A  solar fountain.

 A solar fountain is like a life

It spits and spouts when the sun is out

When clouds pass by it dips it’s head

When blusters wind hits it water spout

It sends a sprinkle to all nearby

And even hits a passing fly

 

It cost ten quid from Amazon

A quick cheap click with a little mouse

It’s here next day in a flash

Put in the pond to cause a splash

To keep the fish all aerated 

And tadpoles small a little aggravated.

 

Ron Blundell

 24/4/2021

 

 End of lockdown after a year?

Home town and COVID 19 2020/1

 

There is a little town that nestles

Below a northern hill

Where all the things are changing

But things are strangely still

 

The Covid has been raging

And schools are shut tight closed

For all but vital workers kids

And others indisposed

 

All shops are closed and shuttered

The bars and pubs called time

Christmas was all cancelled

For you and yours and mine

 

The campers are all missing

The adult weekends gone

The streets and carparks empty

The winters very long

 

Fur-lows a word that offers

Hope for futures strong

For Hotels, cafes and businesses

But not for very long 

 

A vaccine is the answer

For worries great and small

How old, how vulnerable is the cry

Soon it will be for all

 

The virus killed and mutilated

Many thousands more

In a time of science

It’s time for us to explore

 

How to stop the trouble 

We all have had to bear

And reunite our families

And make sure that we care

 

For him, for her, for us, for them

So the saying goes

To prevent another shut down

And another towns go slow.

 

Ron Blundell

March 2021

 

 

 Is the boil at the heart of the current Conservative government about to burst?

As the current leader apparently has no moral compass who will apply the first field dressing in time? This weekend could decide if the patient will bleed to death or if the usual political plaster will suffice or the emperor will be revealed in all his nakedness.

 So Dominic is now telling the truth about Boris - what took him so long?

 I spoke to Boris’ Dad today in the Coop car park in MINEHEAD. 

He was stood behind me and the conversation ran like this Me “ Oh there’s a familiar face” Him “Oh no!” Me “ It’s not all your fault” Him “ He is doing well........” I interrupted him and said “ I really couldn’t comment” and walked away. Yet another opportunity lost to change the world !,,,,,,

Are GPs still practicing - are you a patient or a customer?

Who will provide GP care in the future?

We live in a changing world of health care during a pandemic. How will or how have things changed.

The document below may have given us a clue?

 Microsoft Word - Securing the future of general practice_Final_WEB_5 (nuffieldtrust.org.uk)

Just another day. 

The first grey streak of dawn touched the eastern horizon and the faint outline of the cranes of the biggest construction site in Europe were just visible. The chill wind off the sea penetrated all sides of the wooden shelter and the hard slats of the seat cut through the cardboard and sleeping bag that had offered the only protection through the night. The wind rolled the empty beer cans from side to side along the length of the shelter and the trees and bushes emerged from the gloom as the dawn brightened around him. His brain was still fogged from the contents of the cans that rolled from side to side in the corner as if mocking their 6 pack mate. His joints ached from the cold and awkward resting place not to mention the effect of the passing years. His reserve blanket had slipped off during the night and now lay on the concrete floor slowly soaking up the contents of a small puddle hopefully from a overnight shower? His woollen hat felt damp from dew or sea spray and the sounds of the high tide grinding the grey beach stones were merging with the sound of the wind in the fir trees. 
He lay there not sure if to change position for the umpteenth time or just bear the pain in his hip and slip into and out of a fit-full doze. Memories played like a slide show and merged and played tricks with his mind, his mistakes loomed large and regret and anger competed for his attention. The dab of something wet and cold on his nose rose him from sleep and as his eyes focused he saw it was a large black dog standing in front of him. At the same time the owner appeared round the corner of the shelter and started at his presence. An older women well dressed in country clothes 
and green wellingtons looked surprised to see him and after a slight hesitation said “Good morning and Happy Christmas”. He grunted a response almost inaudible against the resistance of his scarf and strength of the wind. He felt vulnerable and embarrassed in his prone position and wished she would go away. Which after a slow and lingering look she did and continued on her walk calling the dog to follow. The dog also gave a long lingering look with expressive brown eyes that seemed to burm into his soul and trigger boyhood memories of his own dog many years before, it then turned and was gone. 
Happy Christmas -yes he had forgotten that this was for some at least a special day. Memories of past Christmases jostled for attention and a small tear pooled between his eye and nose and then soaked into the edge of his grimy sleeping bag. 
After a few seconds he rose stiffly to a sitting position and then eased himself out of his bag. Movement eased the joints a little and warmed his blood sufficient to start the walk to the road. 
Ron Blundell
Christmas 2020

