Roger's Curious World of Knowledge

Update: Christmas and New Year

2012-01-10T19:21:00.002Z

If anyone happened on my last but one post, they might be wondering whether we did go off to New Zealand or not. The idea certainly cheered me up and aided my recovery from the nasty illness I had in early December, but we decided not to have a last minute trip to New Zealand. Instead, we went south to family in Kent, and home for the New Year, and friends over for a meal and to see 2012 in. So, choosing to stay in England gave us different, but enjoyable experiences, though no warm summer sun. Summer sun is something I miss and long for. Spring and summer cannot come soon enough for me.

Networks and networking

2012-01-10T19:11:00.002Z

Have just done a little bit of work on a bibliography and glossary on networks, which was very interesting, though rather open-ended.

It seems to me that networks,like discussion forums, are frequently desired and rarely enduring. Entities that are made up of a disparate body of people turn out to be messy, haphazard things, despite good intentions. You can plan to minimise failure, but you can't eliminate it as a possibility. When a network succeeds, it's exciting. When it fails, we have to get over natural disappointment and learn. That's not easy.

Why does writing Christmas cards seem so hard this year?

2011-12-07T15:20:00.002Z

I'm trying to get started on the annual Christmas card list, and struggling. Why? I am a bit unwell currently, but even if I were fully fit, I suspect I would find it a bit of a chore. I choose to write bits of news for each person, rather than write a standard newsletter to insert, so immediately it becomes harder, or at least more time-consuming. Outside, the sky is grey, and wintry showers threaten, and here I am, writing to family and friends in sunny climes such as New Zealand, Australia, and California. I find myself feeling wistful for the antipodean summer, or autumn, even. We had such a lovely trip to New Zealand in April, it's inevitable I am wishing I was somewhere else just now. Yorkshire Dales or New Zealand in December? If we had a free choice...

Winter is here...

2011-11-07T10:56:00.002Z

Winter is here, and today there was a ground frost. It is the first time this winter that I have had to unfreeze the bird bath with hot water. I would rather be somewhere warm, I think, and I don't just mean inside with the central heating on...

My cousin Kezia[Barker]'s Wedding

2011-11-07T10:39:00.004Z

In mid-September my partner and I attended my cousin Kezia's wedding in London. She and her partner Leo made it legal at Marylebone Register Office, and it was such a success that Paul Macartney booked his latest wedding there, too.

We were deputed to wait at Marylebone Station to pick up three dozen helium filled red balloons, then wait outside the Register Office for everyone to come out, and give them to people to hold for the next stage of celebrations.

Next stage was a walk across Regent's Park to the Grand Union Canal (where Kezia lives in a narrowboat) for champagne and canapés. From there, we boarded a narrow boat (not K's) for a 25 min journey to the Grand Union Pub, which K & L had hired for the afternoon and evening.

There, we gathered in the pub garden by the canal, from which vantage point we could watch Kezia's boat (with the happy couple standing on it) arrive alongside. More drinks and delicious snacks followed, before we tramped upstairs into the pub for a fine meal and good speeches.

Around midnight (maybe earlier?) we left the pub, and looked down onto the canal where people continued to celebrate. I looked wonderful. We took the tube back to Kilburn Park, where we were staying at nephew Alex's flat. It was a highly original event, and a great way to celebrate their "Grand Union".

(My photos of the wedding are on my Facebook account, and my PhotoBox one, too, but both only for friends.)

Social occasions

2011-09-05T23:52:00.002+01:00

Social occasions are such great times to share knowledge in enjoyable ways and congenial surroundings. Heather and I went to Farnham in Surrey at the weekend, for my nephew Tom's wedding, and we met and talked with family and friends, and others. On the Sunday we drove and saw Jane Austin's House, about half an hour from our hotel in Farnborough. We went to a post wedding buffet in Camberley before driving back home. Today I put up my photos onto Facebook. They are good in parts...

Could the end of the week be the start?

2011-07-08T16:22:00.000+01:00

It is Friday afternoon, on a damp Yorkshire summer day. I have had a flare-up of my chronic back problem, so have struggled to work for any length of time. Some of the day I have spent reading a little of Alan Hollinghurst's new novel "The Stranger's Child", and it is capturing my attention slowly.

At other times I have been searching for resources on evidence-based nursing practice for a small piece of work I am doing for a friend. While doing this, I have come across other interesting items, and enjoyed reading them. Just now I am not sure where these pieces are leading me, but I am struck by a question:

"could the end of the week be the start?"

My iPad and me...

2011-06-16T23:40:00.002+01:00

Passing through the Duty Free Stores at Auckland Airport in late April, I bought an iPad2. In some ways it's just an expensive toy. But in other ways it's transformative. I access and use information and resources in a totally different way since getting it. I send and receive much of my email on it now, and download documents to store and read on screen. Sometimes I play with new apps for the fun of it, just to try out and see if they are useful or interesting. The good ones, I keep; others, I delete and look for alternatives. Lack of Flash is a drawback, as is the ability to use browsers besides Safari, but these are small points. The major part of my interface with the world wide web now is mediated by the iPad. Something significant is going on here.

Whatever happened to May?

2011-06-03T23:16:00.003+01:00

After my last post, I realised I didn't post at all during May. Whatever happened to May? After we got home from New Zealand, life just seemed to go back to the pre-trip ways. Time now to reassess. Sad to learn tonight of the death of Miriam Karlin.

Summertime ... Living not easy...

2011-06-03T23:09:00.002+01:00

Summertime started a few weeks ago, but real summer weather only appeared yesterday and today, up here in Yorkshire, at any rate. I'm doing some literature searches for a colleague, and it's not so easy from outside the world of academia - much less access to academic research databases. However, I completed the first part today, and will do the second part next week. Meanwhile, I shall enjoy the weekend sun, and read Marilyn French's "The Women's Room" for next week's book group.

Visiting New Zealand

2011-04-27T13:38:00.002+01:00

Visiting New Zealand in 2011 has been an interesting experience. I sense that our having a more extended stay in the country may be coming closer, so naturally one reflects on the mix of familiar and strange aspects of the place. It is a place where I know how things work, yet even that is at times elusive, in truth, because I have not live in the place for prolonged periods since the mid 1980s.

There could be a role for me as a writer, a researcher, a broker of knowledge. Now, it is my task to find that role and take it up.

Cricket World Cup, Levi-Strauss, and E M Forster...

2011-04-02T23:51:00.002+01:00

How are they linked? Through me, of course.

Today, I spent many hours watching the Final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, India vs Sri Lanka, played in Mumbai. It was a grand occasion, and the Indian team won the game, which is what they wanted. The romantic win would have been Sri Lanka, but it was not to be, today.

Still, slowly, I read the biography of Claude Levi-Strauss, the French structuralist-anthropologist. and continue to love it. It's such a grand life he led, and such an original mind he had.

E M Forster? On Monday night our book group will discuss 'A Room With A View', so we're reading it. It's a light, very funny story, set in Florence, and an easy read. Does it have much serious intent? I haven't found it yet, though maybe it is for me to discover yet? Not much time for that, but I shall enjoy the attempt.

Reuniting the Rubins

2011-03-24T18:33:00.001Z

Just seen this film - with Timothy Spall and Honor Blackman - good story about dysfunctional family - low budget - made in 5 weeks. Worth a look when on general release in September.

West is West

2011-03-16T21:51:00.002Z

Went to the National Media Museum in Bradford this afternoon - a favourite haunt. I'm getting to go there almost in the way I used to go to Nottingham Broadway Media Centre, as a place to hang out.

I went to the 4pm showing of 'West is West', the long-awaited follow up to 'East is East', the first film to speak for young Bradford Asians in the late 1990's. Many attended from the Asian communities, and it's clear they get a real buzz and glow from seeing their lives and world portrayed on the screen. We saw this film at a preview on the afternoon of my 60th birthday party in January.

Coincidentally, a DVD of photos from that party arrived today: John Barker sent me it. It's great, and really brings back the atmosphere of that day Heather worked so hard to organise.

Beware "Tubely"

2011-03-15T07:56:00.002Z

Beware "Tubely". Don't touch it, just DELETE. Yesterday I received an email purportedly from a friend of mine, inviting me to join Tubely. He's a good friend, a trusted one, so I thought I'd join up. I discovered then it hacked my email contact list and emailed all. So I stopped filling in the sign up process, deleted my membership before I even used it, and, for a precaution, changed my email account password, and sent an apologetic email to my contact list. No guarantee it hasn't reached others, too, but maybe they will delete the invitation anyway.

So, just delete this scam.

Look at another blog on the subject: http://wendysminks.blogspot.com/2009/10/tubely-is-devil.html

Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown

2011-03-14T22:08:00.002Z

It seems almost indecent watching TV footage of the effects of the Japanese earthquake, the mesmerising images of the all-engulfing tsunami, and the terrifying nuclear meltdown. Reconstruction in Christchurch looked difficult, but the scale of destruction and displacement in Japan dwarfs that. Yet for all affected in both places, the impact is 100%, comparisons are odious.

Christchurch earthquake

2011-03-07T14:42:00.002Z

Two weeks ago tomorrow, the nature of Christchurch New Zealand was changed forever. My first knowledge of the earthquake was in a text from my brother, received around 6 a.m., about 6 hours after the event.

A number of people here in the UK have asked me if I have family or friends in the city. I have friends, but have heard from almost all since the earthquake.

It's impossible to imagine how the city will recover, but it will, though perhaps with fewer people, a different configuration of houses and commercial space, new roads and old ones renewed.

We're supposed to go there briefly in April, to pick up a rental car and drive to Dunedin. This may have to change...

Health and Spring

2011-03-07T14:39:00.002Z

It's springtime and so good to have brighter, longer days, with sunshine. I'm healthy again after Jan-Feb infections, and getting enthusiastic about things again.

We go to New Zealand again in just over a month from now.

Postings - the endless issue

2011-03-07T14:28:00.003Z

Postings are very sporadic, I know.

It seems to me that maybe the best I can do is write about what books, magazines and articles I'm reading, films I see, whee I'm going, what I'm doing.

Not that anybody ever has noticed this blog :-)

BOOKS: Currently, I'm reading a recent biographical study of the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. It's a very personal and interesting book, by Patrick Wilcken. I heard him talking about it on BBC Radio 4 about a year ago, maybe less, and have wanted to buy it ever since. I couldn't afford it, but used an Amazon voucher from my 60th birthday recently, and got it.

Prior to the Lévi-Strauss, I was reading another biographical book on an anthropologist, "Margaret Mead: an American Icon". It is also one I coveted, and my partner Heather bought me it for my birthday. Fascinating study shows how media savvy Mead was, getting press coverage and media exposure in a way no other social anthropologist managed.

FILM: I've seen the Cohn Brothers remake of "True Grit" twice in about 4 day. I liked it a lot, but Heather barely at all, and two friends we met at the cinema in Bradford hated it. Taste can be so personal.

De-cluttering

2011-03-07T14:26:00.001Z

De-cluttering my study today - slowly - and it is not lost on me that it is a paradox for a knowledge broker to have a cluttered space. I may be a systems person in my work, but I'm a collector in my space. Well, it's a long-postponed work of archaeology today.

Weather - still under it...

2011-02-03T10:11:00.004Z

Still 'under the weather' - how tedious it is to have my energy drained away by a low-level sickness, when I am ready to do things, to write, to declutter my study and prepare for spring.

'Under the Weather"

2011-01-23T16:30:00.002Z

A curious phrase - 'under the weather' - but that is what I am today - a kind of non-specific sick - tired, blocked sinus, lethargic. All I wish is for it to go away, so I can resume proper writing and research.

2011: my year of being 60

2011-01-21T23:13:00.002Z

It's my year of being 60. A week ago I 'celebrated' my 60th birthday, with a quiet Friday. Heather and I went for lunch at the Angel at Hetton, and I opened some presents and cards. It was on the Saturday 15th that the big event took place, with cousins John & Sandy Barker coming up from London, meeting friends at Pictureville in Bradford, going to a free preview of 'West is West', the follow up of 'East is East' (1999). Then we wandered around the Media Museum, until Heather guided me to the basement, and pointed out a room with tables, balloons, streamers - a surprise venue for my party that she had organised. Lots of friends, Heth's brother Ric, with Denise, from Lincoln, TF and Clare from London, Paul and Sally Austin from Cambridge, and many good friends from here in Yorkshire. We had a lovely evening, and it continued with a Sunday morning brunch of scrambled egg and smoked salmon with Lindauer on the Sunday morning. A week ago tomorrow...

Ice Palace?

2010-12-09T10:26:00.002Z

After all the snow, no real thaw, just continued cold and iciness. Yesterday went to the 6th Rosa Parks Symposium at the University of Bradford. It is always a great event, organised by Udy Archibong, Professor of Diversity. This year's theme was Intergenerational Learning, and included some fantastic presentations from school children who have participated in what they consider life-changing programmes. Well worth the trek.

Gloomy Monday - need for inspiration

2010-11-29T16:27:00.002Z

It's a gloomy Monday here in West Yorkshire, after a weekend of moderately heavy snowfalls, and days getting shorter and shorter for another month yet. I feel a great need for inspiration and today just feel tired and uninspired.

I've been sitting at home all day, reading and doing chores related to a house purchase. We're buying a small house in the far north of New Zealand, as a rental investment. Buying a house at 12,000 miles distance is a real challenge. There are so many people to contact, forms to fill, reports to commission and progress to monitor. It is a major project to manage, and keeping hold of everything that needs to be done is not easy.

