I don't usually PubMedGoogle (PMoogle?) for the words paperclips or paper clips. Today I did, after reading a colleague's paper on 'resilience markers framework' (http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/d.furniss/Documents/ResilienceMarkersFramework_rev2.pdf) which briefly featured a mildly heroic role for a paperclip.
The paper clip (is it one word or two?) was used to mark an important page in the procedural instructions that would be needed quickly to bring a nuclear power plant under control if it went a bit cheeky. The paper clip's use was a small example indicating that the power plant team was building resilience into their system to help them handle unexpected problems or errors.
When I read this I wondered if there were other ways in which paper clips have gone beyond the call of duty / remit to help humanity.
Yes.
Abstracts or full article below unless otherwise stated.
Retraction of Oedematous Eyelids with Paper-Clips
Leo H-H Cheng and Pragia Kumar
Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2008 April; 90(3): 253.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430453/
Warning: this website has a thumbnail black and white image of paperclips being used to hold open eyelids - it's not bad, but I don't know how squeamish people reading might be.
Establishing a reliable protocol to measure tongue sensation.
Boliek CA, Rieger JM, Li SY, Mohamed Z, Kickham J, Amundsen K.
J Oral Rehabil. 2007 Jun;34(6):433-41.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17518978
Paperclips for ear lobule repair.
Koshy O.
J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2006;59(9):1008-9. Epub 2006 Mar 9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16920599
(no abstract available)
Airways, paper clips, and nasogastric tubes.
Luke SJ.
Anesth Analg. 1995 Jul;81(1):208-9.
http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/content/81/1/208.long
The literature doesn't have as much to say on Post It notes.
EDIT 22 July 2010 afternoon: A colleague, similarly intrigued by the hidden role of paper clips, sent me a copy of an article from the Law Library. I'll be reading that on the train home, along with @jackofkent's blogpost on the recent Scientology kerfuffle.
Something Little and Shiny on the Judicial Stage: The Paper Clip
Jay W. Stein (p.323)
Law Library Journal Volume 86 Number 2 1994
http://bubl.ac.uk/archive/journals/llj/v86n0294.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/19/paper-clips-legal-appearances
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