In a previous post, I wrote about Maurice Line, the eminent British librarian, who died last year. One of Maurice's specialities was his ability to show up what he regarded as the failings of the profession in a pithy and very quotable style. I reproduce a selection of typical Line-isms below, taken from just two… Continue reading The sayings of Maurice Line
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Maurice Line (1928-2010)
Rather belatedly, we should note the death in September 2010 of Maurice Line. One of the leaders of his generation of British librarians, Line was always a proponent of the value of research in library and information. I am not sure whether he would have liked the terms 'evidence-based practice' or 'reflective practitioner', but he… Continue reading Maurice Line (1928-2010)
PhD studentships for Information Science
City University London is offering 75 fully-funded studentships for doctoral study, with information science as one of the areas to be supported. The Centre for Information Science, set in the wider Department of Information Science, is City's focus for the study of the academic foundations of the information disciplines and professions. Our research and publications,… Continue reading PhD studentships for Information Science
Benoît Mandelbrot and the self-similarity of information
News of the death of Benoît Mandelbrot should lead us to reflect on his creative work over wide areas of mathematics, his innovative use of computer graphics to convey his results, and his enthusiastic popularisation of his works, through books such as The Fractal Geometry of Nature. Mandelbrot, whose obituary in the Guardian gives a… Continue reading Benoît Mandelbrot and the self-similarity of information
The Once and Future Book
This is a version of an editorial written for the Journal of Documentation. The future of the book has received a good deal of attention, as we move into an increasingly digital information environment. The e-book has become a reality, and the prospect of books being superseded entirely by blogs, wikis and other novel digital… Continue reading The Once and Future Book
Big (information) history
This is an amended version of an editorial written for Journal of Documentation. Information history is a new discipline, located at the boundary where history meets the sciences of information. This subject ranges from the narrow history of the information sciences and professions, to the broader historical development of libraries, information services and information management,… Continue reading Big (information) history
CoLIS 2010 (and 2013)
The 7th CoLIS (Conceptions of Library and Information Science) conference was held at University College London between 21st and 24th June. As Programme Chair, I am bound to be biased, but, after leaving a decent period for reflection, it seems to me that it was a great sucess. Participants have been kind enough to use… Continue reading CoLIS 2010 (and 2013)
The end of media and the continuance of skills
Although I have never had very much to do with newspaper libraries, and other media information services, I still felt a little sad at the news of the demise of the Association of UK Media Librarians. For over 20 years this was the professional body for information specialists in this sector. Now, alas, the double… Continue reading The end of media and the continuance of skills
Alas poor ARIST
Academic disciplines usually have few have few scholarly resources that can reasonably be described as 'jewels'; this label can certainly be applied to Annual Reviews of Information Science and Technology, which has for 45 years been the main forum for scholarly review articles in information science. Not for much longer. The sponsoring body, the American… Continue reading Alas poor ARIST
An anonymous and undiscriminating library
We all, I'm sure, have occasions when an idea stays in our heads for ages, perhaps appearing from different angles, but we never quite get around to clarifying for ourselves exactly what it's about. How nice when a proper philospher does it for us, without being asked. "The ideal of thinking for oneself is in… Continue reading An anonymous and undiscriminating library
The Occasional Informationist 