Biodiesel Cold-Weather Testing

A partnership between Purdue Univesity, the Indiana Soybean Alliance, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station resulted in an interesting cold-weather test of Permaflo (TM) Biodiesel.

Permaflo is a specially formulated to improve the cold-weather properties of biodiesel.  A cold-flow fractionation process is used to separate the saturated and unsaturated oil molecules from each other.  The unsaturated molecules, which are used for Permaflo, have a lower cloud point temperature (i.e., temperature at which the diesel gels/crystallizes).  Permaflo has a cloud point temperature as low as -67°F.  For more information about Permaflo, see the FAQ from the Indiana Soybean Alliance.

The cold-weather test, which took place in Alaska, had two components: transportation and stationary power generation.  Two vehicles running Permaflo were driven from Anchorage to Fairbanks, which is over 300 miles.  Then one vehicle was driven to the Arctic Circle, which is an additional 200 miles, where the group camped overnight using a generator running Permaflo.  During the test, updates and photos were posted on the Indiana Soybean Alliance website.

Federated Searching Feedback Presentation

As chair of Milner Library’s Federated Search Committee, I have been heavily involved in the customization, implementation and assessment of Search It, Milner’s federated search engine.  It’s really been a great experience.  The committee spent about 5 months customizing Search It (January – June 2006).  Search It was implemented on June 5, 2006, and since then we’ve done two rounds of assessment – usability testing in August 2006 and focus groups in June & September 2007.

The feedback that we received from the assessment was so valuable and interesting!!  Thankfully, Angela Bonnell and I were able to share some of this information at the Internet Librarian 2007 Conference in Monterey, California on October 29.  Our presentation was titled Federated Searching Feedback from Usability Testing and Focus Groups … not as creative as what we proposed, but we were sharing the time slot with another presenter.  Check out the presentation … the statistics and quotes are fascinating … at least I think so. =)

Google Scholar Library Links

While this isn’t extremely new technology, this will be the first semester that I’ve incorporated Google Scholar Library Links in some of my library instruction sessions.

Milner Library is collaborating with Google, so that when when Milner Library provides online access to an article in Google Scholar, a “Find It @ ISU” link should appear in Google Scholar. It is not perfect; I have discovered that sometimes links display when online access is not available, and other times links do not display when online access is available. Nevertheless, if you’re a Google Scholar user, the library links provide a seamless way to access some resources from Milner Library.

It’s easy to get these “Find It @ ISU” links to appear. You just need to set your Scholar Preferences.

For more information, see the Google Scholar Library Links page.

My New Car

Since my new car involves so much technology, I thought it met my blog guidelines (i.e. libraries, technology & travel), so here’s a photo of it! I’ve had it exactly one week, and so far I like it. It’s interesting to watch the screen on the dash to see where the energy is coming from – gas motor, electric motor, and/or battery … don’t worry, I still watch the road too! I think it will take a little practice to get the best fuel efficiency. Right now, I think I’m averaging about 45 miles per gallon.

I haven’t driven it too much yet. Other than driving it home from the dealership in Peoria, I’ve only taken it on my usual short trips – work, church, grocery store. And today I road my bike to work! It’s way too nice to drive, and it’s still better for me and the environment than driving, even if I drive a hybrid.