Out of the original plan, we began the research work, early probing, and made a decision to make an offer. Now we're co-ordinating the surveys, rental appraisals, sorting of financial and legal issues, while keeping an eye on the required timescale. Having done it once before, it should be familiar, but it's easy to forget the tendency to chaos and "one more thing"-itis. We'll get there eventually, and be very happy, though exhausted by it all.

Knowledge in icy times

2010-11-26T09:52:00.003Z

Winter is setting in here in northern England, and I have been looking at solutions to the threats ice and snow bring to safe walking. There are numerous products that supposedly make shoes and boots safe by providing effective grip, but none seem to effective in all conditions. Some are good for snow but not ice; some are best only on 'black' ice. It's confusing, but in the end the only way I can decide what works is to try them and observe the results.

Similarly, the pursuit of knowledge in these icy times is fringed by many 'solutions', but few of them work effectively in all situations. Verna Allee called knowledge 'slippery', and so it is. If we want to share knowledge and work in collaboration with others, we have to talk with one another and find out 'what works' in particular situations. There are some good English metaphors I can think of: "Get your skates on" , "we're skating on thin ice", "beware of slips and falls", and "not a snowball's chance in hell". Those of us in the business of knowledge learn repeatedly how fallible we are, how tentative our real knowledge is. If we deny it, chances are we're wearing the clichéd 'rose-tinted spectacles'.

more sky talk...

2010-11-11T14:03:00.002Z

After a brief period of sun, the sky is becoming smudged with cloud, the wind is stirring again, and soon it might rain once more. My world reduced to a partial window sill view.

West Yorkshire autumn day

2010-11-11T13:18:00.003Z

Illness is forcing me to rest at home, and appreciate the world around me. Moat of this week has been characterised by rain and wind, but today, now, the sun is shining, reflecting off the brown leaved-beech hedge in our garden. Above some low lines of cloud, the sky is a fine blue. There is time enough to enjoy this West Yorkshire day while I regain better health.

Redundancy News ... seven months on

2010-11-09T19:35:00.003Z

Just over seven months ago, I was made redundant, and the novelty of freelance work in hard times is pretty thin now. I've had scraps of work for short periods, but I've realised that I'd prefer to have a big idea, a big project or two that will engross me for the next five to six years.

So far, I haven't found the big idea, though I suspect it will be connected with writing, research and connecting people. I'm not well at the moment, so I haven't got the energy to push ahead with new things. As ever, will try to write more regularly :-)

Return from holiday

2010-08-13T08:19:00.003+01:00

On Wednesday we returned from holiday. Away for eight days, we had three parts to the holiday. Firstly, we drove to the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, to stay with my sister and brother-in-law, a remote spot with big sky, and an attractive wildness - buzzards, wild ponies. Secondly we went to Toys Hill in Kent, to my mother-in-laws home. It was her 87th birthday, and last Saturday we had a family lunch to celebrate. Of equal importance, we spent time playing with our niece Zoe's two small boys - precious time that will never be repeated. Thirdly, we went south west again to Brockenhurst in the New Forest, for the only two days entirely to ourselves. It was a quiet spot with wild ponies, the sea nearby. We could live there, given an opportunity. A lot of travel, a lot of time with others, so we were happy but exhausted on getting home on Wednesday night. We had a lovely drive up the centre of England, on the A34, the A43, and the M1. Getting back to normal everyday life isn't easy after such a gruelling week.

Scanning the Horizons

2010-08-13T08:16:00.002+01:00

Scanning the horizons of new knowledge, ideas and policy - that's what I do - is a demanding but vital activity in whatever field you work. The question for me is: " How do I devise tools to make my experience and skills demonstrably valuable to potential customers."

Monday ... a tiring day

2010-07-20T14:01:00.002+01:00

Sometimes just sitting at the computer is tiring in itself, especially when my back is 'playing up'. Yet it is important to persist with some sort of work, whether research, search, simple writing or more complex work. The persistence pays off when pain decreases and energy levels rise. This is even more important now I am working freelance again.

Horizon Scanning - endless...by definition

2010-07-18T16:54:00.002+01:00

Today I have been doing some horizon scanning for a 'Patient-led Innovation' website. Horizon Scanning is an endless process, by definition. What we see on the horizon may be what we look for, or it may turn out to be something else altogether.

Summer Rain

2010-07-14T21:38:00.002+01:00

Tonight I am sitting in my study, and I can hear the sound of rain falling outside in the garden. There is something to like about summer rain: it is a restful sound. However, I know I will want it to be sunny again tomorrow.

Still talking; brokering knowledge...

2010-07-08T18:15:00.002+01:00

I'm still talking; still brokering knowledge. I remain convinced that the role of knowledge broker/intermediary/boundary spanner - whatever you call it - is one of the essential skills of the 21st century. For my next 'trick' I hope to convince some influential people of it, too.

Knowledge Broker back on the way

2010-05-17T21:07:00.002+01:00

My study is a lot more sorted now, as I regained energy and started to make it a usable space again. Next I have to resume thinking and acting to resume work in some shape or form. Anyone want a freelance knowledge broker?

Freelance again ... not yet sorted

2010-04-26T18:27:00.002+01:00

I'm freelance again, but not yet sorted. My office remains a mess, full of unopened boxes, unsorted papers. Knowledge unmanaged, you might say...

Sixteen Days and counting...

2010-03-15T09:53:00.002Z

Counting down to the end of my contract on March 31st, so beginning to clear out rubbish in my home office to accommodate the rubbish in my work office. I plan to take April off, more or less, then begin some energetic writing on a couple of books, and take up any freelance work that comes my way.

At least the days are longer and lighter now here in the north of England. This morning returning from collecting newspapers in Crossflatts, the village below ours, I could walk along the towpath beside the Leeds to Liverpool Canal just after 6 o'clock. Walking by the water and watching for swans, ducks, and anticipating the return of a few herons, it is easy to refresh my mind and feel fairly at ease with things, despite the meagre amount of work on the horizon.

Redundancy looms

2010-02-17T23:58:00.001Z

Redundancy looms: my contract at the University of Leeds ends on March 31st. At 59, I don't expect it to be easy for me to find new work. Maybe now is time to spend a year out, writing? I find work, usually, so maybe even in these bad times, I shall do so?

Boston conference June 2009

2009-10-09T23:21:00.003+01:00

The Common Ground conference 'Knowledge, Management and Change in Organizations' at Northeastern University, Boston, in late June, was most interesting, and a great opportunity to meet up with knowledge professionals in North America. Also great staying in Boston, then having a short holiday in New York City - my partner's first visit to New York, and our first US trip post Obama - first since 2003, in fact.

