Advanced Labs Frequently Asked Questions

What material will I find on Advanced Labs?

Advanced Labs provides materials, and links to materials for college/university faculty who teach upper-level undergraduate laboratories. These include, but are not limited to, labs in electronics, condensed matter, optics, atomic physics, mechanics, and the like -- and also researched-based, independent-study labs.

How do I find materials on Advanced Labs?

Currently the Advanced Labs website is undergoing its initial design phase. Once design is complete, accepted resources will be available by browsing or searching the collection by content topic or resource type.

What is the difference between searching and browsing?

Searching allows you to find resources with specific keywords in the title, subject, and description, or to search by author name, organization, or URL. Browsing provides a broad view of materials on a given topic.

What are the topics used to describe materials on Advanced Labs?

This is currently undergoing review by the Advanced Labs editor. Please contribute your thoughts on the AAPT Advanced Labs Listserv.

What information will I get from searches?

An Advanced Labs search will provides a list of items that match your search criteria. This list will include, for each item, the title, the start of the description, and the subject. Clicking on the title brings up detailed information about the item and displays the URL.

How can I organize my search results?

Search results can be arranged alphabetically by the subject, title, or grade level.

How can I participate in Advanced Labs?

Until the collection design is complete, please contribute your thoughts on the AAPT Advanced Labs Listserv.

Once interface design is complete, registered users of Advanced Labs will be able to submit suggestions for materials to add to the database or provide comments and join discussions about the materials.

How can I add a comment to an item on the Advanced Labs website?

For members who are logged in, there is a link to add comments about an item on the detail information page for each item. Once an item has comments, this area is also where comments will appear.

What is the "Filing Cabinet"?

The filing cabinet is a place for Advanced Labs members to store bookmarks to items on the site. These bookmarks are stored in folders on the ComPADRE site so that they can be accessed whenever the member is logged into any of the ComPADRE collections. Lists that result from searching can also be stored in the Filing Cabinet.

Do I need to join Advanced Labs?

No, you may search and browse the database without joining Advanced Labs.

What are the benefits of joining Advanced Labs?

Members of Advanced Labs have additional tools that improve their use of the site. These include the ability to set preferences that sort materials according to their needs, a filing cabinet to store resources they find useful, and the ability to recommend resources for inclusion in the database.

What is required to join Advanced Labs?

To join, users must provide their name and email. Further information can be provided, if desired, to personalize Advanced Labs for the user and enhance interactions with others.

Why do pages on Advanced Labs change?

Advanced Labs is a dynamic collection, so the information provided depends on the resources that are cataloged in the database. As the database grows, the displayed pages will change. A Filing Cabinet is provided to registered users for storage and simple recovery of information that they find important.

Is there a cost for Advanced Labs?

Advanced Labs is a free and open resource provided as service by the American Association of Physics Teachers and its partners. It is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, and is part of the National Science Digital Library.

Who can I contact for further information?

Our contact form allows you to direct questions to the appropriate individuals responsible for site content or technical issues.

Additionally, the Advanced Labs editor is available at editor@advlabs.aapt.org.