18 Comments

Amazing David! Congratulations on your find (and perseverence) and on this article. A wonderful xmas story with a happy ending.

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This is delightful! I shall trot down to the British Library sometime between Twelfth Night and Candlemas and read the book for some nice, old fashioned seasonal warmth. Thank you for sharing your story.

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What a lovely story!

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Thank you for this lovely story

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Thanks for posting, really wonderful story - and story within a story. Hurrah for librarians, more power to their collective elbows.

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Fabulous (fables involved) story. I've been on several such quests, one or two successful, though never lucky enough to get so much extra information.

Also very glad to have the Keynes comment.

PS. I read this with a cup of tea, which is seasonal in all seasons.

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That was absolutely charming. And valuable points made about AI and real knowledge/techniques. Thanks for that, a lovely story.

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Wonderful - definitely my favourite Christmas story of the year. And yes, three cheers for librarians and indexers!

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What a great good news story, and tribute to the phenomenon of social media as a force for good. And the skills of librarians and archivists.

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What a wonderful story about people and cautionary tale about AI.

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What a lovely tale for a night not long before Christmas. It affirms my belief in the magic of librarians and the niceness of people who, if they can, will help achieve what must have felt like a quixotic quest on occasion. And also confirms my deep suspicion of ChatGPT and others of its ilk. What are our equivalents of Candlemas blessed candles to vanquish these demons?

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Delightful post. Thank you!

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This is wonderful, thank you!

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What a lovely post, really enjoyed reading about your search and the fantastic outcome.

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I use ChatGPT as a research assistant. I'm often researching both case law and statute. I have it set up only to use what I define for it as reputable sites and to give me links to the sites it has drawn on to answer my question. You can ask it to set itself up so it always answers questions in that way.

It's rubbish at crossword puzzles though.

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Wonderful! Christmas tale of tales and the power of stories and their author’s ability to influence and remain a powerful force to future generations. A tribute to your warm unerring tenacity. Thank you

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