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

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

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

Experimental study of the stability and flow characteristics of floating liquid columns confined between rotating disks

A low Bond number simulation technique was used to establish the stability limits of cylindrical and conical floating liquid columns under conditions of isorotation, equal counter rotation, rotation of one end only, and parallel axis offset. The conditions for resonance in cylindrical liquid columns perturbed by axial, sinusoidal vibration of one end face are also reported. All tests were carried out under isothermal conditions with water and silicone fluids of various viscosities. A technique for the quantitative measurement of stream velocity within a floating, isothermal, liquid column confined between rotatable disks was developed. In the measurement, small, light scattering particles were used as streamline markers in common arrangement, but the capability of the measurement was extended by use of stereopair photography system to provide quantitative data. Results of velocity measurements made under a few selected conditions, which established the precision and accuracy of the technique, are given. The general qualitative features of the isothermal flow patterns under various conditions of end face rotation resulting from both still photography and motion pictures are presented