I don't think I addressed the issue I wanted to, really, but subsequently I have concluded that knowledge brokering needs to develop as a subject with a specific curriculum for a professional qualification. That would make knowledge brokers to develop more systematically as professionals.

My next job - a mystery story

2009-10-09T23:18:00.003+01:00

I'm looking for a new job as a knowledge broker, and see it as a mystery story - I don't know what my next job will be. That's the mystery, and it's an exciting time.

I would be prepared to work elsewhere than West Yorkshire in England, and seriously would consider work in New Zealand, where I grew up and revisit every couple of years.

Boston in June

2009-01-26T10:46:00.002Z

Boston in June- my partner Heather and I will both present papers at a Common Ground conference in Boston Massachusetts in late June, which will be fun. It's the same group who organised the conference I attended last August in Cambridge (U.K), and this time I'm asking if it's possible to teach knowledge brokering through biography. It seems to me that the personal experience of what works and what doesn't is very useful in learning about brokering as an activity. Happy Australia Day :-)

Back on the blog...magazines and books

2009-01-26T10:32:00.003Z

Back on the blog...I am giving this blog another chance, though I've never been very good at keeping it up, and abandoned it last year for another one, which never got going either.

This morning on the train I read some of Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman's 'The Ten Faces of Innovation', which is a terrific book. It's not the only inovation book I'm into just now, as Curtis Carlson & William Wilmot's 'Innovation: the Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want' is on my chair, in my bag, by my bed, on the dining table - wherever I go except under the shower.

At Leeds Station I called by W H Smith's and came out with the February 09 issues of 'net', 'New Yorker', 'Time', 'Total Politics', and 'Vanity Fair'. Some have stuff on Obama, VF promises to uncover the "darkest secrets" of the Bush White House, and net covers trends in web design and search - all vital stuff for Roger the knowledge broker.

Currently, I'm writing a short overview of ethnography for one of our programmes (CIHM), the 'immersion visit' to Johannesburg. Tomorrow I begin an elective module on qualitiative methods for my Masters course, so all told I'm a busy bee, really. Could do with some sunshine, couldn't we all?

What's a knowledge broker to do?

2008-09-12T20:50:00.003+01:00

I have to get back to regular blogging here, and maybe set up a new blog for a fresh start?

What's a knowledge broker to do? That's the question to ask and answer. My task for the coming weeks.

April nearly over and still not posting regularly...

2008-04-20T18:35:00.004+01:00

Well, April is nearly over and still I'm not posting regularly. It's a problem. What is the point of the blog.

Originally I posted links and news items after the Boxing Day Asian Tsunami (remember that?), and continued on with periodic personal posts. I have had good resolutions to post knowledge broker-related items, but haven't done it yet. Here goes another try...

I am ecstatic about Japan based Information Architect's WebTrends Map 2008, which is a brilliant representation of the current state of all life on the web, in the style of a train network map. I got it last year, and this year it is even better...

http://www.informationarchitects.jp

Promises, promises...

2008-03-11T14:30:00.002Z

Have been away in New Zealand for Xmas/New Year, back in Leeds since mid-January, but too busy to blog. Have had an abstract accepted for a knowledge conference in Cambridge (U.K.) in August. I still plan to do better with this blog, but maybe I should start afresh with a new one?

Proper definitions

2007-11-20T23:42:00.000Z

Some time ago I found this search engine that allows you to get proper definitions. It's a great tool.Thanks to Phil Bradley"

http://www.metaglossary.com

Brokering Knowledge - about?

2007-11-11T18:55:00.000Z

What's it about? Brokering knowledge is about helping people talk with each other, share knowledge and communicate in ways that stick. That's how I approach it.

Roger's Curious World: the relaunch...

2007-10-02T23:09:00.001+01:00

Roger's 'New, Sticky, Curious World of Knowledge' starts now. Brokering knowledge so it sticks.

I haven't done much on the blog, but I'm going toturn it into an effective medium for communicating about my work and ideas, as a knowledge broker andknowledge manager.

All those good resolutions....

2007-07-22T23:46:00.000+01:00

Back at the start of the year, I said I'd blog daily on my work. Didn't do it. Now it's time to start afresh.

Tomorrow, I'll start by linking to some reviews of mine, and try and make entries at least once a week. Hmm. We'll see...

The lost art of the letter

2007-01-17T09:30:00.000Z

This is a very interesting article I found today on Arts and Letters Daily

Summary: Preserving paper documents
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/20/1/8/1

Preview: Brokering more knowledge in 2007

2006-12-21T10:15:00.000Z

Brokering more knowledge in 2007:

I've been busy with my work since October, so have put nothing up since then, but my plan is simple.

Starting in January 2007, I'll put up more entries reflecting the work I'm doing, especially new sites, links, documents and reports I come across. I hope it will be an improvement.

Merry Xmas & all the best for the New Year

Back again ... away again

2006-10-15T00:09:00.000+01:00

I'm back again - a month gone by, during which I had an obituary for the King of Tonga published in the UK national daily, The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1876280,00.html), and had a weekend in Berlin. Next week I'm off again, this time to Ottawa and Toronto, for more work with the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, and a conference run by them in Toronto. It will be my third visit to Canada in the past twelve months.

Internet reportage of a king's death

2006-09-12T22:56:00.000+01:00

It's fascinating to see the vast outpouring of obituaries, profiles, 'life and times' accounts, photographs, funeral preparations and personal reflections, all responding to the death of Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, late King of Tonga.

Internet reportage has transformed the way global events are covered. Forty one years ago, when Queen Salote died, the only media were the conventional press, radio, print media and national television services. Now the minutiae are spread via the internet, satellite television and radio, print media and their internet outlets.

I particularly like the Fiji Times reports, which give response to the present events, and reproduce their reports of the late King's Coronation in 1967.

Images of people's mourning is posted almost as it occurs, and one can only expect a further deluge of postings as the funeral approaches. For those of us who cannot get back to Tonga to be there, this is as good as it gets, and in some respects, the coverage is very, very good.

In Memoriam: King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga

2006-09-10T23:25:00.000+01:00

Sunday 10th September, 2006.

I learned via a prompt email from a friend in Fiji, that the King of Tonga had died, aged 88 years. He had reigned as king of the South Pacific Island Kingdom since 1965, when he succeeded his mother, Queen Salote Tupou III, who had been queen from the age of 18, in 1918.

Taufa'ahau, who was educated in Australia, and was the first Tongan to gain a university degree (BA LLB, from the University of Sydney), contributed greatly to the development of Tongan society, both while he was Crown Prince, and Premier, and after becoming king.

He was the moderniser,the innovator, attracted to novelty and grand schemes, some very practical and beneficial to improving the Tongan economy, and the lot of ordinary Tongans, and some not so practical or beneficial. A big man in all respects, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV will be missed, and his passing will allow for further democratic changes, long awaited.

