Librarians, libraries, and DSpace abroad

The London trip had its librarian moments! First was the trip to Cambridge, riding the train with Bents' friends. Mike and Irene are both librarians. Mike worked in archives and lost his job. He is currently looking. A bleak scene in London really. Irene works in a public library. I was unable to visit her work place however. Once in Cambridge we all met Eleanor, another friend of Bents, who is also a librarian! She too is a public librarian!

During our visit Ian Bent wanted to show us his new study, a room built over the garage across the back garden from their townhouse. He was eager to show us his project about Heinrich Schenker, music theorist, whose works Ian is translating and digitizing. (Ian is retired from the Music Department at Columbia and continuing work on Schenker in retirement at home in England.) As I looked about Ian's study, I notice a large notebook labeled "Dublin Core!" I told him the origin of the name (being an Ohioan!) and then asked why he had it. He said he used it to develop his metadata for the Schenker digital archive! And where should his archive reside but on DSpace!!! The tech people at Cambridge University are helping him with DSpace software so that he can "publish" his work begun at Columbia. So there across the sea, in a retired music professor's home office, I discovered the very thing I had taken the year to study, digital archives. Except he was doing it!!!

And finally we could not leave London without seeing the fabulous new British Library, just a half mile walk from our flat. We caught a glimpse of the exhibits, but ran out of time for the full tour. We learned that the document delivery people are not in London, so I couldn't see the very department we have been dealing with for Engineering Library delivery service.... It is an impressive building, one I hope to revisit for a longer time.