Memories of Christmas 2020

As we approach Christmas 2020 the feel in the country is different to any other Christmas I have experienced. The world is uncertain in that there will be a new US President in 2021, the UK will leave the EU and the world is locked in a pandemic since March 2020. Families can’t meet up for Christmas and the UK death toll from the pandemic is over 60,000 and rising. The UK has identified a new strain of the virus and the French have blocked access into and out of Europe along with many other world countries. The UK is led by a journalist/comedian turned politician namely Boris Johnson. In turn Boris is led by public opinion and his personal need to remain popular. He thought he was out of a Churchillian mould, but events have proved him wrong. My family’s futures have been decided by a small majority of the UK electorate and the United Kingdom is disunited. 

So, we look forward to 2021. Vaccinations are in hand - if not in the arm, negotiations on how we will leave the EU on 31/12/20 are continuing. However, it would seem the majority of the UK population are concerned because tattoo shops, pubs and hairdressers are closed. There are calls for us to ring bells at Christmas perhaps along the lines of:

     

For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne Next

No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend's were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.

 

Still, we are stocked up with loo rolls, food and drink and have a home and internet access.

This is the current state of a pre-Christmas Conservative Britain.

I am looking forward to listening to the Queen for hope and inspiration.

On the shoulders of giants.

Today’s amazing range of Telecommunication services did not spring out of thin air. The various networks on which they were dependant were built on the shoulders of engineering giants dating back as far as the early 1800s when light was used for communication using heliographs. If we include the smoke signals of native Americans who knows how far we could trace its antecedents? 

Names such as Maxwell, Babbage, Lovelace, Baudot, Erlang, Morse, Bell, Strowger and Flowers are some names from that past. Bell’s manual switches were replaced by Strowger step by step systems. Manual, Magnetic mechanical systems were replaced with electronic switching as technologies developed on silicon were developed. The backbone of most main networks now, are again in the form of fibre optic cable, based on laser light.

Older people of today can benefit from all these developments that were unthinkable when we were young.

Today were can get eBooks, magazines and newspapers using a PC, Tablet or smart phone for free from your library without leaving your house. We can communicate around the world by video with friends and family for free.  Streaming TV via broadband allows us to watch programs when we want to on demand. Social media can widen our viewpoint or confirm established prejudices. Podcasts can provide entertainment and information. The WWW provides access to the biggest source of knowledge that has ever existed. Heating systems and lights in our home can be controlled wherever we are in the world. Smart speakers and smart phones are more than their names imply. You can play games such as chess or draughts or violent interactive games such as COD, Red Dead redemptions GTA with players around the world.

All this and more are available to us NOW with more, as yet unknown, services to come. 

We can only use these amazing life changing services if we are aware of them? They come with benefits and risks and they are dependent on personal and private investment in the technology.

Perhaps there is some information in the following booklet that may help you in choosing and giving you access to some of the valuable services. 

I spent 33 years as a BT/PO engineer and manager helping to build and maintain the telephone systems on which the valuable lessons for the future were learnt and the modern systems developed. In a small way perhaps I helped keep a small brick in place of the vast worlds wide network that you now have at your fingertips should you choose to use it? 

