Author Archives: Frank Norman

About Frank Norman

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

Address, affiliate, attribute

Posted on 17 February 2014 by Frank Norman

A few weeks back I saw an OA paper published in PNAS that has over 37,000 authors. (Well, that’s one way to defray the costs of OA charges!). There are ten regular authors, plus “EteRNA Participants” and a link in the footnotes to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Affiliation, Authorship | Comments Off on Address, affiliate, attribute

Music for love

Posted on 14 February 2014 by Frank Norman

Today, 14 February, was a day of celebration devoted to lovers and their love. Love remained a mystery to me for many years. Now that its full majesty has been revealed to me I embrace it with all my limbs … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Music for love

The Linnaean Society Library

Posted on 13 February 2014 by Frank Norman

Visiting other libraries can be a great source of inspiration to a librarian, giving you ideas to copy and making you jealous of the lovely things that other libraries have. Over the past twelve months I have hosted visits to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Libraries and librarians | Comments Off on The Linnaean Society Library

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