Got notified this morning that the Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI) has chosen A Vast Machine for its 2010 ASLI Choice Award (History category). The citation mentions "insightful analysis of the models and data that form the basis of our understanding of climate change."
It will receive a plaque in Seattle during the American Meteorological Society meeting on January 26th. (Unfortunately, I won't be able to be there in person — though I truly wish I could!)
This award is doubly meaningful to me. First, numerous atmospheric science librarians and archivists around the world contributed to my research for A Vast Machine. I couldn't have done it without them; there are things you just can't find, or even find out about, without a good librarian. In fact, though she probably doesn't remember it, the librarian who notified me about the award helped me back in 2000, when I spent several days in Toronto at Environment Canada's library, dredging up old WMO documents. (Among other things, she found someone to xerox documents for me, way back in those ancient times when we still xeroxed things...)
Second, I teach in a School of Information, which began its history as a library school and still grants accredited degrees in library science. During my 12 years here, I've grown to appreciate the towering role of libraries and librarians in the history of information. That role's changing, but it's alive and well, even in the age of Google.
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