Connections

Heleiographs were used during the days of the British Empire where sunshine was reliable.

A son of Empire namely Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem relating to this technology. It relates to communication by light long before the invention of the laser and an early form of communication tapping.

Here is the poem:

A Code of Morals

            Lest you should think this story true

                I merely mention I

                Evolved it lately. 'Tis a most

                Unmitigated misstatement.

 

Now Jones had left his new-wed bride to keep his house in order,

And hied away to the Hurrum Hills above the Afghan border,

To sit on a rock with a heliograph; but ere he left he taught

His wife the working of the Code that sets the miles at naught.

 

And Love had made him very sage, as Nature made her fair;

So Cupid and Apollo linked , per heliograph, the pair.

At dawn, across the Hurrum Hills, he flashed her counsel wise --

At e'en, the dying sunset bore her husband's homilies.

 

He warned her 'gainst seductive youths in scarlet clad and gold,

As much as 'gainst the blandishments paternal of the old;

But kept his gravest warnings for (hereby the ditty hangs)

That snowy-haired Lothario, Lieutenant-General Bangs.

 

'Twas General Bangs, with Aide and Staff, who tittupped on the way,

When they beheld a heliograph tempestuously at play.

They thought of Border risings, and of stations sacked and burnt --

So stopped to take the message down -- and this is whay they learnt --

 

"Dash dot dot, dot, dot dash, dot dash dot" twice. The General swore.

"Was ever General Officer addressed as 'dear' before?

"'My Love,' i' faith! 'My Duck,' Gadzooks! 'My darling popsy-wop!'

"Spirit of great Lord Wolseley, who is on that mountain top?"

 

The artless Aide-de-camp was mute, the gilded Staff were still,

As, dumb with pent-up mirth, they booked that message from the hill;

For clear as summer lightning-flare, the husband's warning ran: --

"Don't dance or ride with General Bangs -- a most immoral man."

 

[At dawn, across the Hurrum Hills, he flashed her counsel wise --

But, howsoever Love be blind, the world at large hath eyes.]

With damnatory dot and dash he heliographed his wife

Some interesting details of the General's private life.

 

The artless Aide-de-camp was mute, the shining Staff were still,

And red and ever redder grew the General's shaven gill.

And this is what he said at last (his feelings matter not): --

"I think we've tapped a private line. Hi! Threes about there! Trot!"

 

All honour unto Bangs, for ne'er did Jones thereafter know

By word or act official who read off that helio.

But the tale is on the Frontier, and from Michni to Mooltan

They know the worthy General as "that most immoral man."

 

Travelling on beams of light.

 

Light by means of laser beams now carry information around the world.

Previously Morse code and the Aldi’s lamp was a form of early light based digital communication with limitations on transmission speeds on the hands of the morse key operator. In wireless telegraphy this digital signal was superimposed on an analogue carrier signal. Analogue technology is now being replaced by digital which may in turn be replaced by quantum systems?

 

 

 

 

 

 How the Civil War Stalked Wilmer McLean

The Civil War seemed to stalk unfortunate Wilmer McLean, who could say that the conflict began in his front yard and ended in his front parlour.

CHRISTOPHER KLEIN

Forty-six-year-old Wilmer McLean was too old to serve the Confederacy when the Civil War broke out in 1861, but in short order, the conflict arrived at his doorstep. After marrying wealthy widow Virginia Mason eight years earlier, the former operator of the Kerr & McLean wholesale and retail grocery moved into his wife’s small plantation near Manassas Junction, Virginia. Fourteen slaves tended the fields of Yorkshire, named for the home county of English native Richard Blackburn who had established the plantation in the early 1700s.

Through McLean’s farm meandered a small stream called Bull Run that would witness the first major engagement between Union and Confederate forces in July 1861. As Union forces approached on a 30-mile march west from Washington, D.C., Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard took over McLean’s Manassas farmhouse as his headquarters.