The King's funeral will doubtless be a grand affair, possibly the last of its scale that Tongan society will see. It will be fascinating to watch how the kingdom develops under the next king.

[I have a lifelong connection with Tonga, having been to school in New Zealand with the late Prince Tu'ipelehake, and the Hon. Ma'ulupekotofa Tuita, having taught as a volunteer teacher in Tonga in 1969, and visited several other times, for study and for pleasure. I speak Tongan still, and would like to visit gain in the future, possibly for the coronation of the next king]

Outdoor living... mmm.

2006-07-28T01:14:00.000+01:00

Outdoor living ... mmm. The weather has been so good recently, we've been able to eat in our garden virtually every evening for the past three weeks. Indeed, before about 7.00 p.m., it has been too hot, largely, to be outside. Climate change has guilty little short term benefits.

What have I been doing?

2006-07-06T23:51:00.000+01:00

What have I been doing since May, that I've not posted until now.

On a personal note, today I had possibly my last session with a clinical psychologist in Nottingham, with whom I have talked for eight years following my pain management course in Nottingham in 1998. I doubt I would have been doing most of the things I'm doing now if it hadn't been for that course, which came at just the right time for me.

Professionally, I've been busy, with a week during June in Ottawa, at the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation [CHSRF], working to set up a resource 'repository' for decisionmakers. It was a very busy week, with a lot achieved. Now we must consolidate it. Since my return, I've been busy collecting resources for a CDHPP social enterprise summer school, which is in progress this week, and apparently is going very well.

The theory of the long tail

2006-07-06T23:44:00.000+01:00

Thursday 6 July 2006

The Independent Extra today has a cover article on how consumers have taken control of popular culture, and virtually insisted that a wide choice of goods and services are available.

The article is based on a new book called 'The Long Tail' by Chris Anderson. I think it could be very influential this year, in the same way the Tipping Point and Blink have been.

Knowledge Work

2006-05-21T23:44:00.000+01:00

'Thinking for a living' is Thomas Davenport's definition of the work for many people in the modern world - knowledge workers. Contrary to common belief, this is not just knowledge managers, brokers or knowledge transfer 'workers, but much broader.

Blogging may be random communication, but...

2006-03-06T22:59:00.000Z

Blogging may be random communication, but sometimes that randomness is its strength, making unexpected connections.

Knowledge brokering, knowledge transfer and exchange - my daily work - are more focused on relationships with a purpose, and if I could bring the two together, that could be of much value. Meantime, I'll work on both, publish in both fields.

Heather Dale, therapist: New website.

2006-02-20T20:47:00.000Z

My partner, Heather Dale, is an experienced psychotherapist, and her new web site has just gone live. It has a background of photos from Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand, her favourite spot outside West Yorkshire.

The url is:

http://www.heatherdale.counselling.co.uk/

CDHPP & CHE - two web sites where I work

2006-02-20T20:27:00.000Z

I work at the University of Leeds, and my knowledge brokerage work is part of two web sites:

Centre for the Development of Healthcare Policy and Practice
http://www.cdhpp.leeds.ac.uk

Centre for Health Enterprise
http://www.healthenterprise.leeds.ac.uk

These will give readers something of an idea about my work. My personal note/biography on these sites gives more information. I'm happy to answer queries.

Happy New Year - and a healthy one...

2006-01-23T20:18:00.000Z

I'm glad to say that I'm now quite well. I had chest infections up to Christmas, but three weeks in the New Zealand summer helped my recovery immensely. We were there from December 19th to January 8th, and had a lovely time - visited our new house, saw my favourite uncle (Roy), celebrated Xmas in the sun, and saw the New Year in at my brother's farm. We played with my six great nieces and great nephews, and that was fun. We drove miles and miles the length of the country, from the Bay of Islands in the north to Dunedin in the south, with visits to Rotorua (Xmas), and Maruia Springs ( just before New Year). It was really relaxing and just what Heather and I needed.

Now I'm back to the day job - knowledge manager and knowledge broker at Leeds University, and thinking of ways to go and work and live back in New Zealand. I can dream...

Sick but still here...

2005-12-10T07:44:00.000Z

Life has been pretty miserable for the last three weeks, as since mid-November I have had a bad bout of flu, and a severe upper respiratory tract infection. I have energy again now, but a distressing cough, and it's not responding quickly to antiobiotics and prednisilone. Soon, i hope, as on December 16th, we fly via Singapore to New Zealand, for three weeks in summer weather. I can't wait.

Today, my partner and I go for an early Christmas meal with her family. On the way there, we're going for some serious book buying at Border's, near Leicester, in England's East Midlands. My idea of paradise...

Shouldn't you be asleep?

2005-11-02T00:12:00.000Z

It's after midnight, and I've been stumbling about on the net. If anyone reads this, ask yourself if you should be awake still. I know I shouldn't.

Back in the U.K...

2005-10-31T12:03:00.000Z

i'm back in the U.K. now, after a week in Canada, at a Knowledge Brokering Workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and meeting people in knowledge brokeing and knowledge transfer, in toronto. Exhausted me, but it was a really useful trip.

Sorting and sifting stuff ...

2005-10-08T15:51:00.000+01:00

I'm sorting stuff in my study, and found a newspaper cutting from 1993, with the enticing prediction "Half the world under 24 by 2001". I think I hoped I might be in that half of the population...

However, life is attractively busy. In two weeks time I go to Canada for knowledge brokering workshops in Nova Scotia, and trips to Toronto and Montreal. I've never been to Canada at all, so this is a real pleasure. Also just been accepted for a distance learning MSc in knowledge management. We go to New Zealand in about 10 weeks time.

Managing knowledge - a slide show

2005-09-09T18:16:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I gave a slide show [PowerPoint] on managing knowledge. It was just to a small group at Leeds University, but they liked the combination of good photos with short captions, succinct text and select references. I can improve it, for future sessions, and Susan Hamer suggested I take it to Canada on my trip there next month.

I'm not making entries regularly enough...

2005-08-29T23:46:00.000+01:00

[Sigh] It's quite difficult to put up meaningful entries regularly, and I'm not managing very well.

Even weekly posting should be possible...perhaps with news of work, books I'm reading, etc? If it wasn't so late, I would write more tonight, but I ought to be in bed.

Awesome sights and sounds

2005-07-08T00:01:00.000+01:00

Following the terrorist attacks in London today I am struck by the awesome sights and sounds, the eye witness accounts, of the dead and wounded, the ripped open bus, cordoned off streets, and the unique image of thousands of people walking quietly home, or, in a bizarre view, abandoning cars near Heathrow Airport, and dragging bags along the hard shoulder in attempts to reach flights. It was the first time I can recall clips from private citizens picture phones being used in news stories.

