In a previous post, I wrote about the plans by the local authority in Wirral, in the North West of England, to close half their public library branches, and turn the rest into multi-purpose community centres. A government enquiry into whether this action would break the law which requires the authority to provide an adequate… Continue reading Wirral public libraries saved ?
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Magic searching
I have written a review of a new book Magic Search: getting the best results from your catalog and beyond, which will appear in due course in Journal of Documentation. Here's a flavour of the review of what proved to be of much more interest than we have any right to expect from a book… Continue reading Magic searching
Are important years information years ?
An article in Intelligent Life magazine for summer 2009 tried to decide which was 'The most important year ever'. The feature writer, Andrew Marr, argued for 1776, with the American Declaration of Independence, or 1945, with its world changing events; he was duly rebuked for US-centrism by website commentators. His five guests chose arguably more… Continue reading Are important years information years ?
How to forget, when you’ve remembered to do so
In a previous post, I wrote about the need to 'forget' the cloud of digital information which we all seem obliged to create nowadays, and which may come back to haunt us forever. I mentioned the idea of having some of this information 'self-destruct' after an appropriate time. Those clever people (Hank Levy, Tadayoshi Kohno,… Continue reading How to forget, when you’ve remembered to do so
Remembering to forget
Most of us have problems with remembering things at time. Memory problems usually go one way - we can't remember things. Drastic loss of memory has been a theme of many books (I can, just about, remember Asimov's Currents of Space as being the first with this theme that I read) and movies (the Bourne… Continue reading Remembering to forget
Naming of parts and other things
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday, We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning, We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day. To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica Glistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens, And to-day we have naming of parts. (Henry Reed, 1942) Attending a talk at the… Continue reading Naming of parts and other things
ALA Chicago
Put the world's largest library/information conference - that of the American Library Association - in the city with the greatest concentration of skyscrapers, if not any longer the world's tallest building - Chicago, of course - add a bit of jet-lag, and the result is a bit overwhelming. Never mind, ALA was very much worth… Continue reading ALA Chicago
Codex Siniaticus; the good side of digital
A very impressive example of the power of digitisation to support 'book culture' comes from the creation of the digital version of the Codex Siniaticus, the earliest version of the Christian Bible, dating from the fourth century. No complete version of the original parchment manuscript exists anywhere; the 800 pages are scattered in museums and… Continue reading Codex Siniaticus; the good side of digital
Impact factors and half-lives
It's that time of year when academic journal editors nervously look at the Web of Science data to see how they've done compared with their competitors, as assessed by the magic bibliometrics that are now the basis of any assessment of how 'good' a journal is. In my case, of course, I was looking to… Continue reading Impact factors and half-lives
Transferred illusions
I've just written a review of Marilyn Deegan and Kathryn Sutherland's Transferred lllusions: digital technology and the forms of print for the journal Alexandria. This is a modified version: The so-called 'digital transition' has been at the forefront of the minds of many library / information specialists over the past few years, as the certainties… Continue reading Transferred illusions
The Occasional Informationist 