I’ve been looking around to see if Eurovision data exists as linked data, or openly in any format. I can find relatively little, mostly just data about one of the recent contests, or about UK performances. None of it is…
RDA as a closed standard
Resource Description and Access (RDA), the new bibliographic standard to replace AACR2, was released in 2010 on the web as a closed standard sitting behind a paywall. This really worries me. I strongly believe it should be an open standard.…
In Our Time booklist
I have written a script which takes an unstructured reading list on the BBC’s In Our Time website, searches the British National Bibliography (BNB) using bibliographica for the books on the list, and returns structured metadata for the records it…
ISKO-UK linked data day
On 14 September I went to the ISKO-UK one day conference on Linked Data: the Future of Knowledge Organisation on the Web. For me, this followed on from a previous Talis session on Linked Data and Libraries I attended at…
Crazy Elephant (chess variant)
As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been playing a lot of correspondence chess over the last couple years at SchemingMind.com. One of the great things about SchemingMind is the range of chess variants you can play there.…
Royal scandals are not what they were
If you ever think the current British royal family is prone to scandal, how about this one from the 1660s as told by Samuel Pepys in his diary. It involves the future King James II, who in 1668 was the…
Survey on BBC News website
The BBC News website was silly enough to ask my opinion of their site earlier today. I couldn’t let that opportunity go, so filled in the survey, including the following two questions: Q. What do you like about the BBC…
CILIP (not) on Newsnight
I understand that CILIP was actually offered a chance to talk on Newsnight the other day. I’ve always been of the opinion that CILIP should make more effort to push itself into the media, to publicise and stand-up for the…
Eurovision 2010: post mortem of the United Kingdom entry
Just before the results started to be announced during Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest, I made a couple of predictions: I wonder if Greece might be a good compromise candidate. I’ll say Greece. Possibly Germany. Null points could well go the…
Thoughts on Eurovision 2010
A good year, although some good songs, especially the Dutch entry, didn’t make the final. Anyway, my vote goes for Germany. My anti-vote goes to Israel: it was better performed than the semi-final but still makes me want to wince.…