Morgaine Dinova:

 The Institution is supposed to be a promoter of engineering education and a role model for professional ethics in UK engineering, not a money-grabbing outfit focussed on its own profit above all things.

There are times when I think it is yet another swanky London club considering the prices it charges for membership and technical publications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gentlemen%27s_clubs_in_London

Open publishing is thriving, while the proprietary publishing model is widely condemned in the sciences and many other disciplines. In contrast to these advances in knowledge dissemination, putting engineering standards behind a paywall is taking UK engineering back to the medieval days of shady masonic guilds protecting their trade secrets for their own profit. It's astoundingly bad on numerous grounds, particularly in respect of discouraging education, limiting public knowledge of legal requirements, impacting on public safety, and in making "information only for the rich".

This reminds me of how Asperger Syndrome was only known about in Britain and other English speaking countries during the 1980s by a tiny elite group of psychiatrists. Lorna Wing published a paper titled Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account in the February 1981 edition of Psychological Medicine, which was the first reasonably in-depth article about Asperger syndrome written in English.

 

http://www.mugsy.org/wing2.htm

 

She made no efforts to raise awareness of Asperger syndrome in the wider medical community or amongst teachers and educational professionals by writing any books or articles for more mainstream publications. For example, if she had published an article about Asperger syndrome in the Times Educational Supplement then she would have reached out to a wide audience of people who deal with children on a daily basis. For 10 years the only significant English language article about Asperger Syndrome remained hidden away in an obscure academic journal. The Maudsley Hospital where she worked was the only place in Britain that could diagnose a person with Asperger Syndrome until the 1990s. When Lorna Wing died in 2014 obituaries published in newspapers made references to her groundbreaking paper but I doubt if any journalists knew about the existence of the paper during the 1980s.


Uta Frith translated Hans Asperger's papers from German into English during the 1980s and she published the book Autism and Asperger Syndrome in 1991. This book was remarkable because it specifically used the term Asperger Syndrome in its title as opposed to just autism, and it was written in a style that was designed to be easily understood by parents and teachers who had never studied psychiatry - as opposed to being a highly technical publication that only professional psychiatrists are able to properly comprehend. The result is that Uta Frith, rather than Lorna Wing, is usually regarded as the person who made Asperger Syndrome public knowledge in Britain and English speaking countries.


Is history repeating itself at the IET?

7. Central heating (MCB)

2. Upstairs sockets (MCB)

3. Downstairs sockets (MCB)

RCD 63A

9. Outside lights (MCB)

4. Kitchen sockets (MCB)

5. Cooker (MCB)

RCD 80A

8. Burglar alarm and CCTV (RCBO)

1. Lights (RCBO)

Main Switch

Morgaine Dinova:

 I found it hard to believe that these standards are a secret in the UK, and worse, that they are hidden behind an IET paywall so that only those with money can learn about them. In the absence of contrary information so far, I am sadly concluding that Arran and Simon were right.


This is not what I would have expected from the IET, and is incredibly short-sighted. The Institution is supposed to be a promoter of engineering education and a role model for professional ethics in UK engineering, not a money-grabbing outfit focussed on its own profit above all things. Secrecy has no place in engineering standards, nor in engineering education, and it runs counter to informing students (or simply knowledge-seekers) about professional and legal requirements in installation wiring and setting a good example....

 

Alasdair Anderson:

Remember that the Wiring Regulations are a British Standard (BS7671) and the IET are selling it under licence from BSI. If they were to provide it for free it would be breach of copyright. I don't know of any National or International Standards (e.g. BS, DIN, NEN, IEC, etc.) that are provided free.

Alasdair

Morgaine Dinova:

I've waited a few days since Arran Cameron's and Simon Barker's answers to my question requesting links to online documentation about UK wiring standards for consumer units, hoping that someone might provide a link to the online resources. I found it hard to believe that these standards are a secret in the UK, and worse, that they are hidden behind an IET paywall so that only those with money can learn about them. In the absence of contrary information so far, I am sadly concluding that Arran and Simon were right.


This is not what I would have expected from the IET, and is incredibly short-sighted. The Institution is supposed to be a promoter of engineering education and a role model for professional ethics in UK engineering, not a money-grabbing outfit focussed on its own profit above all things. Secrecy has no place in engineering standards, nor in engineering education, and it runs counter to informing students (or simply knowledge-seekers) about professional and legal requirements in installation wiring and setting a good example.


The Internet has made information on virtually every topic more and more available with every passing year, and now even encompasses legislation and interacting with one's own government. Open publishing is thriving, while the proprietary publishing model is widely condemned in the sciences and many other disciplines. In contrast to these advances in knowledge dissemination, putting engineering standards behind a paywall is taking UK engineering back to the medieval days of shady masonic guilds protecting their trade secrets for their own profit. It's astoundingly bad on numerous grounds, particularly in respect of discouraging education, limiting public knowledge of legal requirements, impacting on public safety, and in making "information only for the rich".


This is an area that calls out badly for IET modernization and reform.


Thank you Arran and Simon for your input.


Morgaine.

Arran Cameron:

Morgaine Dinova:

 The Institution is supposed to be a promoter of engineering education and a role model for professional ethics in UK engineering, not a money-grabbing outfit focussed on its own profit above all things.

There are times when I think it is yet another swanky London club considering the prices it charges for membership and technical publications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gentlemen%27s_clubs_in_London

Open publishing is thriving, while the proprietary publishing model is widely condemned in the sciences and many other disciplines. In contrast to these advances in knowledge dissemination, putting engineering standards behind a paywall is taking UK engineering back to the medieval days of shady masonic guilds protecting their trade secrets for their own profit. It's astoundingly bad on numerous grounds, particularly in respect of discouraging education, limiting public knowledge of legal requirements, impacting on public safety, and in making "information only for the rich".

This reminds me of how Asperger Syndrome was only known about in Britain and other English speaking countries during the 1980s by a tiny elite group of psychiatrists. Lorna Wing published a paper titled Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account in the February 1981 edition of Psychological Medicine, which was the first reasonably in-depth article about Asperger syndrome written in English.

 

http://www.mugsy.org/wing2.htm

 

She made no efforts to raise awareness of Asperger syndrome in the wider medical community or amongst teachers and educational professionals by writing any books or articles for more mainstream publications. For example, if she had published an article about Asperger syndrome in the Times Educational Supplement then she would have reached out to a wide audience of people who deal with children on a daily basis. For 10 years the only significant English language article about Asperger Syndrome remained hidden away in an obscure academic journal. The Maudsley Hospital where she worked was the only place in Britain that could diagnose a person with Asperger Syndrome until the 1990s. When Lorna Wing died in 2014 obituaries published in newspapers made references to her groundbreaking paper but I doubt if any journalists knew about the existence of the paper during the 1980s.


Uta Frith translated Hans Asperger's papers from German into English during the 1980s and she published the book Autism and Asperger Syndrome in 1991. This book was remarkable because it specifically used the term Asperger Syndrome in its title as opposed to just autism, and it was written in a style that was designed to be easily understood by parents and teachers who had never studied psychiatry - as opposed to being a highly technical publication that only professional psychiatrists are able to properly comprehend. The result is that Uta Frith, rather than Lorna Wing, is usually regarded as the person who made Asperger Syndrome public knowledge in Britain and English speaking countries.


Is history repeating itself at the IET?