Monthly Archives: August 2009

Another new chemical journal

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Frank Norman

Competition is a wonderful thing. 18 months ago who ever would have thought that there was room for a general chemical journal? Then back in April along came Nature Chemistry and won some applause (sometimes mainly for its colour ). … Continue reading →

Posted in Journal publishing | 2 Comments

Time for a subscription review

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Frank Norman

As summer draws to a close and the new autumn season looms, it’s that time when librarians start to think about subscriptions for the next calendar year. (Actually we now think about them all year round – I just had … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections, Journal publishing | 14 Comments

Research unpacked

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Frank Norman

I have spent most of the week fiddling about with details of publications and grant codes in Excel, in an effort to make us look good present an accurate picture of my Institute’s publications and matching them up with our … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliographic management, Bibliometrics etc, Research management | Comments Off on Research unpacked

Through gritted teeth

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Frank Norman

I usually quite enjoy filling out surveys. If the topic of the survey is something that I am concerned about, answering some questions and (especially) filling in the free-text bits can be a good way to vent my feelings. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Future of Libraries, Libraries and librarians | 7 Comments

Synthetic ethics

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Frank Norman

Talking of new topics emerging , synthetic biology seems to be popping up all over the place these days. OK, it’s not exactly new any more but I keep seeing announcements from quasi-official bodies indicating an interest in looking at … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics | Comments Off on Synthetic ethics

Youth and experience

Posted on August 12, 2009 by Frank Norman

One of the good things about growing older is that you get to bully patronise mentor those who are younger and/or less experienced. One of my staff, who I mentored through the process of becoming a chartered member of CILIP, … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries and librarians, Mentoring | Comments Off on Youth and experience

Old originals

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Frank Norman

I’ve commented before that librarians are great sharers and networkers. For those of working in small libraries the chance to get out and meet fellow practitioners is always valuable. I meet up with other MRC Librarians twice a year, most … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Libraries and librarians | 3 Comments

Policy and evidence – they’re all at it

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Frank Norman

I’m always intrigued by the way that new topics emerge, and suddenly everyone is talking about something that previously no-one was talking about. That’s the sign that we need a new library classmark or indexing term or a new journal … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment