{"id":2520,"date":"2016-02-26T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T14:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/?p=2520"},"modified":"2016-02-26T14:35:13","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T14:35:13","slug":"28-years-and-counting-from-pen-and-paper-to-blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lshtm.ac.uk\/library\/2016\/02\/26\/28-years-and-counting-from-pen-and-paper-to-blogging\/","title":{"rendered":"28 years and counting: from pen and paper to blogging!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January 1988, aged 25, I started work here as a library assistant. Now 28 years later and aged 53 I\u2019m still here! I\u2019m not sure if that is cause for celebration or a worrying sign of my extreme procrastination! My colleagues decided it was<\/em> a cause for celebration and on my 25th<\/sup> anniversary, presented me with a lovely cake at a surprise party.<\/p>\n

\"anniversary<\/a><\/p>\n

To my embarrassment I was also handed a copy of my job application.<\/p>\n

On it I wrote: \u201cI am very keen on this position of Library Assistant, since there appears to be quite a wide variety of tasks to be undertaken and I would also like the chance to use microcomputers\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n

Microcomputers! That sounds so quaint now! When I first started at the library we did make as much use of the modern technology of the time that we could, but a networked personal computer on every work desk was still a few years away.<\/p>\n

To borrow books our library users stood at the library enquiry desk and wrote out by hand onto small index cards, the bibliographic details of each book they wanted to borrow.<\/p>\n

\"card\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There were no barcodes to be swiped using an automated library management system quite yet, that came later. Each day, a member of the library staff typed the information from these cards onto a shared PC, using a popular word processing package of the day, called \u2018WordStar\u2019, closely followed by \u2018WordPerfect\u2019. Yes I remember life before Microsoft\u2019s \u2018Word\u2019.<\/p>\n

So I did sometimes get to use a microcomputer, but mostly in those early days I used a typewriter for many of my daily tasks, including, occasionally, a very old manual typewriter. This involved hitting the keys from a great height and with gusto to produce anything vaguely legible! The arrival of an IBM \u2018Golf Ball\u2019 electric typewriter (with correcting ribbon, no less) was a great help and was the height of sophistication to me then.<\/p>\n

Our library users browsed through catalogue cards to find items in the library and unbelievably I used the very attractive machine below to punch the correct shaped holes into some of these cards to enable them to be held securely in the card drawers. I have actually seen very similar equipment in a real museum!<\/p>\n

\"hole<\/a><\/p>\n

I also got to use the school\u2019s Telex machine which we used to send messages to our off-site store for retrieving older journals and books. 28 years later I still retrieve items from store, but now I just send an email from the comfort of my own desk. My access to email and the internet in the library arrived in about 1994 and I can\u2019t imagine life, at work or otherwise, without it now. By the way for those who don\u2019t know what a Telex machine is, it involves two teleprinters and a phone line in between. It\u2019s a bit like texting but with wires attached.<\/p>\n

With the support of the school\u2019s wonderful IT Services team, the Library has constantly embraced developments in technology over the years I have been here and continues to do so. I came here at an interesting time. I have seen pen and paper and typewriters give way PC\u2019s, computer networking and, of course, the birth of the internet and the use of social media. When I arrived in 1988 I had no idea I would be doing this thing called \u2018Blogging\u2019 in 2016 and that I was to navigate a technological revolution via my working life here. If I had I may have taken notes!<\/p>\n

And just in case some of you are sniggering at the idea of using a telex machine, or bashing away on a museum piece of a typewriter, remember that it all becomes history in the end, given long enough!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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