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)
Category: documents, books, libraries, collections
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 The e-book has become a reality, and the prospect of books being superseded entirely by blogs, wikis and other novel digital… Continue reading The Once and Future Book
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
Bush, Goldberg, Memex and the revision of history
This is a version of an editorial to appear in the Journal of Documentation. Vannevar Bush gets a mixed press these days. Once he was hailed as a 'father of information science' - some called him our 'Godfather' – on the basis of his 1945 Atlantic Monthly vision of Memex. This was, and in some… Continue reading Bush, Goldberg, Memex and the revision of history
New year, old idea ?
A new year always provokes thoughts of what has gone and what is to come. The news media, feeding our liking for the comfort of the repetition of the annual cycle, devote much space in January to this kind of reflection, which often seems not to change much from one year to the next. I… Continue reading New year, old idea ?
The House of Wisdom
A new book by Jonathan Lyons, The House of Wisdom: how the Arabs transformed Western civilisation, has a few surprising insights on developments in the recording and transmission of knowledge in the period. Lyons focuses on the contribution of Abbasid rulers of Baghdad, from the founding of the dynasty in 762 to its overthrow by… Continue reading The House of Wisdom
English public libraries; needing new leadership ?
A report on governance and leadership in the English public library service has been published, following an enquiry by the grandly-named All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries, Literacy and Information Management. Cynics have pointed out that this group is not quite the impartial assembly of the great and the good that its title might suggest; it… Continue reading English public libraries; needing new leadership ?
Wirral public libraries saved ?
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 ?
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
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
The Occasional Informationist 