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.

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…

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...

A Japanese colour woodblock print of a scene including river, mountain and autumnal maple leaves

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 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…

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

Cover of Introduction to Documentation Studies with the ASIS&T logo and the text 'Best Information Science Book Award 2025'

🎉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 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…

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

Title page of a PhD thesis “Exploring the influence of information overload in the context of digital learning tools”.

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

Content Studies: A New Academic Discipline for Analysing, Evaluating, and Designing Content in a Digital and AI-Driven Age - Philosophy & Technology Philosophy & Technology -

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 📚🎓😎

The World's Best Cities

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

Being a librarian was already hard. Then came the Trump administration Already facing burnout and book bans, librarians face a ‘catastrophe’ for institutions deemed central to democracy

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.

Universities call in consultants to stave off collapse Some institutions are scrapping jobs and courses and selling off land to tackle their budget deficits, while the government looks at ways to protect students

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