A rather sad post for the first one after a break. CityLIS PhD student Christopher Serbutt sadly died last year, after a long period of ill-health, so that there was a posthumous award. Titled The changing place of information: an examination and evaluation of how the context in which an object is set affects the… Continue reading Documentation and the museum object
Category: London
In further praise of dissertations
In a post of five years ago, I noted the academic quality and professional relevance of the dissertations produced by CityLIS Masters students, and the wide range of topics and approaches they include. Since then we have developed a series of virtual collections of dissertations in particular subject areas: art and artists, history, science and… Continue reading In further praise of dissertations
Remembering Mr. Kemp: Gardening in a ‘book-making age’
I have a long-standing interest in the Victorian information environment, which is many ways still influences our own. In particular, I have been fascinated by how information-rich was the world of botany, horticulture and the design of parks and gardens in that period. Several of the leading garden designers were also prolific authors and editors,… Continue reading Remembering Mr. Kemp: Gardening in a ‘book-making age’
Google’s Global Media Literacy Summit
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to attend Google's Global Media Literacy Summit for 2019, in the shiny new surroundings the of Google's London headquarters at King's Cross. Introducing the day, Ramya Raghavan, head of civics and news outreach at Google, made a point that I often try to emphasise: that our… Continue reading Google’s Global Media Literacy Summit
Kew Maids of Honour [Old London]
Should you be visiting Kew Gardens, and feeling inclined to match the horticulture with some culinary history, call into Newens Original Maids of Honour tea rooms and bakery, on Kew Road opposite the gardens. It has a long history: developed from an earlier business in Richmond, established in 1887 in its present site on Kew… Continue reading Kew Maids of Honour [Old London]
Cosmoba [Old London]
Located in Cosmo Place, between Southampton Row and Queen Square in Bloomsbury, the Cosmoba restaurant has been run by the same family for several decades. It serves a varied clientele of locals, tourists from the nearby hotels, visitors to the nearby British Museum, and academics from the University of London. It is not the sort… Continue reading Cosmoba [Old London]
Simpsons-in-the-Strand [Old London]
Amid the churn and hype of the London restaurant scene, there are some places that qualify as Old London for their longevity as the same kind of restaurant on the same site. Among these, on the same spot since 1828, is Simpsons-in-the-Strand (yes, for the pedants among you, it's 'in', not 'on', the Strand). Aiming… Continue reading Simpsons-in-the-Strand [Old London]
Gutta percha: forgotten material of the communication revolution
Few other materials have had such a revolutionary impact on the world. And few others have been forgotten so quickly. (Ben Wilson, Heyday: Britain and the birth of the modern world, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 2016, p. xxiii) Describing gutta percha as "the vanished material that made the telecommunication revolution possible", Ben Wilson gives it… Continue reading Gutta percha: forgotten material of the communication revolution
When data science met the library: the 4th British Library Labs Symposium
Last Monday, I had the chance to attend the latest in the series of BL Labs annual symposia. The BL Labs were set up to "support and inspire the public use of the British Library's digital collections and data in exciting and innovative ways", and the symposia series is designed to showcase some of the… Continue reading When data science met the library: the 4th British Library Labs Symposium
Remembering the real old Foyles
Somewhat belatedly, I should record my pleasure at the opening of Foyles new flagship bookship on Charing Cross Road. Visiting it is not so very different from what it used to be, as they’ve only moved a few doors down the road, to get premises which can be laid out more like a shiny new… Continue reading Remembering the real old Foyles
The Occasional Informationist 