A day after McLean fled with his family, the Civil War hit home—literally. On July 18, 1861, during the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, a Union shell tore into the fireplace of McLean’s detached kitchen and ruined the dinner being prepared for Beauregard and his staff. Three days later came the Civil War’s first major encounter, the First Battle of Bull Run. Wounded Confederate soldiers and captured Union fighters both shared the floor of McLean’s barn, which had been converted to a makeshift military hospital and jail.

The battle and Confederate occupation ravaged Yorkshire. McLean returned alone to his damaged plantation and worked as an unpaid Confederate quartermaster through February 1862 before reuniting with his wife and five children in the spring. When the Union and Confederacy clashed once again in Manassas at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862, McLean sought quieter—and less belligerent—pastures.

In the fall of 1863 McLean moved his family 120 miles southwest to the quiet hamlet of Appomattox Court House on the other side of Virginia. He purchased a substantial house, originally built as a tavern in 1848, along the Lynchburg-Richmond State Road and regularly travelled on the nearby Southside Railroad to tend to his business supplying sugar to the Confederate army.

In spite of his hopes for solitude, the Civil War incredibly arrived at his front door again on April 9, 1865, when Confederate Colonel Charles Marshall rode into Appomattox Court House and asked the first man he spotted—McLean—to assist him in finding a suitable home that could host a meeting between the Union and Confederate commanders. After Marshall rejected the dilapidated, unfurnished brick house initially shown to him, McLean reluctantly offered up his own comfortable, well-furnished home.

That afternoon, history was made in McLean’s front parlour as Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, marking the beginning of the end of the Civil War. McLean’s homes had become a pair of bookends to the four-year war.

As Lee departed on his horse Traveller to break the news to his troops, Union officers launched their final raid of the war by ransacking McLean’s parlour for souvenirs of the historic meeting. “Something close to pandemonium set in,” wrote Civil War historian Shelby Foote. As McLean protested, the Union entourage walked out with the tables and chairs used by Lee and Grant, a stone inkstand, brass candlesticks and even the favourite rag doll of his 7-year-old daughter, Lula. They tore apart McLean’s cane-bottomed chairs and cut upholstery strips from his sofas as mementoes. As compensation, the soldiers shoved money into the hands of the unwilling seller and threw it onto the floor when he refused to accept it.

 

John Wilkes Booth

Despite his success as an actor on the national stage, John Wilkes Booth will forever be known as the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Booth, a native of Maryland, was a fierce Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War. Before the fateful night at Ford’s Theatre, he had conspired to kidnap Lincoln and hide him until all Confederate prisoners were released. On April 14, 1865, Booth entered the theatre’s balcony, shot Lincoln at close range and immediately fled the scene. After a 12-day manhunt, Booth was tracked down and killed by Union soldiers.

The celebrated actor Junius Brutus Booth immigrated to the United States from England in the early 1820s and settled his family in Harford County, Maryland, where the ninth of his 10 children, John Wilkes, was born on May 10, 1838. In 1846, it was revealed that Junius Booth had neglected to divorce his first wife before eloping with his second, Mary Ann, 25 years before. The scandal made an impression on young John Wilkes, who was fiercely proud of his illustrious family name.

Did you know? Booth had performed for President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in November 1863.

After his father’s death in 1852, Booth left his studies at the prestigious military school St. Timothy’s Hall. In 1855, he followed his older brothers, Junius Jr. and Edwin, into the acting profession, making his debut in Shakespeare’s Richard III at the Charles Street Theatre in Baltimore. Booth worked for a year at a Philadelphia theatre before moving to the Marshall Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, where he became known for his dark good looks, his intensely physical, almost acrobatic, performances and his popularity with women.

