Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ferreting (2)

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Frank Norman

Following on from my previous post, my last bit of ferreting around last month was in support of the Strictly Science exhibition, organised by colleagues at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre. This high-profile exhibition is open (free) until 14 April, … Continue reading →

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Moves to extend NIH open access mandate

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Frank Norman

We all love to be different – it seems to be a feature of much human activity that we cherish little foibles that set us apart. This is certainly true in the scholarly communications arena, though more recently journals have … Continue reading →

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Candles and rings

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Frank Norman

Today, 2 February, is Candlemas day, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. It is officially the end of the Christmas season, though I suspect most people would be surprised to learn this. I only know it because … Continue reading →

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Running, motivation and toys

Posted on September 6, 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 →

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A look back at the future

Posted on August 23, 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.S. Haldane. Originally published in the journal Brighter Biochemistry (“the illustrated journal of the Biochemical Laboratory, Cambridge”), the paper was republished in Trends in … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Collecting, connecting, communicating

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Frank Norman

Librarians collect stuff. To collect is one of the most important verbs in the librarian’s instruction manual. Probably the next most important is to categorise. There is a connection between these two. We do not collect randomly but with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogology, Libraries and librarians, Uncategorized, Writing | 4 Comments

A fruitful New Year

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Frank Norman

In England we don’t have much in the way of colourful New Year traditions. The Scots famously make more of the season, which they call Hogmanay, but in England the traditional choices are: Go out to a pub and get … Continue reading →

Posted in Froth, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 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 →

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Science in the city (again)

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Frank Norman

I wrote previously about a visit to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I recently visited again, this time to sing Tippett’s Child of Our Time and the (very fantastic) Berlioz Te Deum, in the rather attractive Sage concert hall. This is just next to … Continue reading →

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Research (information) for life (sciences)

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Frank Norman

The name Research4Life sounds to me like a funding agency programme, with a twist of textspeak thrown in to make it cool. In fact it is simply a rebranding exercise for HINARI, AGORA and OARE. On balance I think I … Continue reading →

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