Department of Psychology automates laboratory data collection

Brooklyn College of SUNY is a teaching/research institution founded in 1930. The Psychology Department research laboratory conducts basic research on behavior and nutrition using laboratory animals.

The research requires careful measurement of food intake, water intake and body weight of laboratory animals. Their system involves an Ohaus electronic balance and a Sartorius electronic balance connected to serial ports of an XT computer. The balances are used to measure food cups, water bottles, and the animals and the data is sent in real-time to a Quattro Pro (DOS) spreadsheet using the SoftwareWedge for DOS (DOSWedge) from TAL Technologies, Inc. (800-722-6004, www.taltech.com).

Before using DOSWedge, data had been collected by hand by recording the weights with paper and pencil or by collecting the data into a custom program written in Quick Basic. This custom program was not adequate and they had considered writing a new program to expand their data collection capability.

They chose to use DOSWedge because it allowed them to enter data directly into general spreadsheet programs which have greater flexibility than their custom program. The users noted that they are very pleased with the performance of DOSWedge and would recommend it to their fellow scientists.

Benefits

• Significantly increased productivity by eliminating manual data entry
• Interfaces with any PC program such as Quattro Pro
• Cost effective easy to use system
• Ensures 100% data accuracy

TAL Technologies, Inc.
2101 Brandywine Street,
Suite 102,
Philadelphia, PA 19130, USA
Tel: 800-722-6004
Tel: 215-496-0222
Fax: 215-496-0322