AMMRLers,
I have two things to add based on feedback I just received...
(1) UNH is no different, in my experience, than anyplace else I have
worked. I've written about the trend toward ignorance because I see it as
an underlying theme that needs to be addressed. I don't want to give the
impression that I'm unhappy at UNH. In fact, I now have a greater ability
to ponder big picture concepts (hence these communiques). Many synthetic
chemists have enough other stuff concerning them that they would rather
focus on their synthetic methods and treat NMR as a black box. It is just
our job as NMR lab managers to drag them (kicking and screaming) into the
realm of awareness, if not understanding.
(2) Automation software developed by Bruker and Varian (and JEOL as well, I
would imagine) has only come about through great effort on the part of the
software developers, and these efforts are laudable. "Ease of use" is not
directly related to "compromise in quality." Instead, "ease of use"
promotes "black box thinking" which in turn SOMETIMES leads to "compromise
in quality." I agree that for some applications, automation works like a
champ and greatly enhances productivity. Some of the time one does need to
know the intricacies of NMR to generate good quality data with automation
software, but not all of the time. When all they can do is point and click
and the data isn't good, THEN there is a problem. Again, user education is
the solution.
Jeff
Jeffrey H. Simpson, Ph.D.
Director, University Instrumentation Center
220 Parsons Hall, University of New Hampshire
23 College Road, Durham, NH 03824-3598
603-862-2457 (2790 asst) (4104 fax)
jeff.simpson_at_unh.edu
http://www.unh.edu/instrumentation-center/
Received on Fri Nov 22 2002 - 12:35:53 MST