So Many Choices!

As the semester progresses, I have been working on many little projects to get a feel for the different aspects of reference librarianship. One of the projects that I just finished working on was a collections development project, in which I got to work closer with one of our reference librarians, Kerri. Collection development is an ongoing process, for there are always more books being written and published. [excerpt

Testing the Guide

This past week, I implemented the user test that I had designed for the new History research guide. I enlisted five participants from the history alias, ensuring that I had one participant from each class year so that I could test the spectrum of students here at Gettysburg. I believe that the testing went great! I used a program called Morae, in which two computers are connected over the internet, with one being used by the participant and the other recording the test. The recordings show mouse movements, as well as video and audio recordings of the participant as they move through the test. [excerpt

Categorizing History

Since my last blog post, I have become more familiar with the desk and have begun to answer questions that are more in depth and make use of the reference skills that I have been learning. This week, I have even started working the desk by myself! I was a little nervous at first, but once I had my first patron, I realized that I felt confident in what I had learned in my training and I was able to help! [excerpt

My First Weeks!

I am very excited to work in the Reference Department this semester! I have completed my first two weeks, which I spent training with different members of the Reference staff. I really enjoyed being able to learn from each of them, to see what their strengths were and hearing their pieces of advice. Now that my training is over, I get to start working the reference desk and handling questions on my own! [excerpt

Processing of Water on the Moon

The electrolytic dissociation of water into gaseous forms of hydrogen and oxygen is a well known process that can quickly be summarized in a series of illustrations. Table 1 presents some physical properties of hydrogen and oxygen for purposes of reference. Figure 1 illustrates the chemical process and the equipment used in the industrial production of hydrogen and oxygen by the electrolysis of water. Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of electrolytic H2-O2 cells used in industrial practice. It is of interest to note that substantial amounts of power are required for the process and that rather heavy equipments are common to the land-based systems now in use. Very little can be done to reduce the power requirements, for the process as now carried out is relatively efficient, but undoubtedly great savings in weight can be realized

Scary Monsters and Pervasive Slights: Genre Construction, Mainstreaming, and Processes of Authentication and Gendered Discourse in Dubstep

This thesis examines discourses on dubstep, a currently popular form of electronic dance music (EDM). The thesis identifies discursive patterns in the received historical narrative of EDM and explores how those patterns may or may not manifest themselves in the current discourses on dubstep. The analysis explores how the value of electronic dance music has historically been judged according to frameworks of authenticity rooted in jazz and folk traditions that were later adopted and adapted by rock. Consumers and critics of EDM in general, and dubstep in particular, are found to deploy key elements of rock’s framework of authenticity in the making of judgments about dubstep’s value. Furthermore, the gender politics of these judgments tend to reproduce a masculinist disposition seemingly at odds with the ideals of EDM culture. Thus, this thesis investigates the problematic relationship between traditional notions of authenticity and the shifting values of the EDM community