davidbawden.bsky.social
@davidbawden.bsky.social
Occasional informationist. Academic. Londoner.
Website and blog at www.theoccasionalinformationist.com.
Website and blog at www.theoccasionalinformationist.com.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
“Many academic leaders follow managerial paths rather than scholarly ones ..” (often with no competence, creativity or credibility)
The UK university sector has gone beyond the red line and is now in a stage of rapid decomposition. Only a fundamental reset could save whole chunks of it. Probably too late for large parts.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Why are UK universities failing? - Impact of Social Sciences
The HE sector in the UK faces the prospect of a university going into administration. How have universities fallen so low and is change possible?
blogs.lse.ac.uk
January 19, 2026 at 12:11 PM
“Many academic leaders follow managerial paths rather than scholarly ones ..” (often with no competence, creativity or credibility)
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
This is a delightful instruction guide for librarians from 1926. Check out the questions posed after each summary and reading list.
New #ebook at Project Gutenberg: Courses of study in library science by F.L.A. Reginald G. Williams https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77611
January 10, 2026 at 12:47 PM
This is a delightful instruction guide for librarians from 1926. Check out the questions posed after each summary and reading list.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
"Responsibility for libraries is ambiguous." True that! Helpful article & suggestion @theobserveruk.bsky.social.
I worry that central Govt. overlooks that librarians are vital in All sectors: Business, Education & NHS as well as Public Libraries.
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
@cilip.bsky.social
I worry that central Govt. overlooks that librarians are vital in All sectors: Business, Education & NHS as well as Public Libraries.
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
@cilip.bsky.social
Far from being past their shelf life, libraries are essen...
These vital institutions can launch businesses and reduce the need for social care
observer.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
"Responsibility for libraries is ambiguous." True that! Helpful article & suggestion @theobserveruk.bsky.social.
I worry that central Govt. overlooks that librarians are vital in All sectors: Business, Education & NHS as well as Public Libraries.
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
@cilip.bsky.social
I worry that central Govt. overlooks that librarians are vital in All sectors: Business, Education & NHS as well as Public Libraries.
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
@cilip.bsky.social
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Libraries, alongside higher education, serve a curious, educated and literate populace. There seems to be little enthusiasm for enlightenment from current government, nor indeed much of society. Apparently, reading a whole book is rather too much these days.
December 28, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Libraries, alongside higher education, serve a curious, educated and literate populace. There seems to be little enthusiasm for enlightenment from current government, nor indeed much of society. Apparently, reading a whole book is rather too much these days.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Happy Winter Solstice ❄️
Make sure to get outside today, make use of every bit of daylight we have and when the night comes, know that tomorrow will be that little bit lighter 🙌🏻
📸 Lesley Marshall
Make sure to get outside today, make use of every bit of daylight we have and when the night comes, know that tomorrow will be that little bit lighter 🙌🏻
📸 Lesley Marshall
December 21, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Happy Winter Solstice ❄️
Make sure to get outside today, make use of every bit of daylight we have and when the night comes, know that tomorrow will be that little bit lighter 🙌🏻
📸 Lesley Marshall
Make sure to get outside today, make use of every bit of daylight we have and when the night comes, know that tomorrow will be that little bit lighter 🙌🏻
📸 Lesley Marshall
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
I am very sad to learn that Dr Paul Ayris has died. He was internal examiner for my PhD at UCL and offered sound support which underpinned my early academic career. www.leru.org/news/in-memo...
Dr Paul Ayris | LERU
Dr Paul Ayris LERU UCL Open Science
www.leru.org
December 19, 2025 at 9:40 AM
I am very sad to learn that Dr Paul Ayris has died. He was internal examiner for my PhD at UCL and offered sound support which underpinned my early academic career. www.leru.org/news/in-memo...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Lovely post on the impact on London of Sir Thomas Gresham. Highly recommend this blog for those interested in London - @alondoninheritance.bsky.social
Today’s new post - The Greshams of Norfolk and London. An influential 16th century family who have left their mark on the London of today alondoninheritance.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Lovely post on the impact on London of Sir Thomas Gresham. Highly recommend this blog for those interested in London - @alondoninheritance.bsky.social
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Maxwell's Demon was born OTD in 1867 in a letter to Peter Guthrie Tait. M called it only a “finite being.”
