Twinning, Anomalous dispersion, XAS, CCD, modulated structures - Twinning, Anomalous Dispersion, Absolute configuration, XAS, CCD, modulated structures - Last updated:07/02/2011
Slides from Phillip Fanwick
1. Introduction, ADP's, Crystal Quality - Introduction, ORTEPS and ADP's, Crystal Quality, CIFs, Disorder - Last updated: 05/11/2009
2. Equipment, coordinates - Equipment, Non-Cartesian Coordinates
3. Matrices, coordinates, unit cell. - Matrices, coordinates, the unit cell, Crystal Systems, Symmetry, Bravais Lattices
4. History of X-rays - X-rays, History of X-rays
5. X-rays, diffraction, interference - Interference, diffraction
6. Diffraction, History of Diffraction, Reciprocal Space - Diffraction, history of diffraction, reciprocal space
7. Reciprocal Space, Bragg's Law, Bragg planes, Ewald sphere - Reciprocal Space, bragg's law, bragg planes, miller Indices, ewald sphere - Last updated: 23/01/2008
8. Scattering, Fourier Theory, ADP, Absorption - Scattering, scattering factors, fourier theory, ADP's, absorption, thermal ellipsoids, equipment (Cold stream)
9. Symmetry - symmetry. If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
10. Space Groups - Symmetry, space groups - If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
11. Bravais Lattices, Centering, symmetry - Bravais Lattices, centering, symmetry, space groups - If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
12. Space Groups, Symmetry - Symmetry, space groups
13, Equipment, Precession Camera, symmetry, space groups, redundant data, systematic absence. - Equipment, precession camera, symmetry, space groups, redundant data, systematic absences
14. Systematic absences, XPREP, Crystal growth and selection, - Systematic absences, XPREP, crystal growth, selecting crystals, equipment (microscope, goniometer, cameras), extinction (visible light)
15. Selecting crystals, goniometers, detectors. - Selecting crystals, equipment (microscope, goniometers, detectors)
16. Data Collection, Indexing - Data collection, indexing
17. Integration, Data reduction, scaling, twins, absorption correction - Integration, data reduction, scaling, twins, absorption correction - Last updated: 19/02/2010
18. XPREP, Fourier Theory, Structure solution, phase. - XPREP, Fourier theory, structure solution, The Phase problem. - Last updated: 03/08/2012. Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
19. Structure solution, phase, charge flipping, Direct Methods, Fourier Theory - Structure solution, The Phase Problem, charge flipping, direct methods, Fourier Theory, normalized structure factors, Sayre Equation - Last updated: 03/08/2012. Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
20. SIR, Patterson methods, Difference Fourier map. - SIR, Patterson, difference Fourier map
21. Structure Solution failure, refinement, correlation, occupancy - Structure solution failure, refinement, weighting, correlation, occupancy. Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
22. Hydrogen Atoms, disorder, restraints, modulated structure, occupancy, SQUEEZE - Hydrogen atoms, disorder, restraints, commensurate modulated structure, occupancy, SQUEEZE, site occupancy disorder
23. Centric/noncentric space groups, anomalous scattering. - Centric/noncentric space groups, anomalous scattering, absolute configuration, Bijvoet differences, Flack factor, Hooft approach
24. Cif - CIF - Last updated: 12/04/2010
25. Twinning - Twinning
Slides from Frank Schaper, Université de Montréal
1. Introduction to crystals and the diffraction experiment - Introduction to Crystallography: Crystals, Bravais lattice, diffraction, Bragg equation, structure factors, reciprocal space
2. Refinement, constraints, restraints, hydrogen atoms - Refinement, constraints, restraints, hydrogen atom treatment
3. CIF, validation, signs of problems - CIF, validation, signs of problems
4. Space group determination - Space Group determination
5. Structure solution: Patterson, direct methods, charge flipping, dual space, intrinsic phasing - Structure solution - Patterson methods, direct methods, charge flipping, dual space refinement, intrinsic phasing
6a. Disorder - Disorder
6b. SQUEEZE - SQUEEZE
7. Anomalous dispersion, extinction, systematic absence violation, other problems - Anomalous dispersion, extinction, systematic absences violations, other problems
8. Twinning - Twinning
