Valence Blocks : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 56, May/June 2019

Commercial valence block models for use in the lecture hall based on a peg and hole locking mechanism and interchangeable cardboard labels.

Commercial valence block models for use in the lecture hall based on a peg and hole locking mechanism and interchangeable cardboard labels.

Issue 56 describes an unusual type of chemical model known as a valence block that was once used to teach introductory chemistry and which also appeared in chemistry sets in the period 1940-1960.

Click here for all other issues of notes from the Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

Visiting Librarian Sophie Zhang’s 18 months of Life at the UC Libraries

Link

Visiting Librarian Sophie Zhang and Dean Xuemao Wang

Sophie Zhang and Dean Xuemao Wang at Sophie’s Final Presentation

Sufang (SophieZhang, the visiting librarian from South China Normal University (Guangzhou, China) completed her eighteen-month working and research period at the University of Cincinnati. For the first six months, Sophie spent her work time at the UC Press and the Digital Scholarship Center. As the faculty member at the Department of Information Management and Information Systems within the School of Economics and Management, she came with a goal of researching the current landscape of digital humanities centers and services in the United States. During the spring semester, she was able to visit two faculty members in information science at Kent State University and Syracuse University. She gave a final presentation on May 14th, 2019 about her whole experience. We wish Sophie a safe trip home and continuous successful collaboration with her peers in the United States.

Sophie Zhang’s final presentation

Student employee Maria Deutsch as the recipient of the 2019 Quality Service Award

Maria Deutsch (DAAP, Class of 2019), a student employee at the CEAS Library & Chemistry-Biology Library, is the recipient of a 2019 Quality Service Award from the UC Libraries. Maria is always on time for her shifts and rarely has to miss a shift. She likes to keep busy and is accurate and efficient. Library staff really appreciates her hard work and enjoys working with her.

Congratulations Maria and best wishes for the future adventure!

Maria Deutsch, library student employee

New Books in Oesper (history of chemistry collection)

New acquisitions have been added to the Oesper book collection.  Click here to see those titles in the January-February 2019 list.

For more information about Oesper and the apparatus museum, click here.

If you have any questions about this collection, contact Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries, at Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu.

 

Hans Landolt and the Conservation of Mass : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 55, March/April 2019

A highly stippled photo of Landolt’s balance with two of his counterpoised reaction tubes (7) – the one on the left before reaction and the one on the right after reaction.

A highly stippled photo of Landolt’s balance with two of his counterpoised reaction tubes (7) – the one on the left before reaction and the one on the right after reaction.

Issue 55 summarizes, using the resources of the Oesper Collections, the work of the Swiss-German physical chemist, Hans Landolt, on the experimental verification of the law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions. 

Click here for all other issues of Notes from the Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

A Complete Qual Lab : Notes from the Oesper Collections, No. 54, January/February 2019

The extraordinary
lab bench, chemicals
and equipment for
performing qualitative
chemical analysis offered for sale in the 1902
catalog of the Viennese
laboratory supply house of Lenoir and Forster.

Issue 54 reviews the various chests of reagents and apparatus sold over the last 250 years to private chemists and students wishing to perform qualitative chemical analysis and as highlighted in our collections of apparatus catalogs and monographs.

 Click here for all other issues of Notes from the Oesper Collections and to explore the Jensen-Thomas Apparatus Collection.

New Books in Oesper (history of chemistry collection)

A few new acquisitions have been added to the Oesper book collection.  Click here to access the November-December 2018 list.

For more information about Oesper and the apparatus museum, click here.

If you have any questions about this collection, contact Ted Baldwin, Director of Science and Engineering Libraries, at Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu.