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Rather a lot of compliments to librarians on Radio 3 last night, on Nightwaves, which you may recover from the BBC site if you missed:

 

commemorating the learning by librarians that there is a role for the book, and that they can't be replaced with digital widgets - there might be some of us of course who didn't ever think that the case anyhow, 

 

but interestingly, as always, and this included a representative of the British Library, no idea of the role of the library in knowledge organisation - that it is the cataloguing and classification which adds the value, as a visit to any bookshop will make clear - but then the BL has never seemed to grasp this and my attempts over the years have reached nothing other than stony river beds (on which more in a moment).

 

The second reference was to the discovery of hand tools in gravel beds in 1859, proving the world wasn't created in 4004 BC.  And the programme ended with a wonderful remark, that the point had been made sixty years before in the Society's journal.  Stored in the library.

 

With the world of JSTOR, Ingenta and all the rest, knowledge organisation seems more interesting and there is a greater need for cataloguing and classification, rather better than good grep google.  So more programmes on Radio 3 we hope.


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