Tom Roper's Weblog

Cesarewitch Day

Off to Cambridge for the weekend, alas, not Newmarket, but here are today's:
205 Newmarket Polar Way (not to be confused with the two other horses named Polar in this race)
245 Contact Dancer
325 Mister Monet
400 Home Affairs

Virginia and the Ouse

I tried to answer the question I set myself during this morning's train ride through the mists on the Ouse, but the bext i coudl find is that it was near Monk's House in Rodmell which I think I knew. But I'm sure Special Collectionsat the University of Sussex library will have the answer

BMJ on impact factors

This week's BMJ editorial discusses impact factors and their abuse, and there are some rapid responses as well.
Note also the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee's discussion of impact factors as a part of their report on scientific journals and more recently in their report on the RAE , in which they say: "It is not acceptable for peer review panels to rely on the place of publication as a guarantee of quality. We recommend that HEFCE to instruct panels to desist from this practice for RAE 2008 and ensure that panels are sufficiently large and well staffed to make informed judgements of the quality of the submissions."

The Ouse, 745 am, Friday 15th October

I've just looked out of the train window to see the most gorgeous mist on the Ouse, as the train travels between Newhaven and Southease. I must find out where Virginia Woolf died.

Podcasting

This looks interesting, though my participation in the podcasting revolution will havbe to wait until I get broadband A history of podcasting endgadget on how to podcast

Scholarly Journal Prices: Selected trends and comparisons

Latest report on journal price inflation Scholarly Journal Prices: Selected trends and comparisons

Wine Librarian's Association

Anyone for a UK chapter of this organisation? Wine Librarians Association (via catalogablog)

Currently playing in iTunes: Le

Currently playing in iTunes: Le chant des marais by Leny Escudéro

Selections: York and Punchestown

205 York Yajbili
300 Punchestown Barrack Buster
330 Punchestown Blazing Liss
340 York Pic Up Sticks
430 Punchestown Ashstorm

Harvest Festival

I'm astonished by a notice from my daughter's school announcing their harvest festival which says that "for health and safety reasons, we cannot accept fresh produce". Is it just because I remember the harvest festivals of my infancy, at the Fawcett school in Trumpington, the only school where I was happy; there the stage in the school hall would be filled with fruit and vegetables. I thought that the display was done simply because it looked beautiful, and was even more impressed when I found out that it was distributed to local old people. My daughter's school is donating the materials gathered for their festival to a local hostel. Do the cooks in this hostel not know what to do with fresh vegetables? I could understand a school which did not want children whose parents didn't have allotments or gardens to feel left out and therefore encouraged them to bring in tinned and other preserved food. But to ban fresh stuff altogether? And now I see some schools have banned conkers out of fear of nut allergy. Pass the tin-opener, Escoffier, what's for dinner?