An interesting book is Social Capital; Key Ideas by John Field (ISBN-10: 0415433037), Director of the Division of Academic Innovation and Continuing Education at the University of Stirling. Social Capital is a term which has been popularised by the American political scientist Robert D. Putnam, who defined it as:
features of social organisation, such as trust, norms and networks, that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated actions
So, what’s the Ragged University all about then ? Well, sometime back, whilst sitting in the pub in Hackney with four friends, we realised that was we shared information to socialise; swapped stories, compared facts, related things as entertainment. What is the nature of knowledge ? First hand experience is a good place to start. Read more…
We live in interesting times. When attending a conference on how businesses can become involved in their communities, I was impressed at the interest that the business community has in ‘putting something back in’.
So many questions are being asked as the economy goes through all of it’s changes and adjustments. For many it is a time when belts are tightened and prospects seem uncertain. We are being asked these questions by our circumstances and being pressed to come up with solutions. Read more…
I have been thinking about the technology available today in context with the libraries available. It makes me wonder about what some of the people of the past would make of it all.
If we consider Voltaire who was a champion of the French Enlightenment, or Erasmus who wrote over seventeen million words in his lifetime, or the remarkable range of works created by the likes of Aristotle, what would they have managed with a personal computer. Everything was painstakingly done by hand, often through many drafts. Read more…
I have been thinking about what to make the first entry of my Ragged University Blog. Since the start of this project I have enjoyed the fact that it compels me to find out about all the people in the world who have been great teachers, learners and thinkers. Learning about learning if you like. But what an infinite task. Do I take the great famous names still studied today for their contributions? Do I look to marvelously motivated people who invented or innovated ? Read more…