A new venture sponsored by UNESCO, the World Digital Library appears to want to be a front window for displaying (virtually) the cultural treasures of national libraries and similar 'heritage institutions' worldwide. Coverage from different regions and countries, at the moment, is a bit sparse, with less than 1200 items included. It has much less… Continue reading The World Digital Library
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Slowing London Down
The Slow Movement comes to London next week. 'Slow Down London', running from 24th April to 4th May, will provide a variety of events to 'help us challenge the cult of speed and appreciate the world around us'. My doctoral student, Liz Poirier, who is doing her PhD on a theory of 'slow information', will… Continue reading Slowing London Down
Dark Side of Information
My colleague Lyn Robinson and I have a paper appearing in the latest issue of Journal of Information Science, continuing our long-standing interests in the 'dark side' of information. The paper analyses the literature on a variety of issues, from information overload, information avoidance and library anxiety to the madness of crowds and the paradox… Continue reading Dark Side of Information
An obsession with our own future ?
One of the nice things about editing an academic journal - in my case the Journal of Documentation - is that one gets to write editorials. This doesn't give quite the scope for free expression that writing a blog does - for one thing, the publisher might take a view if the expression were too… Continue reading An obsession with our own future ?
Sunny Slovenia
A visiting academic rarely gets compliments, but it seems my trip to the University of Ljubljana on a Socrates/Erasmus teaching exchange coincided with a dramatic switch from winter to summer, without the bother of spring intervening. A full lecture schedule - sufficiently full that I would have protested vigorously if I had been asked to… Continue reading Sunny Slovenia
An informationist ? and occasional ?
The term 'informationist' has a long history of being not quite accepted. At present, it seems to have been hi-jacked by healthcare librarians, to imply someone working in that area who has a good understanding of, and perhaps even a qualification in, relevant clinical specialities; a pretty specific instance of an 'information scientist in context'.… Continue reading An informationist ? and occasional ?
The Occasional Informationist 