Every so often, even after all these years, the total wonderousness of the internet hits me all over again. (Should I rephrase that? Am I sounding too much like Stephen Fry?)

It goes like this.

I am moving a much loved piece of vintage furniture and notice part of a label on the inside. The label has a logo and initials which are not familiar to me. Curious, I put the initials and a bit of other info into Google images. This eventually leads me to name and a logo and -yes - it's the same as the one on my furniture.

I Google the name of the firm, which is now defunct, but eventually come up with PDFs of all their catalogues, at a site called the High Wycombe Electronic Furniture Archive, thoughtfully put online by Buckinhamshire New University. Scrolling through the pages of the manufacturer's 1933 catalogue, I find photographs of my furniture. I now know who made it, where and when.

How amazing is that? Without the net the task would have been almost impossible, and it's certainly not something I could have done from start to finish in an hour on a wet Sunday afternoon.

Internet and archivists: a marriage made in heaven - or, in this case, High Wycombe.

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