9. Data reduction: integration, scaling, absorption correction - Data Reduction
Slides from Mike Zdilla, Temple University
1. The Unit Cell: Bragg planes, The Bragg equation - Last updated: 08/01/2016
2. X-rays, Scattering, Bragg Equation, Bragg Planes, Interference, Diffraction: X-rays, scattering, Laue Equations, Bragg equations, bragg planes, diffraction, interference, miller indices - Last updated: 08/01/2016
3. Ewald Sphere, Reciprocal Space, Detectors : Ewald Sphere, Reciprocal Space, Detectors - Last updated: 08/01/2016
4. Scattering Factors, phases, vector addition: Scattering factors, phases, vector addition - Last updated: 08/01/2016
5. Symmetry, Space Groups, Systematic absences: Symmetry, space groups, systematic absences - Last updated: 08/01/2016
6. Fourier Theory, patterson methods: Fourier theory, patterson methods - Last updated: 08/01/2016
7. Disorder, modulated structures, quasicrystals, anomalous scattering, absolute structure: Disorder, modulated structures, quasicrystals, anomalous scattering, absolute structure - Last updated: 08/01/2016
8. Twinning: Twinning - Last updated: 08/01/2016
9. Optical Transform slides: Laser pointer diffraction visual aids - Last updated: 04/08/2012
Other animations and visual aids
1. Symmetry Animations (Jancik) : Last updated - 14/01/2016
2. Kappa geometry animation (WillowW, Kappa goniometer faster smaller, CC BY 3.0): Last updated - 28/01/2008
Practice Problems
Practice Problems
These practice examples have been created by George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and Mike Zdilla, Temple University
Video Courses
Video Courses
Watch video courses covering various crystallography topics
The Fascination of Crystals and Symmetry video course (YouTube) by Frank Hoffmann and Michael Sartor (University of Hamburg)
Introduction to Symmetry Operations and Point Groups by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre
A series of videos on crystal structure refinement by Wojtek Stawski:
Crystal structure refinement 1. Introduction to constraints and restraints- to learn about crystal structure refinement, with an emphasis on the refinement of disorder.
Crystal structure refinement 2. Data processing in CrysAlisPro- to learn the basics of processing data using CrysAlisPro.
Crystal structure refinement 3. Solving, refining and finalizing an easy dataset - the basics of refinement and finalisation in Olex2 using a non-problematic dataset.
Crystal structure refinement 4. Tert-butyl disorder - a refinement of a crystal structure with disordered tert-butyl groups using Olex2.
Crystal structure refinement 5. Disorder in [18]annulene - this video shows an example in which a whole molecule is disordered.
Crystal structure refinement 6. Non-merohedral twinning - this video demonstrates different refinements using data from a twinned crystal.
Crystal structure refinement 7. Toluene disorder. Part 1 - the first of two videos showing how to refine disordered toluene molecules.
Crystal structure refinement 7. Toluene disorder. Part 2 - the second of two videos showing how to refine disordered toluene molecules.
Crystal structure refinement 8. Solvent masking - this video demonstrates solvent masking in two ways, using BYPASS and SQUEEZE.
Crystal structure refinement 9. When is a structure publishable? Answering to CheckCIF alerts - a guide to understanding CheckCIF alerts and thoughts on when a structure is fit for purpose.
How to grow crystals for single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments? - practical tips for growing crystals for diffraction experiments.
Educational Software
Educational Software
Access online educational software for crystallography
3D reciprocal lattice viewer (Barbour) - If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting or publication, you must agree to cite Len Barbour, University of Stellenbosch.
CoSyM: Continuous Symmetry Measures website from Prof. Inbal Tuvi-Arad, Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel. - If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource as I. Tuvi-Arad, G. Alon and D. Avnir, CoSyM, http://csm.ouproj.org.il
Smorf crystals - Explore and simulate the morphologies of minerals and other crystals using the Smorf applet. Images and STL files downloaded from this website are free to use, please cite "https://www.smorf.nl/, Mark Holtkamp".
