Category: Cultural Research

LamarrPatent

patent

hedy&george

1940s

HedyLamarr3

HedyLamarr2

HedyLamarr1

Lamarr, Hedy_05

Methods for Contacting Librarians

I chose to contact the Oregon State University Library for research on Hedy Lamarr in hopes that I would find more resources that I may not have thought of before. I played around with two different methods when it came to contacting the library.

The first method was the online chat. It is located on the Oregon State University Library website and has a schedule of hours that let you know when the chat sessions are available. This was my favorite form of contact. The librarian was quick to respond to my first chat call and gave me useful information all within 10 minutes.

The second method was contacting a librarian through text message. You basically are given a number to text and you start your first text using the word BEAVS. I found this method to be more for general information on the library itself (for example, library hours and scheduling private quiet rooms).

I chose to not email a librarian for information only because I am usually someone who needs information on the spot. Emailing to me can be considered snail mail and I don’t want to have to wait around for simple answers that can be answered my the methods I mentioned above or by even a phone call.

The Accomplishments of Hedy Lamarr

Austrian actress and inventor, Hedy Lamarr, made herself a big name in the field of wireless communications. She developed an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, which helped combat the Nazis in World War II. Hedy had help with all of this from her co-inventor George Anthiel. It was in 1997, when she was honored with the special award for “trail-blazing development of a technology that has become a key component of wireless data systems”.

She was from Vienna, Austria, and graced the world with her presence from November 9th, 1914, to January 19th, 2000. Th culture back then was very similar to ours today. Expensive presidential campaigns, controversial military involvement overseas, prosperity, fast-moving technology, monopolies, immigration, natural disasters… Although we may not wear corsets, we are facing a technological revolution, and many of the issues and realities in Lamarr’s time are still with us today.

Lamarr was much more than just another pretty face. Earning a place among the 20th century’s most important women inventors, she shattered stereotypes. Lamarr truly was a visionary whose technological advancements were far ahead of its time.