COLUMNS
THE BASELINE
Group Theory and Symmetry, Part II: Groups
In the previous installment of this column, David Ball introduced the five types of symmetry elements that are important in physical science. Here, he discusses why it’s called “group” theory in the first place.
David W. Ball

MASS SPECTROMETRY FORUM
Mass Spectral Libraries: The Next Generation
Fundamentally new manipulations of data contained in mass spectral databases and libraries are envisioned for the next generation of mass spectral libraries, including developments both in very specialized collections as well as broader collections accessed through a web- and cloud-based network. Here, Ken Busch examines these developments.
Kenneth L. Busch

LASER AND OPTICS INTERFACE
How Optical Advances Helped Deliver the Promise of Miniature Spectrometers
Performance gaps in the industry’s earliest miniature spectrometers today have been mitigated by the ongoing improvement of gratings, coatings, mirrors, and other spectrometer bench optical components.
Robert Morris

ARTICLES
Speciation of Mercury in Crude Oil Using Speciated Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry
ICP-MS and IDMS for crude oil analysis are explored.
G.M. Mizanur Rahman, Timothy M. Fahrenholz, H.M. Skip Kingston, Matt Pamuku, J. David Hwang, and Lyman A. Young

Spectrometers for Elemental Spectrochemical Analysis, Part I: The Basic Spectrometer
An overview of the instrumentation used in elemental spectrochemical analysis.
Volker Thomsen