  Using published measurements of dielectronic recombination (DR) resonance
strengths and energies for C V to C IV and O VIII to O VII, we have calculated
the DR rate coefficient for these ions. Our derived rates are in good agreement
with multiconfiguration, intermediate-coupling and multiconfiguration,
fully-relativistic calculations as well as with most LS coupling calculations.
Our results are not in agreement with the recommended DR rates commonly used
for modeling cosmic plasmas. We have used theoretical radiative recombination
(RR) rates in conjunction with our derived DR rates to produce a total
recombination rate for comparison with unified RR+DR calculations in LS
coupling. Our results are not in agreement with undamped, unified calculations
for C V but are in reasonable agreement with damped, unified calculations for O
VIII. For C V, the Burgess general formula (GF) yields a rate which is in very
poor agreement with our derived rate. The Burgess & Tworkowski modification of
the GF yields a rate which is also in poor agreement. The Merts et al.
modification of the GF yields a rate which is in fair agreement. For O VIII the
GF yields a rate which is in fair agreement with our derived rate. The Burgess
& Tworkowski modification of the GF yields a rate which is in good agreement.
And the Merts et al. modification yields a rate which is in very poor
agreement. These results suggest that for DN=1 DR it is not possible to know a
priori which formula will yield a rate closer to the true DR rate. We describe
the technique used to obtain DR rate coefficients from laboratory measurements
of DR resonance strengths and energies. For use in plasma modeling, we also
present easy-to-use fitting formulae for the experimentally derived DR rates.