In October 1859, Booth–who, like many Marylanders, supported slavery–was shocked and galvanized by the abolitionist John Brown’s bloody raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Booth briefly enlisted in the Richmond militia and witnessed Brown’s hanging in December. That summer, he signed on as the leading man in a touring theatre company. Booth was about to take on the part of Hamlet in October 1860 when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh with a co-star’s pistol. Abraham Lincoln was elected president one month later, and Booth watched the South move toward secession while recuperating in Philadelphia.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, Lincoln declared martial law in Maryland as part of an effort to keep the state from seceding. Angry and frustrated, Booth nonetheless promised his mother he would never enlist in the Confederate Army. He continued his acting career, drawing crowds and impressing critics from St. Louis to Boston. In November 1863, he performed in The Marble Heart at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre. In the audience were President and Mrs. Lincoln. It was the only time Lincoln would see Booth perform.

In late May 1864, Booth invested in an oil company in western Pennsylvania. After seeing no immediate profit, he backed out of the operation, losing most of his savings. By that time, he had already begun working on his conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln. He performed less and less frequently, and by late 1864 had gone into debt. Booth attended Lincoln’s second inaugural in early March with his secret fiancée Lucy Hale, the daughter of an abolitionist New Hampshire senator. In what would be his last performance, Booth appeared in front of a full house at Ford’s in The Apostate on March 28, 1865.

Less than a week later, Confederate forces evacuated Richmond, and within two weeks, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops. As Washington exploded in celebration, Booth attended another Lincoln speech on April 11, reacting strongly to Lincoln’s suggestion that he would pursue voting rights for blacks. Booth angrily told his co-conspirator, Davy Herold: “Now, by God, I’ll put him through.” Three days later, at Ford’s Theatre, John Wilkes Booth made good on his word.

 

 In search of the unknown.

 

“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

The quote above is a phrase from a response United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld gave to a question at a U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) news briefing on February 12, 2002, about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups. 

The search for knowledge is fundamental to the progress of the human race and our development as individuals.

There has never been a time in human history when there has been so much knowledge available.

However, the key to knowledge is access. 

How can we find the information that we need?

The answer to this may lie within the pages of this booklet ?

 

The cost and value of knowledge and information.

Definitions.

Knowledge: facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.

Information: facts provided or learned about something or someone.

The days of the encyclopaedia  salesman are long gone to be replaced by the internet. Is internet information free? Ignoring service provider fees then this knowledge base is free funded instead by advertising. However Wikipedia is funded by voluntary contributions.

Libraries are funded by taxation as are some museums.

Newspapers and magazines charge but are largely funded by advertising.

The internet as well as providing knowledge is also sucking data/knowledge from its users, Everyone of our keystrokes, tweet and Facebook posting we make has value, which at present, we as individual freely give away.

Why do we need knowledge and information? Mainly knowledge and information are needed to solve life’s problems or improve quality of life.

Therefore, in the successful solution of a problem it is first necessary to fully understand the problem. Only in this way can you then ask relevant questions that will provide relevant answers.

3 Ways to Solve a Problem - wikiHow

What tools have you got to seek a solution to your problem.

Whilst common sense is not as common as it used to be you may already know the answer or know someone who does.

To use the internet requires both hardware, access and ICT literacy which may put it beyond many individuals reach.

There is a vast amount of written and printed information across the world but not necessarily in easy reach when needed. For hundreds of years the gentry had their own libraries ranging from a few to many hundreds of books. Even today many politicians and broadcasters working from home via zoom meetings appear in front of a their book case perhaps wanting to demonstrate, in their own small way, that information is indeed power?

So the sources of information are vast but not necessarily easily accessed. There cant ever be one source of information in the foreseeable future. All one can do is be better aware of what may exists and train yourself to ask the appropriatequestions.

Getting reliable information

It can be frustrating to conduct online research because internet sources can be quite unreliable. If you find an online article that provides relevant information for your research topic, you should take care to investigate the source to make sure it is valid and reliable. This is an essential step in maintaining sound research ethics.

