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A fruitful New Year
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...
View ArticleCollecting, connecting, communicating
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...
View ArticleA look back at the future
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...
View ArticleRunning, motivation and toys
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...
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Candles and rings
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...
View ArticleMoves to extend NIH open access mandate
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...
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Ferreting (2)
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...
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An 80th annivirusary
For most of us, appearances on TV are still unusual enough to generate some excitement. Even just a slight chance of a televisual encounter can get the pulse racing. Last December I became briefly...
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The building takes shape
My Institute will vanish in a couple of years’ time and will be reborn as part of a brand-new Institute: the Crick. One of the advantages of working in an Institute that is going through these...
View ArticleMarking the occasion
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...
View ArticleMetavation
I first came to work at NIMR Mill Hill back in the blessed innocent times of 1989. After a few months my boss sent me on a course about ‘Motivation’. The course was organised by Aslib, and was held at...
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ReCon 2016 – my favourite small conference
ReCon has become my favourite small conference about publishing and research. It’s held each June in Edinburgh. I attended it in 2015 and really enjoyed it. There were stimulating presentations on...
View ArticleDigital skills – how do we …
The concept of digital skills is a bit slippery. The term has changed its meaning as the digital universe has expanded. Jisc is currently doing some work in this area, led by Caroline Ingram. I...
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The meaning of sixty
I recently celebrated my sixtieth birthday. I had a very nice birthday party in a local pub with several friends and family members. Having plied them with food and drink I thought I’d earned the right...
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Why open access makes sense
My colleagues in the Communications are looking pleased and exhausted today. The Francis Crick Institute’s new website launched this morning. It’s had a complete overhaul of style, structure and...
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Preprints in the news
I think Fiona Fox’s recent question about preprints and their impact on science news reporting deserves more consideration. She calls for more discussion of the issue and of possible solutions....
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