For as long as I’ve worked in museums, (first job entering MDA record cards into Modes for
Anthea Bickley in Bradford), I’ve known Modes, and for all of that time the name Richard Light
has been synonymous with Modes.
‘Richard at Modes’ is a well used phrase, although which of the two Richard’s is sometimes a
matter of confusion!
Fast forward 20 odd years and I find myself on the MUA board and chairing the Software
Development Working Group. Membership of this merry band bestows access to the inner
workings of what has made Modes software tick for the last 30 years and Richard Light’s
name runs through that like a stick of rock.
Terms I never knew I would need to know – xslt transformation, blob field, parsing, linked data
(and in some cases still am not 100% sure on!) have all come to me through Richard and the
‘Dev Comm’ message board.
Most recently whilst we were testing the release of Modes Complete 1.5 it was amazing to
see the speed, ingenuity, skill and long memory that Richard was able to bring to bear on
challenges found or ideas suggested. Invariably Richard could ‘make it work’ or give us a
good reason as to why it shouldn’t be there in the first place!
It is no exaggeration to say that Modes simply would not exist as we know it today without
Richard’s immense contribution.
As we move forward into exciting (and a little scary) new futures for what Modes might look
like in another 20 years time, we are exceedingly fortunate to have such a well developed
base to build from.
Note to self though – do make sure any future appointees are not also called Richard or have
RL initials!
Tim