Author Archives: Frank Norman

About Frank Norman

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

Marking the occasion

Posted on 3 February 2014 by Frank Norman

Yesterday was my first anniversary. See this and this for more details of what the anniversary was. A first anniversary is a special day – and hopefully the first of many more to come. But, though it marks a whole … Continue reading →

Comments Off on Marking the occasion

Paperless at last

Posted on 8 January 2014 by Frank Norman

1 January 2014 marks a watershed moment for my library: I have cancelled the last of our print journal subscriptions. Back in 1995 we subscribed to our first online journal, Journal of Biological Chemistry, from Highwire Press. I still have the email … Continue reading →

Posted in Journal publishing | Comments Off on Paperless at last

Mind, the map

Posted on 18 December 2013 by Frank Norman

Last week I attended the launch of a new exhibition at the Science Museum, called Mind Maps: stories from psychology. This is an exhibition, sponsored by the British Psychological Society, which: .. explores how mental health conditions have been diagnosed and treated over … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, History | Comments Off on Mind, the map

Being special

Posted on 4 December 2013 by Frank Norman

Classification is something that librarians are supposed to be good at, but when it comes to classifying types of libraries there is a bit of a #FAIL. At library school I was taught that there are three main kinds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries and librarians | Comments Off on Being special

Winton Royal

Posted on 28 November 2013 by Frank Norman

The Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books award ceremony took place on Monday night. The event is open to anyone so I went along – I like to feel part of the great science communications endeavour. But I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Comments Off on Winton Royal

Mill Hill Essays 2013

Posted on 12 November 2013 by Frank Norman

One of my more pleasurable annual tasks is producing the volume of Mill Hill Essays. I commmission between 5 and 10 essays, mostly from authors at the Institute, then edit them and oversee the production. Print copies of the essays … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Writing | Comments Off on Mill Hill Essays 2013

Deeply felt experiences – musical memories

Posted on 9 November 2013 by Frank Norman

Some pieces of music bring back strong memories. You recall key moments when you have heard the music before, or great performances that you have witnessed or taken part in. Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is a piece that brings back … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Deeply felt experiences – musical memories

Puffed-up and partying

Posted on 23 October 2013 by Frank Norman

My ears were burning a month ago and my head was swollen. Fear not, I hadn’t caught an interesting disease, I was just being talked about and made prideful. At the end of the summer I learnt that I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Social networking | Comments Off on Puffed-up and partying

Old technology wins out

Posted on 21 October 2013 by Frank Norman

If there is  one thing I hate more than confusing new technology, it is confusing old technology. While it can sometimes be a bit confusing trying to get misbehaving PDFs to print, that’s nothing compared to doing battle with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Comments Off on Old technology wins out

Search engines – out with the old, in with the new

Posted on 16 October 2013 by Frank Norman

Back in the summer Yahoo announced that it was to close the search engine AltaVista, and that duly happened in July. I suspect that most people’s reaction would be either “what on earth is Alta Vista?”  or “Blimey! Is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Searching | Comments Off on Search engines – out with the old, in with the new