Well hello again. I thought that it would only be polite to provide some information about who I am exactly and why I have decided to begin writing this blog. I guess you could say that I am a newly qualified librarian living in Scotland, in my first professional role. I have recently finished studying and am in the process of making the transition from study to work. I do, however, have some genuine interests in the library and information profession that go far beyond merely earning a living. I am fascinated by all aspects of technology and the way it can be used to develop and improve library and information services, and the sharing of information in general, as well as the ways in which this information can be categorised, stored, retrieved, accessed and used by the population at large. There are so many interesting developments happening all the time - many of which are common terms on the blogging circuits and you have probably heard of them all before. I hope that I will be able to report on and contribute to these discussions in my own little way.
Having said all of this, it is probably worth mentioning that I also love the libraries role in preserving old texts. I would certainly disagree that everything a library offers can be replaced by digital versions. There is nothing to match the feelings and aesthetics of a genuinely old book or manuscript - the history within it is virtually impossible to reproduce in pdf format!!! Even good old novels and textbooks - well, there’s just something about books that I feel has some importance even in this age of digital technologies. And I think that it is just as much a practical thing as a romantic one… but more on this later.
I am also interested in the ways in which people use information sources - trends towards electronic formats of hard-copies for example. I conducted my dissertation on this very subject and it threw up some very unexpected results in some cases (as well as many that were not so unexpected - e.g. use of search engines is virtually universal, even amongst those who should probably know better!!!).
So I hope that I can keep up to date with regular postings loosely based around these issues (and anything else that may arouse my interest!).
