Author Archives: Frank Norman

About Frank Norman

I am a retired librarian. I spent 40 years working in biomedical research libraries.

Running, motivation and toys

Posted on 6 September 2012 by Frank Norman

Mo Farah, double gold medal-winning distance runner, showed us this summer how important strategy is to winning a race. He runs the race from the back of the pack and then over the last 500m or so accelerates to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Android, mapping, parkrun, Running | Comments Off on Running, motivation and toys

A look back at the future

Posted on 23 August 2012 by Frank Norman

I am indebted to Dr R.A.C. for bringing to my attention a spoof exam paper drawn up by J.B.

Posted in biochemistry, examinations, History, retrofuturology | Comments Off on A look back at the future

A snapshot of our collection – history

Posted on 31 July 2012 by Frank Norman

Earlier this month I hosted a meeting of CHILL. It is a group of independent health libraries which meets three times a year in the premises of one or other of the members. The meetings are an opportunity to share … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Libraries and librarians | Comments Off on A snapshot of our collection – history

PLOS shift

Posted on 26 July 2012 by Frank Norman

Camel case (the practice of writing words with some inner uppercase letters) is one of my pet hates, as it demands sufficient finger dexterity to make sure you hit the shift key at just the right point in the middle … Continue reading →

Posted in Journal publishing | Comments Off on PLOS shift

Flying through the Crick

Posted on 20 July 2012 by Frank Norman

Quick update to my post about the Crick Institute building site. The Crick has now released a fly-through video animation to show what the interior of the building will look like. It is just 4 minutes long, and includes some … Continue reading →

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Another collection of essays

Posted on 19 July 2012 by Frank Norman

Last year I gave a shameless plug for the Mill Hill Essays that I produce each year.  Here is another plug, for the latest collection – Mill Hill Essays 2011-12. The printed booklets have been distributed (free to libraries and other … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Mill Hill Essays, Reading recommendations | Comments Off on Another collection of essays

A very large building site

Posted on 10 July 2012 by Frank Norman

Last week I went on a short tour of the Francis Crick Institute construction site. The Crick is a new research institute due to open in 2015, and will be formed out of two existing institutes in London plus three … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Crick | Comments Off on A very large building site

Megajournals

Posted on 9 July 2012 by Frank Norman

The trend towards Open Access has catalysed the creation of many new journals and new publishers. BioMedCentral, established in 2000, was a pioneer of open access publishing, launching a large number of journals. Public Library of Science (PLoS) initially established … Continue reading →

Posted in Journal publishing, Megajournals, Open Access | Comments Off on Megajournals

M and S

Posted on 5 July 2012 by Frank Norman

I am back at work after a three-week break. I had a good holiday, visiting Manila and Singapore.  I really managed to switch off, totally ignoring the temptation to look at my email or Twitter. The part of my brain … Continue reading →

Posted in Froth, Philippines | Comments Off on M and S

Evidence of corruption?

Posted on 7 June 2012 by Frank Norman

Guilty.   Not guilty. The moment in the courtroom when a verdict is delivered is a moment of high drama, potentially a life-changing decision for the accused.

Posted in peer review | Comments Off on Evidence of corruption?