  Properties of the first excited state of the nucleus 9Be are discussed based
on recent (e,e') and (gamma,n) experiments. The parameters of an R-matrix
analysis of different data sets are consistent with a resonance rather than a
virtual state predicted by some model calculations. The energy and the width of
the resonance are deduced. Their values are rather similar for all data sets,
and the energy proves to be negative. It is argued that the disagreement
between the extracted B(E1) values may stem from different ways of integration
of the resonance. If corrected, fair agreement between the (e,e') and one of
the (gamma,n) data sets is found. A recent (gamma,n) experiment at the HIgS
facility exhibits larger cross sections close to the neutron threshold which
remain to be explained.