Online Courses
Online Courses
Access various crystallography online courses here
X-ray course from Patrick Carroll, University of Pennsylvania
X-ray course from Gervais Chapuis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
X-ray course from Joseph Reibenspies, Texas A&M
Symmetry Resource from Dean Johnston, Otterbein University
A short guide to Crystallographic Information Files
Learn about crystallography on the web
Laboratories
Laboratories
You will find laboratory courses prepared by Mike Zdilla
General Crystallography
General Crystallography
Online Courses
- Crystallography in a nutshell - the Crystallography website from CSIC's Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology (from Prof. Martin Martinez-Ripoll)
- The content of this website is available in English and in Spanish (at this link)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource following the instructions within the website homepage.
- Topics: Introduction to basic crystallography
- Introduction - Chapter 0 of the Crystallography website from CSIC's Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology (from Prof. Martin Martinez-Ripoll)
- The content of this website is available in English and in Spanish (at this link)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource following the instructions within the website homepage.
- Topics: Introduction to basic crystallography
- The structure of crystals - Chapter 1 of the Crystallography website from CSIC's Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology (from Prof. Martin Martinez-Ripoll)
- The content of this website is available in English and in Spanish (at this link)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource following the instructions within the website homepage.
- Topics: Basics of crystals
- Learn about crystallography on the web, a collection of resources assembled during the International Year of Crystallography in 2013, available permanently on the website of the International Union of Crystallography
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A non-mathematical introduction to X-ray diffraction, to help students, industrialists, etc., to understand what is the potential of X-ray crystallography with an outline indication of how the various techniques can be applied.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: X-rays, General crystallography
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The stereographic projection, to provide a practical and theoretical introduction to the stereographic projection to enable students to use it in morphological crystallography and X-ray textural studies of polycrystalline materials.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: General crystallography, Space groups.
- Symmetry, to convey in non-mathematical language, elementary concepts of symmetry in finite objects and repetitive patterns.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Symmetry, General crystallography, Space groups.
- Space group patterns, for teaching students how to recognize a space group and how to tackle related problems arising in practice (such as different settings, subgroup relations).
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Space groups, symmetry, general crystallography.
- An introduction to crystal physics, to give an overall view about crystal physics without the separate discussion of the individual physical properties of crystals.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: General crystallography
-
Crystals - a handbook for school teachers, to give teachers some background of understanding of crystals so that they can enjoy working with children who are interested in crystals.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: General crystallography
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Matrices, mappings and crystallographic symmetry, to provide teachers with a new tool for the teaching of crystallographic and magnetic point groups; to provide students with a new way to learn about point groups.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Symmetry, Space groups, General crystallography
- Atomic Scale Structure of Materials, to provide an introduction to crystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous solids, and how the atomic-level structure has radical consequences for some of the properties of the material.
- Citation: 2004-2023 University of Cambridge. Except where otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
- Topics: General crystallography
- Crystallography, to provide the fundamental ideas and principles associated with the field of crystallography.
- Citation: 2004-2023 University of Cambridge. Except where otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
- Topics: Crystal lattices, Unit cell, Symmetry, General crystallography
- Lattice Planes and Miller Indices, to provide an introduction to the method used to describe planes of atoms in a crystalline material.
- Citation: 2004-2023 University of Cambridge. Except where otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
- Topics: General Crystallography, Crystal lattices
- The Stereographic Projection, to demonstrate the use of the Stereographic projection and Wulff nets.
- Citation: 2004-2023 University of Cambridge. Except where otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
- Topics: General crystallography
Practice Problems
- Practice examples by George Sheldrick (George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Practice examples by Mike Zdilla (Mike Zdilla, Temple University)
Links and Resources
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
This material has been donated by expert crystallographers and educators to help others teach the wonders of crystallography. Although it is hosted by the CCDC to help provide our community with resources to teach crystallography it has not been peer reviewed or checked and should be used at your own risk and discretion.
By downloading any of the files below you are agreeing to cite both the author and the institution given in brackets when you use any of these resources.
Video Courses
- Metal-Organic Frameworks and Networks - Chapter 6 of The Fascination of Crystals and Symmetry video course (YouTube) by Frank Hoffmann and Michael Sartor (University of Hamburg)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite Frank Hoffmann and Michael Sartor (University of Hamburg).
