Annual Thanksgiving blog post! This year we are giving thanks for "information." www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2025/11...

A voice out of the dark of time; the once and future LIS discipline. New blog post by myself and @lynrobinson.bsky.social. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/11/25/a...

Lovely to see this nod from somebody whose work is central here.

Great reading for LIS folks - covers development of LIS related disciplines through to contemporary concerns for information professionals and LIS students.

Information re-reviewed. A thorough and insightful review of concepts and theories of information by Luke Tredinnick ... new blog post theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/09/27/i...

The autumn equinox is here in the northern hemisphere, meaning that the new season has officially begun. This woodblock print by Hiroshige captures the colours and feeling of autumn beautifully. 🍁 Maple Trees at Mama, Utagawa Hiroshige 1 (1797 - 1858) , 1857. EAX.4362

The term ‘hobbyist’ applied to unfunded research is derogatory. This would seem to be about allowing only academics with grants time to undertake research, and increasing those on teaching only contracts, in order to reduce overall staffing. The result is a much diminished uni sector.

Proceedings from our 5th FanLIS Symposium held earlier this year, 2025. Huge thanks to @ludiprice.bsky.social and Tim Gorichanaz 😎 ideaexchange.uakron.edu/docam/vol12/...

Dark matter and information revisited. Gravity and entropy. Einstein and railway timetables. New blog post. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/08/29/d...

🎉Amazing news! We are thrilled to announce that Introduction to Documentation Studies by Niels Windfeld Lund has won the ASIS&T Best Information Science Book Award 2025 🏆 Learn more about the book and the award 👇 www.asist.org/2025/08/13/i...

Why everything is complex. The law of increasing functional information. New blog post. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/08/16/w...

Pleased to have spent time earlier today with colleagues from @unistrathclyde.bsky.social as external examiner for Salah Kashlot. “Exploring the influence of information overload in the context of digital learning tools. Congratulations to Salah and the supervisory and examination teams.

'Floral Hall, Covent Garden' (1965) by Edward Bawden

An intriguing editorial letter from @floridi.bsky.social in Philosophy and Technology, proposing a new academic discipline of 'Content Studies', as a response to the increasing complexity of digital content [well-formed, meaningful data, conveyed through media). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Wishing @shannonmattern.bsky.social everything good from here on. I recommend her post to any and all UK academics wondering how their values can ever align with those of their institution right now. And of course, for all those academics who chose to leave.

If you don’t want your child to read a certain book, then don’t let them. Other parents may wish to make a different choice, and should be free to do so.

More good news! Oz Ablett-Webb has been awarded his PhD “Building Documents - considering the role of document theory in experiencing the built environment” Thanks to Tim Gorichanaz as external exam. V proud to have established such a fabulous group of research students w @davidbawden.bsky.social

This is super news! We are all delighted for Ian 📚🎓😎

London has been ranked the world’s #1 city for 2025—for the 10th year in a row. This recognition speaks to the strength and vibrancy of our capital. From our cultural institutions to our nightlife, London remains a place for everyone.

Consequences of turning UK universities into commercially driven enterprises, run by not so great management.

'The Albert Bridge' (1966) by Edward Bawden

For any @fanlis.bsky.social folks who have not seen this! #FanLIS2025

Dr Carla Hayden was a truly great Librarian of Congress. It is an outrage that she has been sacked - a national shame on the United States. I had the pleasure of knowing her and working with her - she’ll continue to do good in the next phase of her career whatever that is.

Not surprising. Carla Hayden is a highly educated woman who encourages reading and thinking.

Thanks to David Bawden & @lynrobinson.bsky.social for their review doi.org/10.55741/knj... of my book, ‘Achieving global open access’ doi.org/10.4324/9781... “recommended for anyone seeking an insightful analysis of the current problems of global open access, and thoughts...[on] future solutions”

LIS folks interested in the author/creator component of the information communication chain will want to read this. Note the concept of meta-author accompanying wrAIting. #DocumentTheory @floridi.bsky.social

One more time: libraries are essential infrastructure for civil society. They keep the record and make it available to all. UK government must be mindful of this in light of the erosion of democracy in the US. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

'St Paul's' (1966) by Edward Bawden

Banning (legal) books is a starting point from which our freedoms can be erased. Libraries should resist any such requests. We do not have to follow America.

All of that doing more with increasingly less seems not to have worked in many cases then. Universities call in consultants to stave off collapse. www.thetimes.com/article/1774...

Seeing this post (rightly) shared widely this morning. The deletion requests won’t stop at this though will they?

Silver plus one. New blog post in which I invoke Charles Darwin and @floridi.bsky.social in reflecting on why a personal blog is still worthwhile, if only as notes to oneself tinyurl.com/3ud5b7fx

Registration for #FanLIS2025 is now live! Check out our great programme of speakers at blogs.city.ac.uk/fanlis/fanli... To celebrate 5 years of #FanLIS with us, make sure to register at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fanlis-202... 🎉🎊

Chemistry to close at Aston, Bradford and Hull - while merged and threatened at Reading. More will go. Country on a self-destruct mission. www.chemistryworld.com/news/changes...

Proud of my paper accepted for publication in Synthese, trying to build bridges between #philsci and #ko philsci-archive.pitt.edu/24918/

We’re moving ahead with groundbreaking plans to transform our St Pancras site. This multi-purpose extension will include new spaces for exhibitions, events, learning, research and business support, and enable us to deliver new programmes too. Find out more: bit.ly/BLStPancrasT...

Very excited that my paper "Knowledge Translation as an Interdsiciplinary Method for Information Science" is out in the Journal of Documentation: www.emerald.com/insight/cont... I hope to follow up with this theoretical paper with more applied methods at NASKO this year

"Will the Internet become a powerful means of potential disinformation?" This paper was delivered 30 years ago, and published in 1996. "Brave.Net.World: The Internet as a Disinformation Superhighway?" papers.ssrn.com/sol3...

Enjoying listening to presentations at Libraries of Science today.

I have encountered the worst footnote.

We just published a new entry in ISKO Encyclopedia of Knowledge Organization #KO: The Soviet Institute of Scientific Information (VINITI), by Björn Hammarfelt @hammarfelt.bsky.social and Johanna Dahlin www.isko.org/cyclo/viniti

Niels Windfeld Lund is a comprehensive guide to the history, theory and practice of documentation studies. A must-read for professionals in archives, libraries, museums and beyond! Get your copy: buff.ly/41lDjMN

We're extending our deadline for CFP's till 15 March! Hope to see your submission soon! 😊 blogs.city.ac.uk/fanlis/fanli... #FanLIS #FanStudies

In honour of St David's Day, the Tenby Daffodil (narcissus obvallaris), Britain's only native daffodil. So many wild bulbs were dug up in Wales during the late 19th century to satisfy insatiable demand elsewhere in the UK that it nearly became extinct.

'Borough Market' (1967) by Edward Bawden (Tate)

When I worked in UK academia I recall hearing of a Japanese man who was baffled at how Britain had decided to run its universities like firms. “Why? Your universities are excellent and your firms are terrible.”

Early photographs of 19th-century England to be digitised for public access www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/ear... A leading collection of early English photographs has been saved for the nation after it was acquired by Historic England.

Higher education is not just about job skills. It is fundamentally about learning how to think. An educated populace, however, may not suit every government. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"The UK is a nation of animal lovers and so its people need a national animal to love; it's been my privilege to fill that furry brief for 14 years and counting." #Larryversary

On Library Lovers Day, enjoy this optimistic 1950s magazine cover “Stand aside television. The library holds the stage as the curtain rises on this new age of the written word” (1957) Artist: DL Mays