It is your responsibility as a researcher to find and use trustworthy sources.

Methods to Investigate Your Source

Investigate the Author

In most cases, you should stay away from internet information that doesn't provide the name of an author. While the information contained in the article may be true, it is more difficult   to validate information if you don't know the credentials of the author.

If the author is named, find their website to:

• Verify educational credits
• Discover if the writer is published in a scholarly journal
• See if the writer has published a book from a university press
• Verify that the writer is employed by a research institution or university

Observe the U

If the information is linked to an organization, try to determine the reliability of the sponsoring organization. One tip is the URL ending. If the site name ends with .edu, it is most likely an educational institution. Even so, you should be aware of political bias.

If a site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government website. Government sites are usually good sources for statistics and objective reports.

Sites that end in .org are usually non-profit organizations. They can be very good sources or very poor sources, so you'll have to take care to research their possible agendas or political biases if they exist.

For instance, collegeboard.org is the organization that provides the SAT and other tests. You can find valuable information, statistics, and advice on that site. PBS.org is a non-profit organization that provides educational public broadcasts. It provides a wealth of quality articles on its site.

Other sites with the .org ending are advocacy groups that are highly political. While it is entirely possible to find reliable information from a site like this, be mindful of the political slant and acknowledge this in your work.

Online Journals and Magazines

A reputable journal or magazine should contain a bibliography for every article. The list of sources within that bibliography should be pretty extensive, and it should include scholarly non-Internet sources. Check for statistics and data within the article to back up the claims made by the author. Does the writer provide evidence to support his statements? Look for citations of recent studies, perhaps with footnotes and see if there are primary quotes from other relevant experts in the field.

News Sources

Every television and print news source has a website. To some extent, you can rely on the most trusted news sources such as CNN and the BBC, but you should not rely on them exclusively. After all, network and cable news stations are involved in entertainment. Think of them as a stepping stone to more reliable sources.

 

 

Help with finding things on the internet.

List of search engines

List of search engines - Wikipedia

Seven ways to find what you want on the internet:

Seven Ways to Find What You Want on the Internet - From Mind Tools.com

Computer hope: This link offers advice on how to find things on the internet. The site offers other useful computer related information.

https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000082.htm

YouTube: An invaluable source of information and entertainment.

YouTube

Wikipedia;

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

For all things UK Government.

Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

How to find information in your library the DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

Home | RBdigitalMicrosoft Word - A guide to the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme.docx (tasis.com)

Use your library membership to access your library services

Home | RBdigital

BBC -You may pay for its service? link below:

BBC - Home

Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks

Free eBooks | Project Gutenberg

Family history information

Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records online - Ancestry®

Trace your Family Tree Online | Genealogy & Ancestry from Findmypast | findmypast.co.uk

A different search engine

Google Scholar

Online learning -some free.

FutureLearn: Online Courses and Degrees from Top Universities

 

John’s suggested web site topics.

Internet

The internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.

Internet - Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free, open content online encyclopedia created through the collaborative effort of a community of users known as Wikipedians. Anyone registered on the site can create an article for publication; registration is not required to edit articles.

Internet of things - Wikipedia The internet of things is the interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.

Dark web - Wikipedia  Is the part of the World Wide Web that is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous or untraceable.

Online game - Wikipedia   Is the action or practice of playing video games or role-playing games on the internet.

 

Youtube

YouTube is a video platform that's driven by two types of users:

• Video creators: People who have channels and upload videos to those channels.
• Video viewers: People who watch videos, interact with videos, and subscribe to channels.

 

YouTube - Wikipedia

YouTube Premium - YouTube

YouTube Music

YouTube TV - Watch & DVR Live Sports, Shows & News

YouTube Kids - An App Made Just For Children

 

Libraries

A library is a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is (1) organized by information professionals or other experts who (2) provide convenient physical, digital, bibliographic, or intellectual access and (3) offer targeted services and programs (4) with the mission of educating, informing,...