- Additional material is available at https://crystalsymmetry.wordpress.com/yt/
- Topics Covered: Introduction to Metal-Organic Frameworks, “Infinite” Crystalline Compounds, Inorganic Secondary Building Units of MOFs, Organic Secondary Building Units of MOFs, Topology of MOFs, Principles of Network Determination
Structure Solution
Structure Solution
Slides
- Phase, Direct Methods, Dual Space (George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Topics: The Phase Problem, The Sayre Equation, Direct Methods, Dual Space
- Last updated: 14/12/2010
- Heavy Atom Method (George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Topics:Patterson Methods
- Last updated: 11/01/2011
- XPREP, Fourier Theory, Structure solution, phase (Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Topics: XPREP, Fourier theory, structure solution, The Phase problem
- Last updated: 03/08/2012
- Structure solution, phase, charge flipping, Direct Methods, Fourier Theory (Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Topics: Structure solution, The Phase Problem, charge flipping, direct methods, Fourier Theory, normalized structure factors, Sayre Equation
- Last updated: 03/08/2012
- SIR, Patterson methods, Difference Fourier map (Phillip Fanwick)
- Topics: SIR, Patterson, difference Fourier map
- Structure Solution failure, refinement, correlation, occupancy (Phillip Fanwick and George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Topics: Structure solution failure, refinement, weighting, correlation, occupancy
- Fourier Theory, patterson methods (Michael Zdilla, Temple University)
- Topics: Fourier theory, patterson methods
- Last updated: 08/01/2016
- Structure solution: Patterson, direct methods, charge flipping, dual space, intrinsic phasing (Frank Schaper, Université de Montréal)
- Topics: Structure solution - Patterson methods, direct methods, charge flipping, dual space refinement, intrinsic phasing
Online Courses
- Structural resolution - Chapter 7 of the Crystallography website from CSIC's Department of Crystallography and Structural Biology (from Prof. Martin Martinez-Ripoll)
- The content of this website is available in English and in Spanish (at this link)
- Citation: If you intend to use this resource in a classroom setting, you must agree to cite the resource following the instructions within the website homepage.
- Topics: Structure factor, Electron density, Fourier transform, The phase problem, Structural resolution, The Patterson function, The direct methods, Methods of structural resolution for macromolecules, Completing the structure
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Introduction to the calculation of structure factors, to help students with some basic qualitative knowledge of X-ray diffraction and crystal structure determination to put this knowledge on a quantitative basis.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Structure factors and scattering, Structure solution.
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Crystal structure analysis using the “Superposition” - and “Complementary” structures, to illustrate and illuminate the relation between diffraction pattern and crystal structure, and to draw together direct and vector methods.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Diffraction, Structure solution
-
An introduction to direct methods, to help students, with some basic knowledge of crystallography, to understand the principle of direct methods.
- Citation: The copyright in these materials resides with the International Union of Crystallography. The electronic editions available from this Web site may be freely copied and redistributed for educational or research purposes only.
- Topics: Structure factors and scattering, Structure solution
Practice Problems
- Practice examples by George Sheldrick (George Sheldrick, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
- Relevant Sections: Patterson Methods
- Practice examples by Mike Zdilla (Mike Zdilla, Temple University)
- Relevant Sections: Patterson worksheet, Patterson, Direct Methods
Websites
- RODIN
- An online resource providing raw diffraction images for use in the teaching and education of crystallography
The DECOR project was originally created by Zdilla Lab and hosted by Temple University, Department of Chemistry, 420 Beury Hall, 1901 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122 and was funded in part by the National Science Foundation under awards 1254545 and 1800105.
Mike Zdilla kindly donated this resource to the CCDC to host in 2020. Read his blog on the creation of DECOR here.
The CCDC acts solely in providing DECOR for sharing content, it does not control any aspect of the content and has no control over and is not responsible for the quality, description, fitness for purpose, safety or legality or the truth or accuracy of the content provided which is solely the responsibility of the originator. It is the responsibility of the content producer to adhere to copyright laws and care should be taken when re-using text and images and appropriate credit and attribution should be provided. If you identify copyright material in these resources please contact us to ask for its removal.