Lab Manual Update

I sent the following request for review e-mails to full-time and part-time instructors who have taught 30A before to review the revised files, including Gerry and Mike.

"Hello,

All of you have taught Chemistry 30A some time in the past. As some of you may know, the 30A lab manual was originally authored by LPC's very own Jim Adams who did a tremendous amount of work developing these labs and writing up a very thorough lab manual.

These labs have not gone through revisions in the last several years and have only been available through a hard-copy of the lab manual itself and no editable electronic copy. I have been working on converting these files into editable electronic files and some revisions. Below are a summary and a request for review.

What changes have been made?
My main focus was to get the lab manual converted to an MS Word file and make revisions on some of the content, primarily changes in safety policy and equipment use. Some of these changes include:

1) Converting scanned hard copies of the labs to an editable MS Word file. As part of this, I scanned the lab manual to create pdf files of relatively good resolution for optical character recognition. I then used these to create the MS Word files and have to do some extensive clean-up of text, formatting, figures, tables, chemical formulas and equations, mathematical equations and calculation steps, molecular structure drawing, etc.

2) I then went to work on some content revisions:
a) Obvious typos
b) Incorporation of the most obvious changes to safety policy: no waste down the drain, use of limited fume hoods in 1807 where the 30A labs are now held, removal of mercury, replacement of some chemical reagents, etc.
c) Changes in amounts of chemicals used
d) Changes in chemical reagents used
e) Rewriting equipment instructions for newer equipment (e.g. pH meters)
f) Some procedural changes
g) Changes in procedure (e.g. using excel for collecting class data, creating plots, etc.)

3) I looked at some course lab schedules to determine which labs have not been done in the past several years. Those will be archived.

4) Removal of the copper-sulfur compound formation lab and other labs which cannot be done with the limited number of fume hoods in 1807

How did I come up with these changes?
I based many of these changes on my own class notes collected when I taught these labs. Some instructors and Gerry have also been sending me some comments that I have incorporated (more are welcome, see below). I also used Gerry’s prep sheets for reference.

What exactly are these changes?
I have attached a file listing all of the changes, comments I have received, and questions I have posed regarding other potential changes.

The annotated files which you can view contain:
1) line numbering for easy reference
2) Comments on changes and other questions
4) blue highlighted sections indicating changes (if the change is not obvious, it is usually accompanied by a comment)
5) yellow highlighted sections referring to page or part numbers (I did this to make it easier to change them later just in case pagination changes for the entire file).

How do I access these annotated files?
Click on the link:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B68k_dSaNrzmemEtRmR4dkYxVFk&usp=sharing
You can download the individual files from this site. Please let me know if you can't access these files.

What kind of feedback?
1) Anything I may have missed that are obvious typos, safety issue, etc. as I listed above
2) If I labeled a lab "archive" that you would like to keep, let me know.
3) I am not looking into making any other substantial changes (in wording, length, content, etc.) at this point but anything you think needs to be reworded for clarity, let me know.

How to send me comments:
1) After reviewing, you can send me an e-mail (please put lab number in the subject).
2) You can download the annotated files and if your pdf program has the capability, you can write your comments directly on the pdf document.
3) Any other way you think is easy for you.

Am I stuck with these changes?
These changes are by no means final, I want to emphasize. I welcome any suggestions and comments so that we have labs that work well for our students. 

When will this version be used?

I plan to have final drafts ready for the FALL 2015 semester.

Thanks for your help, 

Adeliza"