List of largest libraries - Wikipedia

Libraries (somerset.gov.uk)

Bodleian Libraries | Home (ox.ac.uk)     The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms. In 2000, a number of libraries within the University of Oxford were brought together for administrative purposes under the aegis of what was initially known as Oxford University Library Services (OULS), and since 2010 as the Bodleian Libraries, of which the Bodleian Library is the largest component. All colleges of the University of Oxford have their own libraries, which in a number of cases were established well before the foundation of the Bodleian, and all of which remain entirely independent of the Bodleian. They do, however, participate in SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online), the Bodleian Libraries' online union catalogue. Much of the library's archives were digitized and put online for public access in 2015.

The British Library - The British Library (bl.uk)   The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain 170–200 million-plus items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The British Library is a major research library, with items in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and items dating as far back as 2000 BC. The library maintains a programme for content acquisition and adds some three million items each year occupying 9.6 kilometres (6 mi) of new shelf space. Prior to 1973, the Library was part of the British Museum. The Library is now located in a purpose-built building on the north side of Euston Road in St Pancras, London (between Euston railway station and St Pancras railway station), and has a document storage centre and reading room near Boston Spa, near Wetherby in West Yorkshire. The St Pancras building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 25 June 1998, and is classified as a Grade I listed building "of exceptional interest" for its architecture and history.

Free eBooks | Project Gutenberg  Project Gutenberg, a nonprofit organization (since 2000) that maintains an electronic library of public domain works that have been digitized, or converted into e-books, by volunteers and archived for download from the organization’s Web site: www.gutenberg.org. The project got its start on July 4,

Home | Library of Congress (loc.gov)   Congress established its Law Library in 1832, recognizing its need for ready access to reliable legal materials. The Law Library has grown over the years to become the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over three million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

Home | RBdigital  What is RB Digital? RB Digital is a proprietary platform owned by Recorded Books, which is a company that provides a variety of electronic resources to libraries and schools.

 

Family trees and Genealogy

Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records online - Ancestry®

Trace your Family Tree Online | Genealogy & Ancestry from Findmypast | findmypast.co.uk

 

Meetings

1.     an assembly of people for a particular purpose, especially for formal discussion.

2.     a situation when two or more people meet, by chance or arrangement.

 

Meetings, Bloody Meetings - Bing video A humorous look at ineffective meetings:

 

Some methods of video conferences or meetings

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing - Zoom

Secure Online Meetings & Webinar Software | Microsoft Teams

FaceTime - Wikipedia

WhatsApp

Websites

 A website is a set of related web pages located under a single domain name, typically produced by a single person or organization.

Website - Wikipedia

wikiHow: How-to instructions you can trust.

App stores

In general, an app store is an app that enables a user to find software, and install it on their computer or mobile device. It's a collection of free and commercial software, approved for use on your device. You can browse, purchase, download, install, and update software through your device's app store.

Play Store – Apps4u Store

App Store - Apple (UK) The App Store is a digital distribution platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download apps developed with Apple's iOS Software Development Kit. Apps can be downloaded on the iPhone smartphone, the iPod Touch handheld computer, or the iPad tablet computer, and some can be transferred to the Apple Watch smartwatch or 4th-generation or newer Apple TVs as extensions of iPhone apps.

Google Play You can get apps, games, and digital content for your device using the Google Play Store app. The Play Store app comes pre-installed on Android devices that support Google Play, and can be downloaded on some Chromebooks.

Tourist information

An office or web site that supplies information to people who are visiting an area for pleasure or interest, for example advice on things to see, accommodation, etc

Visitor center - Wikipedia

National trust - Wikipedia a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland was founded in 1931.

Newspapers

What is a newspaper - printed publication (usually issued daily or weekly) consisting of folded unstapled sheets and containing news, articles, advertisements, and correspondence.

Home | Search the archive | British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011.

List of newspapers in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

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