Lord Kelvin named it a “demon,” presumably referring to its apparent unearthly power to (locally and temporarily) violate the second law of thermodynamics.
🦫🦋 #HistSTM #philsci 🧪
Lord Kelvin named it a “demon,” presumably referring to its apparent unearthly power to (locally and temporarily) violate the second law of thermodynamics.
🦫🦋 #HistSTM #philsci 🧪
December 12, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Annual Thanksgiving blog post! This year we are giving thanks for "information."
www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2025/11...
www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2025/11...
November 27, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Annual Thanksgiving blog post! This year we are giving thanks for "information."
www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2025/11...
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...
November 25, 2025 at 12:53 PM
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...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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.
I like the 'boots of concrete' phrase :-) > 'Large companies have built vast consolidated infrastructure - we are used to thinking of information as immaterial, however, AI has also emphasized how the cloud has boots of concrete.' buff.ly/MAzHirK
October 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Lovely to see this nod from somebody whose work is central here.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
Great reading for LIS folks - covers development of LIS related disciplines through to contemporary concerns for information professionals and LIS students.
I like the 'boots of concrete' phrase :-) > 'Large companies have built vast consolidated infrastructure - we are used to thinking of information as immaterial, however, AI has also emphasized how the cloud has boots of concrete.' buff.ly/MAzHirK
Information: a brief schematic history
In a piece on the informational disciplines and the iSchool, I sketched this very schematic and informal overview of information, broadly construed. My focus is pragmatic, related to library…
www.lorcandempsey.net
October 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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...
Information re-reviewed
The nature of information has been reviewed and analysed many times, and from different perspectives, as noted in a previous article by myself and Lyn Robinson. New reviews can always give new insi…
theoccasionalinformationist.com
September 27, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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
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
September 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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
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
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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.
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:14 AM
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.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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/...
Proceedings from the Document Academy | Vol 12 | Iss 1
ideaexchange.uakron.edu
September 1, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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...
Dark matter and information revisited
In a previous post, I described as “over excited” the idea that the mysterious “dark matter”, that hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with lig…
theoccasionalinformationist.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Dark matter and information revisited. Gravity and entropy. Einstein and railway timetables. New blog post. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/08/29/d...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
🎉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...
Learn more about the book and the award 👇 www.asist.org/2025/08/13/i...
August 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM
🎉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...
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...
Why everything is complex
A recent article in Quanta magazine reminds us of the on-going interest in a rather startling proposal regarding the status of information, its relation to complexity, in the physical and biologica…
theoccasionalinformationist.com
August 16, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Why everything is complex. The law of increasing functional information. New blog post. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/08/16/w...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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.
August 15, 2025 at 6:29 PM
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.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
'Floral Hall, Covent Garden' (1965) by Edward Bawden
July 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
'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...
Content Studies: A New Academic Discipline for Analysing, Evaluating, and Designing Content in a Digital and AI-Driven Age - Philosophy & Technology
Philosophy & Technology -
link.springer.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:24 AM
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...
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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.
June 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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.
Reform councillor’s boast about removing ‘trans-ideological’ books from children’s library sections falls flat
Reform councillor’s boast about removing ‘trans-ideological’ books from children’s library sections falls flat
Paul Webb said he ensured books and material were pulled from children’s section of Kent libraries, but it emerges they were never there
A boast by a Reform UK councillor that he ensured the removal of “trans-ideological material and books” from the children’s section of his county’s libraries has fallen flat after it emerged that no such material ever existed there.
Paul Webb, the cabinet member for communities at Kent council, whose portfolio covers libraries, posted a video to X in which he said he had been “recently contacted by a concerned member of the public who found trans-ideological material and books in the children’s section of one of our libraries”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
July 4, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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.
Reposted by davidbawden.bsky.social
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
June 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
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