Hearing of the attacks while at work in Leeds, my colleagues and I spent much of the morning half attending to work, half to the breaking news. I phoned my sister, brother in law and nephew, first in central London ( where they have apartments), then in Devon, their family home. They were in Devon, to my relief. When I spoke to my partner around 3 p.m, she had not even heard about the bombings, having been in interviewing work all day, and immediately wanted to make sure her sister, nephew and niece in London were all OK, too.

In something of an imitation of our actions on 9/11, we sat at home in the evening watching some of the news bulletins and piecing together the events. Twenty four hours earlier, it seemed so euphoric after London's 2012 Olympics award, now, so soon, that euphoria has evaporated in the blasts,smoke and flames. It will return, but the anticipation will always be tinged with memories of these events of 7 July.

Promises, promises...

2005-06-15T09:29:00.000+01:00

Back in May I said I would put up a weekly entry - sorry, I haven't done it. Now, mid-June, I can have another start.

Knowledge brokering and management work is very busy right now, and the priority is to project myself more to my colleagues, explaining more what I do and how I can support their work. I'm not a pushy type, more a back-room sort, but having undertaken a 360 degree feedback thing recently, I have learned that I am seen as too much in the background. Will I go too far the other way to compensate?

Watch this space...

Time to make a realistic promise...

2005-05-07T15:08:00.000+01:00

After an absence of nearly two months from the blog, it's time for me to make a realistic promise to write a new entry at least once a week.

I am relieved that the general election is over, and that the Labour government was returned, although I would have preferred a larger majority, as, no doubt would Tony Blair. He is likely to be a hostage to the self-destructive whims of left-wingers and serial dissenters, MPs who would rather be 'pure' than be in power.

Turning to work, I await a visit on Monday & Tuesday by Irving Gold, Director of Knowledge Transfer & Knowledge Brokering at the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. He's coming to dinner with us in East Morton on Tuesday evening. We should have the chance to discuss my proposed visit to Canada in October.

Today is a day of sunshine and showers, and I have done 3 loads of washing, two of which have dried. Again, I turn to the neverending task of sorting my study and its clutter. This is one of the few places where I have failed to make a successful system for keeping things in order. One day...

Roger's Blog updated...

2005-03-20T17:36:00.000Z

Yesterday was the first day of spring when I could sit outside in the sun and find it warm. I finished reading 'Small Island', the lovely book by Andrea Levy, and then dipped into a book of Songs and Poems of Queen Salote of Tonga. Today has been grey and about 5 to 7 degrees cooler.

We have completed our flight bookings for our December 2005/January 2006 trip to New Zealand. Now we've begun to book accommodation, with our first three nights at Villa Bruce, in Paihia, and five nights over Christmas, at the farmstay Tara Valley, near Rotorua.These are places we know well now, and know the people.

The Paihia days will allow us to go to Whangarei to see the house we bought there last July, a house we have seen only in photos. How I long for the day when we can go and live there...

A whole bunch of articles...

2005-02-23T14:15:00.000Z

The March issue of Journal of Nursing Management has a lot of interesting content, and the following is a selection of them. If you have access to the journal on-line or as hard copy, you may follow up to get the articles, but if not, please feel free to e-mail me at Leeds University and I will forward the ones you request.

Hendel T, M Fish & V Galon(2005) 'Leadership style and choice of strategy in conflict management aamong Israeli nurse managers in general hospitals, Journal of Nursing Management [JNM] V.13 No 2 :pp137-146.

Henderson A, S Winch, R Henney et al (2005) 'Working from the inside', an infrastructure for the continuing development of nurses' professional clinical practice, JNM V. 13 No.2,pp106-110.

Murphy L (2005) Transformational leadership: a cascading chain reaction, JNM V.13 No.2,pp128-136.

Nilsson K, & U S Larsson(2005)Conceptions of gender - a study of female and male head nurses' statements, JNM V.13 No.2,pp179-186.

Rutherford J, J Leigh, J Monk & C Murray (2005) Creating an organizational infrastructure to develop and support new nursing roles - a framework for debate, JNM V.13 No.2,pp97-105.

Suominen T, Savikko N et al (2005) Work empowerment as experienced by head nurses, JNM V.13 No.2,pp147-153.

Quiet times...turbulent times.

2005-02-18T16:48:00.000Z

Quiet times recently: a week ago I had a tooth extraction, and have had a terrible time for a week, lots of pain, just feeling awful. I had forgotten what a shock to the system a dental extraction is - like an assault. Today, for the first time since before the event, I have energy enough for anything else than trying to manage the pain. I was able to read a short book, "Rain" by Kirsty Gunn, and listen to some music, Brahms' First Symphony.

This is a piece of music forever associated with my last year in high school. I heard it first while lying in the Botanical Garden in Wellington, New Zealand, in August 1968,just when the Russian tanks moved into Czechoslovakia. I was in Wellington for a selection course for the New Zealand Volunteer Servce Abroad [VSA] scheme. Those seemed like quiet days in turbulent times.

Silent, but not inactive...

2005-01-25T23:51:00.000Z

For two weeks, I have been silent on these pages, but not inactive. Much of the time I am at work, the University of Leeds, but on 14 January (my birthday) and 15-16 January, I went away with my partner Heather, for a mystery weekend. We stayed in Bakewell, in the Derbyshire Peak District. It's a rugged but tranquil place, and a great place to be based for a short break.

Now I'm back at work, and spending January sorting my files, getting rid of unnecessary papers, and doing some good reading:

My brother in law, Tony Gould, has published a new book, "Don't Fence Me In: From Curse to Cure. Leprosy in Modern Times"[published by Bloomsbury], and I have begun to read and enjoy it. It's likely this reference to it will be picked up, as naturally he is monitoring reviews and references to it, and I said I would, too, in the course of my knowledge management work. Additionally, I shall resume use of my blog as a place to share my work.

NHS HealthSpace on the www

2005-01-10T00:55:00.000Z

This is an interesting innovation from the UK's National Health Service "HealthSpace is a secure place on the internet where you can store all your personal health information."

