Library Technology Center Debuts at North Georgia College

The article reports on the opening of the Library Technology Center at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega to crowds of students, faculty, staff and community members on August 19, 2008. A brief overview is given on the history, graduate programs, and student population of the university. The college library needed more and better seating and public computing, library instruction spaces and collection space. These factors, combined with limited Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility and inadequate electrical, lighting and life-safety systems, created a compelling case for a library building project

Using iSkills and SAILS to Assess Information Literacy: What Do We Know and What Do We Do Now?

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Information Literacy across Disciplines: Sociology, Modern Languages, Nursing, and Library Science

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Stability of Gas-Phase Tartaric Acid Anions Investigated by Quantum Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, and Infrared Spectroscopy

In an effort to understand the chemical factors that stabilize dianions, experimental and theoretical studies on the stability of the tartrate dianion were performed. Quantum chemical calculations at the coupled cluster level reveal only a metastable state with a possible decomposition pathway (O₂C–CH­(OH)–CH­(OH)–CO₂)^2– → (O₂C–CH­(OH)–CH­(OH))^•– + CO₂ + e^– explaining the observed gas-phase instability of this dianion. Further theoretical data were collected for the bare dianion, this molecule complexed to water, sodium, and a proton, in both the meso and l forms as well as for the uncomplexed radical anion and neutral diradical. The calculations suggest that the l-tartrate dianion is more thermodynamically stable than the dianion of the meso stereoisomer and that either dianion can be further stabilized by association with a separate species that can help to balance the charge of the molecular complex. Mass spectrometry was then used to measure the energy needed to initiate collisionally induced dissociation of the racemic tartrate dianion and for the proton and sodium adducts of both the racemic and meso form of this molecule. Infrared action spectra of the dianion stereoisomers complexed with sodium were also acquired to determine the influence of the metal ion on the vibrations of the dianions and validate the computationally predicted structures. These experimental data support the theoretical conclusions and highlight the instability of the bare tartrate dianion. From the experimental work, it could also be concluded that the pathway leading to dissociation is under kinetic control because the sodium adduct of the racemic stereoisomer dissociated at lower collisional energy, although it was calculated to be more stable, and that decomposition proceeded via C–C bond dissociation as computationally predicted. Taken together, these data provide insight into the gas-phase stability of the tartrate dianion and highlight the role of adducts in stabilizing this species