Thanking librarians

It is always interesting to read a book’s acknowledgment pages. I invariably make a point of doing so, even if the names mean nothing to me. Mindful of those who merit or may be expecting to be thanked for having assisted the author along the way, people are acknowledged according to particular categories. There areRead More

I’m looking for footage of…

That last blog post on the battle of Flodden has reminded of a list we used to maintain at the BFI’s National Film and Television Archive’s cataloguing department of memorable footage requests. Having a film collection that covered just about every subject on earth, you were bound to get some wide-ranging requests from footage researchers,Read More

Every format, everywhere, all at once

Here’s a major thing. Film Atlas is an online encyclopedia of film formats. Launched to the public last month, it is a collaboration between the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and the George Eastman Museum, with funding from the Louis B. Mayer Foundation, the George Eastman Museum Publishing Trust Endowment, and FIAF (Eileen BowserRead More

Fischer v Spassky

I have bought myself a chess set. I have several chess sets already, but I spotted this one, or one like it, among the remarkable collection of knick-knackery in the Limehouse Library Hotel in London (how many libraries have been converted into hotels?) and was entranced. There was a similar set on eBay and nowRead More