Category Archives: History

A couple of historical exhibitions

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Frank Norman

Further to my recent musings about Walter Morley Fletcher, I was interested to see a couple of exhibitions advertised, both in London. The Royal Society have mounted an exhibition Frederick Gowland Hopkins and the Chemistry of Life, to mark the … Continue reading →

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Walter Morley Fletcher

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Frank Norman

The lecture hall in my Institute dates back to the 1930s. It has a simple design with excellent acoustics, typical of its era. It is called the Fletcher Memorial Hall, which begs the question – who he? Just outside the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Research Councils | 10 Comments

Finding history in weeding

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Frank Norman

I mentioned here recently that my Library is going through another wave of major relocation and disposal. Previous waves over the last 15 years have seen us moving large card catalogues, abstracting and indexing tools and older journals and putting … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Collections, History | 2 Comments

Impact – a view from 1924

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Frank Norman

I sometimes have to hunt through old Annual Reports of the Medical Research Council to look for snippets of history about people or research and it is often striking how the broad themes addressed are still with us today. Take … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Research Councils, Research management | 4 Comments

Digitising genetics

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Frank Norman

The Wellcome Trust will spend £3.9 million on a two-year pilot project – Modern Genetics and its Foundations. Drawing on the Wellcome Library’s rich collections, the project will digitise 1400 books on genetics and heredity published between 1850 and 1990, … Continue reading →

Posted in History | 1 Comment

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