Alternative American Sites

2005-01-10T00:15:00.000Z

During the U.S. Presidential Elections, I looked at several alternative sites, including:
American Prospect Online
Liberal Oasis
Ms Magazine

More from the Sri Lanka Blog- Focus on the big picture

2005-01-05T23:04:00.000Z

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Focus on the big picture

If you haven't yet been to... StumbleUpon

2005-01-05T20:07:00.000Z

If you haven't yet been to StumbleUpon ... you should try it...StumbleUpon Reviews

One of my favourites: Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate

2005-01-04T20:43:00.000Z

As well as posting links relating to the South East Asia tsunami disaster, I want to continue some regular items of knowledge management. Arts and Letters Daily is one of my favourite sites, and I look at it every day for chance new material. I've given the link to my colleagues and friends, and most people become enthusiastic, too. It's one of those sites that grows on you. Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate

A good idea: Councils plan to twin with tsunami towns

2005-01-04T20:38:00.000Z

This is such a good idea, a really good way to ensure the relief work is embedded in civil society:SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | Councils plan to twin with tsunami towns

More from the Sri Lanka blogger- From war to the wave

2005-01-04T20:32:00.000Z

Here's the link to another Guardian blog from the aid worker in Sri Lanka Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | From war to the wave

Asian disaster - Getting knowledge No. 4: Sri Lanka Blog

2005-01-02T23:58:00.000Z

Here's a blog direct from a former AOL News editor, now working for an aid organisation in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Blog

Google Digital Library - more comment

2005-01-02T10:32:00.000Z

Once again, Tara Calishain [ResearchBuzz] points to a goodie - very pertinent questions from librarians on one of Google's new big projects, the digitisation of many book collections. Google

Asian disaster - getting knowledge: No. 3.

2005-01-01T01:20:00.000Z

The following link is a great weblog for tracking the aid work, and finding ways to give effective help:
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami

NPR : Google's Plan Prompts a Question: What's on the Web?

2004-12-31T13:48:00.000Z

Speculation on the effect of digitisation of the world's libraries:
"Are we getting closer to the day when most of the world's knowledge is a click away?"
NPR : Google's Plan Prompts a Question: What's on the Web?

Navhind Times on the Web: World

2004-12-31T13:40:00.000Z

Here's another viewpoint - on the UN's setting a 12 month deadline for a tsunami warning system:Navhind Times on the Web: World

Asian disaster - getting knowledge: No. 2

2004-12-31T11:13:00.000Z

Newspaper web sites, such as 'The Guardian'are very useful, and also I've found some good resources on the World Health Organisation[WHO] site.

Especially useful is the Emergency Health Action Programme for South East Asia (first 100 days) which gives a longer term perspective on future needs. Printable versions and PDF available.

The WHO's 'World Report on Knowledge for Better Health: Strengthening Health Systems', published in mid-December 2004, seems even more timely now. It can be downloaded from the WHO website, or hard copies bought. One of those 'wow' publications.

Researchbuzz has a snapshot of some of the weblogs and search engine resources about this issue, too.

Asian disaster - getting knowledge

2004-12-31T10:22:00.000Z

Asian disaster - getting knowledge - there are many useful resources, among them the BBC News site:

Asian disaster: How to help

Global aid organisations have launched urgent appeals for donations to help survivors of Sunday's Indian Ocean earthquake disaster.

More than 100,000 people are confirmed killed by the waves and millions more are homeless.

Many governments and organisations - including the US, Canada, Australia, the EU and the UN - are sending aid.

The UN has warned that supplies are urgently needed to support the survivors and to try and prevent disease which, it says, could double the death toll.

The Disasters Emergency Committee - www.dec.org.uk - is an umbrella group of UK aid organisations - including Action Aid, British Red Cross and Oxfam - working to provide clean water, food and shelter to thousands. To call from the UK, dial 0870 60 60 900.

The United Nations World Food Programme - www.wfp.org - is seeking donations to feed victims of the earthquake.

Medecins Sans Frontieres - www.msf.org - is sending aid workers to the region, focusing on medical care for survivors and displaced people after the rescue operations.

The United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef - www.unicef.org.uk - is working to meet the "urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of people" affected by the tsunami disaster.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR - www.unhcr.ch - which has been helping victims of conflicts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, is delivering relief supplies to tsunami survivors in both countries.

Save the Children - www.savethechildren.org.uk - has already flown a plane out to Sri Lanka carrying plastic sheeting for temporary shelter, tents to run children's services from and essentials such as clothing and cooking utensils.

Anti-poverty organisation Care International - www.care.org - has already provided food for thousands of affected people in Sri Lanka.

Cafod, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development - www.cafod.org.uk - is working with partners across Asia to provide shelter, food aid and medical assistance, and assessing what further relief is needed.

The Red Cross, with its sister charity the Red Crescent, is supplying blankets, cooking utensils and other crucial goods. It has had to set up a new site - www.ifrc.org - because of the unprecedented demand from people wanting to make donations.

The Hindu Forum Disaster Relief Task Force - www.hinduforum.org - comprises 50 organisations and is raising money, clothes and medicines. Donations can be made online or by calling the ISKCON Disaster Appeal on 01923 856848 or Sewa International on 0116 261 0303.

Christian Aid - www.christianaid.org.uk - has already allocated £250,000 from its emergency fund to help the victims of this disaster but says more money is needed.

Christian charity Tearfund - www.tearfund.org - and its partners in Sri Lanka and India are helping devastated fishing communities and coastal villages get back on their feet.

Islamic Relief - www.islamic-relief.com - has also launched an appeal to provide medical supplies, tents and sanitation facilities for those affected.

The Islamic Aid Emergency Relief Fund - www.islamicaid.org.uk - aims to provide immediate relief and long-term support to people in the affected areas.

Another Islamic charity, Muslim Hands - www.muslimhands.org - is collecting money and sending volunteers to help in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Medair - www.medair.org - is providing emergency support to agencies with a long-term presence in Sri Lanka and its medical experts are assessing the likelihood of malaria and diarrhoea.

World Vision - www.worldvision.org.uk - has also launched an appeal and has already delivered relief goods to thousands.

Concern - www.concern.net - is working with local partners to meet the needs of families in the devastated coastal villages of Tamil Nadu, the worst-affected state in India.

The International Rescue Committee - www.theirc.org - is providing emergency supplies and materials to "people most affected by the crisis".

The Salvation Army - www.salvationarmy.org.uk has local teams working in a number of affected areas and is sending a team from its international headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Muslim Aid - www.muslimaid.org - has already donated £100,000 towards the purchase of food, clothing and medicine in the region but wants to raise more.

Action Aid - www.actionaid.org - is the biggest charity working in south India. It is focusing its relief work on the coast of Tamil Nadu, where 7,000 people died. It is working on providing medical assistance and sanitation for the survivors.

Oxfam - www.oxfam.org - is active in Indonesia, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and India. Their relief operations include distributing food packs and hygiene kits and setting up water and sanitation facilities.

Asia Quake Relief Appeal UK, a UK-based Sri Lankan organisation, is also raising money and can be emailed at asia-quakerelief@europe.com

Hindu NGO Baps Care International - www.bapscare.org - is working in villages around Chennai in Southern India distributing food, drinking water, tarpaulins, utensils, stoves, clothes and blankets.

