Introduction

Welcome to the Fractal Librarian web site. This site, however, is NOT just about fractals. It IS about the intersection of two of my passions - complexity theory (and chaos, emergence, fractals, dynamical systems, non-linear science, and dissipative systems) and librarianship. The aim of this site is to introduce librarians to the related constellation of concepts that inform chaos and complexity theory. Thus, I use the term "fractal" in the title in a more metaphorical (see note 1) rather than literal sense - although the everyday application of chaos and complexity can be both metaphorical (useful) and/or analogical (more useful). For example, Wheatley (1999) emphasizes the metaphorical approach while Stacey (1996) resolutely defends the analogical (while not denying the former). [see Bibliography.]

This sit will be continually "emergent" rather than "under construction" (which suffers greatly as a typically linear, mechanistic metaphor.

NOTE: The target audience for this site is (academic) librarians, although anyone willing to put forth some amount of intellectual effort might benefit.

¹ The classic modern introduction to metaphor is:
Lakoff, George, and Johnson, Mark. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
A more extended treatment can be found in:
Ortony, Andrew (Ed.). (1993). Metaphor and thought. (Second ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
For an examination of metaphors for organizations (e.g., libraries) see:
Morgan, Gareth. (1997). Images of organization. (Second ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.