Tom Roper's Weblog

CILIP National Councillor election results

The results are up. A high turnout, 26% and the candidate with the most votes, Tony McSeán, has forthright views on CILIP's recent difficulties.

Swicki

I've just added a swicki to this blog; the best definition of a swicki I can find is on the OSS4lib site. Mine is a little crude, but may develop. I was torn between Eurekster and ZoomClouds, but went for the former in the end: Zoom Clouds does the tag cloud, but not search, as far as I could tell.
Post scriptum: I've taken it of for the time being. The Eurekster version seems to require to be populated manually, rather than build it organically from the blog, tags and searches. Also it slowed the pages down no end.

The unemployed need not apply

In the latest Library and Information Gazette, Nicola Franklin of Sue Hill writes, while discussing salary levels, as follows:
"The best candidates are, by definition, usually employed in other work....The agency is therefore left with he less outstanding candidates, either out of work or on low salaries, as the only candidates they can offer you."
Thank you, Ms Franklin, for giving such an encouraging view of my job prospects. This is utter nonsense: there is no reason why the best candidate for any job has to be in work, though some employers may have irrational prejudices. It is worrying that someone senior in a recruitment agency, who candidates trust to find them work, should encourage such views.

Thirteen digit ISBNs

Yesterday I bought my first book with a thirteen digit ISBN:
Williams, Hugo
Dear Room
London: Faber, 2006
978-0-571-23037-2
A defining moment, indeed

Chemistry at the University of Sussex

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee discussed the future of chemistry at the University of Sussex last night. No transcript yet, though the Guardian did run a report.

Lincoln at Redcar

The start of the flat season is marked by the Lincoln, moved to Redcar this year while Doncaster has the builders in.
Navan 300: Hi Cloy
Redcar 315: Cesare
Newbury 320: Sunley Shines
As for Dubai, I leave well alone.

Free Our Data

The Free Our Data campaign launched by the Guardian is mentioned in this month's Library and Information Update
There's to be a seminar on it at the Library & Information Show, though it's unclear whether this is in support of the campaign or something to do with a publisher called Latitude who presumably resell OS data.
I remember a database programme I had a while back that gave tide times for more or less all the whole world except Britain, the reason being that the Hydrographic Office who own the data wouldn't allow its use. This was crazy then...now in the world of Google maps, it is certifiable.

Blogs and Social Media Forum

I have had another e-mail from these characters (the ones who want £350 for a day's conference). "Dear Dear Mr Roper" they write, obviously trying to butter me up. Double endearments will not touch my flinty heart, I'm afraid.

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog cast in the form of an advice column. I discovered this by way of languagehat

Irresponsible brilliance

If anyone has not yet discovered the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, yesterday's Today's life gives reason enough. On George Digby (1612-1677), second Earl of Bristol, it concludes as follows:

"George Digby remains one of the foremost English examples of irresponsible brilliance. He possessed apparent exceptional talent as a politician, administrator, courtier, soldier, and scholar, and failed as all of those, a pattern which may be related to three defects. One was an inability to keep friends: during the civil war he already saw himself as 'single against all the world' (PRO, SP 16/510/74). Another was his constant tendency to choose the most flamboyant, sensational, and risky course out of every political and military problem, without the skills needed to steer such courses to success. The third was an ingrained carelessness in planning actions and observing discretion. He was and remained remorselessly self-destructive, with a proportionate tendency to destroy all those, including monarchs, whom he carried along with him. In this sense, he was one of English history's most dangerous men."

I hope they write something similar about me one day. The online DNB is among the resources to be made available to public libraries through the Reference Online service