You can donate to all the campaigns via their websites.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4131881.stm

Published: 2004/12/30 21:17:07 GMT

© BBC MMIV

Tara Calishain: on the futility of trying to "Out-Google Google"

2004-12-30T01:58:00.000Z

Here's an article by Tara Calishain that I enjoyed, though I still like watching and trying out other search engines:

Why Try to Out-Google Google? by Tara Calishain -- If Google has been successful, Tara Calishain says, initially at least, it had nothing to do with actual technology. Tara, coauthor of the best-selling Google Hacks, looks at what has made Google a success, as well as ways Google could out-Google itself. If search engines took a close look at the cultural factors that led to some of Google's success, and then considered how they could leapfrog what Google's doing now, the competition to be your search engine of choice might really heat up.

I do like Clusty the clustering engine, too...

2004-12-29T23:41:00.000Z

I do like new-kid-on-the-block Clusty, too.
It gives you useful topic clusters, listed with results totals. It was launched in October, and I'm still playing around with it. "I'm a little clustering engine, Clusty is my name..."

[N.B. Read Search Engine Lowdown on it- the last item in this archive link.]

GoogleScholar - keep watching

2004-12-29T19:55:00.000Z

I get the feeling that GoogleScholar is not the finished article yet, and we'll have to keep watching for refinements. I like the idea of cooperation with university or public libraries and giving people the option of gaining access via on-line library sites. I've begun to collect articles and links to critiques of GoogleScholar, and will place these in my blog sometime. I found an interesting link to an interview with its originator recently.

Advanced Searching from Google Scholar:

Search can now be limited by:
+ Title of Publication
+ Date Range
+ Words in Document Title
+ Author
+ See up to 100 results per search

I picked this up via Search Engine Watch

RCWoK.01 - Where are those cosy cafes for knowledge managers?

2004-12-29T16:43:00.000Z

There are some www sites that feel like cosy cafes which you find by
chance, and revisit repeatedly, because they are such interesting
places. You feel immediately at home, like you can browse, or grab a
coffee (or tea, in my case) and a muffin (or some yummy cake?), and
take out a newspaper or a heap of books you've just bought, and spend
hours there, exploring what's there, meeting people, or doing some good
reading.

I thought I'd mention two or three that I like, so maybe others will
try them, too:

KnowledgeBoard - http://www.knowledgeboard.com - an EU funded site,
with many interesting and ever-changing, often raging discussions on
forums and communities of practice discussion boards, new and hot
articles, resources and links, news of forthcoming events - lots of
goodies, and a feeling that knowledge matters and yet is fun. I go
there every day, many times.

Gurteen Knowledge Cafe - http://www.gurteen.com - the www site of David
Gurteen, a UK based knowledge management consultant. It's a bit
quirky, but always looks invitingly packed with a cornucopia of great
stuff - articles, papers, forums, links, listings of workshops and
conferences.

Both of these can be visited casually, or registering for e-mail
newsletters . ResearchBuzz - http://www.researchbuzz.com - I've
mentioned in a previous entry, and for me it's one of these cosy cafes,
too, ever since I chanced on it. Thanks very much, again, Tara, for
this wonderful site, and for your acknowledgement of my entry into
blogging. I'm having lots of fun at the Web Search Garage, both with
things I know and things I don't know, and the books will be with me
and my tea and muffins for a long time. Oops, there's a butter smudge
on the cover now...

Hey, Tara, thanks...

2004-12-29T14:46:00.000Z

Hey,Tara, thanks for your acknowledgement on ResearchBuzz of this weblog, and your good wishes. I've valued your resources for some time now, and have spread the word about it. I'm enjoying 'Web Search Garage' a lot, too, both for new things and things I knew already. Pandia calls it "probably the best book on web searching available today".

Publishing my favourite articles, sites and links

2004-12-27T21:49:00.000Z

I shall publish my favourite articles, web sites and links on this
blog, when I have something interesting to post. Currently, I collate
A4 Knowledge, a one A4 page email newsletter to my colleagues and other
interested friends, about once a fortnight.

Also,I maintain pages on Knowledge Brokerage for my workplace, the Centre for the Development of Healthcare Policy and Practice,which can be found under
'Knowledge Transfer'
at http://healthcare.leeds.ac.uk

Talking to myself...

2004-12-27T10:30:00.000Z

It seems likely to me that most times I shall be talking to myself on this blog, which is a bit strange, so I hope somebody drops in and reads it, and responds.

Meanwhile, I am going to use the space to record the view from my window, the scene in our front garden, the books I'm reading, the work I'm doing, my hopes, fears and dreams.

It's a cold, grey morning here on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors, a few miles from the Ilkley Moor, from Haworth's Bronte Parsonage. Heather and I are off work until January 4th, so we can read lots, go for walks by the Leeds to Liverpool Canal, maybe shopping. Early on Christmas Day we gave each other little things in Christmas stockings, and after a treat cooked breakfast, Heather went to see her pony Dominic (he's a 28 year old Welsh-Arab cross foranyone who knows about ponies)to muck out, and around 12.30 we drove down to Lincoln to spend Christmas Day with her family - present giving, and at 3.00 p.m a traditional family dinner,roast turkey, potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, cranberry sauce and all. After dinner, the older ones dozed in front of television, the younger ones (in their 20s and 30s, so not that young) played with some plastic disc gun, and some of us chatted in the kitchen, or wrapped up warm and sat talking outside. About 9.30 p.m Heather and I drove home, arriving about 11.30 p.m. Yesterday was a day for loafing about at home, reading, nibbling. Everything seems in a different perspective as the news bulletins talk of the tsunami and the rising death toll (over 17,000 as I write)- Sri Lanka, Thailand, Sumatra, these are places used by westerners as a holiday 'tropical paradise' destination. In reality, life there is fragile, and even if you've lived and worked in the Pacific Islands, and experienced small hurricanes, as I have, disaster on such a scale remains impossible to comprehend. That's my 'diary' entry for this morning, and maybe I'll just keep quiet for a few days now.

Research Buzz.com has inspired me to blog.

2004-12-27T01:18:00.000Z

Researchbuzz.com, hosted by Tara Calishain, has inspired me to blog. I found ResearchBuzz some time ago, rave about it all over, and was given Tara's book 'Web Search Garage' for Christmas, by my wife, and it's the book of an enthusiast. My work is all about keeping my colleagues up to date in health care policy and practice, research, politics, leadership, civic society. I do a lot of library research, networking, and web searching. I really enjoy discoving new ideas, web sites, articles, books, often just by playing around at random. Focussed search is great, but random searching can be very creative, too.

Why my curious world?

2004-12-26T23:59:00.000Z

I'm a knowledge manager, and this is my curious world because being curious about all sorts of things is what I'm about, personally and professionally. I live in a village in West Yorkshire, in the north of England, with my partner/wife Heather, a psychotherapist and lecturer.

Weblogs are a great way to say hi to people, arouse curiosity, and start new dialogues. I hope this happens through postings and comments here.