bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Getting to know the user better
Authors: Exon Andy
Published: February 2008

This paper seeks to spotlight some of the theoretical problems in User Studies; to suggest a strategy for selecting a method of user investigation; to illustrate possible methods through the results of recent research and to consider the general question of the applicability of results.
The role of minicomputers in libraries and information units
Authors: Hyman Mike
Published: February 2008

Over the past few years considerable interest has been shown in the use of computers for library and information retrieval applications. Despite this interest surprisingly little practical development has been carried out particularly in the smaller institutions. The reasons for the lack of implementation are many but some of the more major reasons are:
BLAISE—The British Library Automated Information Service
Authors: Collinge Brian
Published: February 2008

One of the problems audiences face when hearing about computer systems is that of separating reality from enthusiastic speculation about future developments which may or may not materialize. This paper is almost entirely about systems and services which are already available and in every‐day use. I hope to cover the whole range of BLAISE services and perhaps enable you to appreciate how the various individual features of BLAISE fit in to a total library service.
Medical school libraries in the United Kingdom: some statistics for 1977
Authors: Saunders Gerald
Published: February 2008

A postal questionnaire was sent to the librarians of thirty‐two medical schools in the United Kingdom. From this, information on twenty‐four (75 per cent) of their libraries was obtained and statistically analysed by computer. These statistics indicated that: medical students are generally better provided with library facilities than their non‐medical colleagues; medical schools in London tend to have library provisions inferior to those in the provinces; the impact of a changing curriculum on the library—and the library's need to respond—are recognized; and librarians are also aware of the increasing need to educate medical undergraduates in the use of a library and its resources. It is suggested that further research of the topic might be undertaken, with a different method.
Aslib open meeting: Euronet and you
Authors: Mahon F.V.
Published: February 2008

I would like to start with a definition: Euronet is a conglomerate term designed to describe a concept—the sharing of information resources in the member states of the European Community, not to be confused with just on‐line services. In short, early next year, by present plans, the nine member states of the European Community, and possibly others, will be connected to a European‐wide data communications facility which is dedicated to providing access from each member state to stores of scientific, technical, economic and social information. The data communication facility is the first tangible European‐wide step in a longer‐term plan designed to harmonize the provision of information services to all peoples in all member states. I say this deliberately because it is often lost sight of in discussions on this topic that the creation of the physical Euronet is but one part—albeit a very important building block—of a much wider design.
An introduction to mechanized information retrieval
Authors: Harley A.J.
Published: February 2008

In giving any introduction to information retrieval it is necessary to begin by explaining what it is and why, then to examine some of its central features, and then to try to forecast where it is going. To do the latter involves looking at some of the conflicting forces acting on it in the present, as well as at the technical developments which are always promising to revolutionize our work.
The information industry: what it contributes, where it is going, its impact on information provision in the public sector: a general and official view from the standpoint of the operator and producer
Authors: Appleyard Raymond K.
Published: February 2008

The Commission of the European Communities plays a dual role in the information industry due to its resemblance to and interaction with governments:
The CAB World Agricultural Information Service
Authors: Metcalfe John R.
Published: February 2008

Coming into the information world with a background of scientific research, it is very easy to become confused not only by the jargon of information science but also by the seeming complexity of the information business. My reaction has been to apply the same guiding principle to the information business as I did to my field research, namely to search for the underlying pattern in the belief that the simplest explanation of natural phenomena is probably the right one. This approach has enabled me to take a fresh look at the fundamental purposes of the business in which this meeting is involved. The result may appear to be a statement of the obvious, but I make no apology for this; it is very often the obvious that is overlooked and can bear repeating.
A system for the storage and retrieval of field trials data
Authors: Johnstone A.
Published: February 2008

The Shell System was originally designed to provide performance data on pesticides through research and development phases for marketing purposes.
An illuminative evaluation programme for assessing information services
Authors: Pritchard J.H. , Streatfield D.R. , Wilson T.D.
Published: February 2008

The account of illuminative evaluation contributed by Colin Harris to the October 1977 issue of Aslib Proceedings was timely. Too little attention is usually paid to the effects of new information services or changes in systems. Evaluation will be a central concern of the next stage of Project INISS (a research project on the information needs and information services in local authority social services departments). The new stage of our work involves persuading social services departments to adopt some ideas for improving the communication of information, for a trial period. We intend to take an active part in introducing, monitoring and evaluating these innovations, all of which are low‐cost, small‐scale suggestions which offer real prospects of eventual adoption in other departments. Most of these innovations are familiar to information workers, but not to people in these organizations.
A list of thesauri and subject headings held in the Aslib Library
Authors: Gilbert Valerie
Published: February 2008

Aslib Library holds a collection of thesauri, subject headings and classification schemes which are used to answer members' enquiries about the existence of schemes for particular subject fields and many of which are available on loan for two weeks. Our policy is to acquire all significant English language publications and bilingual or multilingual items with English as one of the languages.
Inside information: social welfare practitioners and their information needs
Authors: Blake Bill , Morkham Trevor , Skinner Alison
Published: February 2008

This article sets out to chart, in a brief and therefore relatively condensed form, the development of the EISSWA Research Project since its inception in February 1977, and to outline its current position at the half‐way stage in the programme. In the course of the article, some attempt is made to describe the ‘action research’ philosophy and method underpinning the project, these being in important respects different from the strategy generally adopted by more traditional research programmes. It is assumed that the article's principal audience will be those already working or researching in the field of social welfare information but it is hoped that the following comments will also be relevant to, and perhaps strike a familiar chord with, practising social workers and probation officers.
Reflections on the utilization of the Universal Decimal Classification
Authors: Hindson Richard
Published: February 2008

Until recently the writer participated actively in the application and development of the Universal Decimal Classification, principally by means of computer‐based techniques available via large ICL 1900 series installations. During the decade 1968–1978 a multi‐purpose database was developed and operated using remote computer resources equipped with extensive telecommunication facilities. Primarily designed to support senior managers, the subject coverage of the system encompasses all matters judged to be useful in the particular business environment concerned. One feature of the system is the use of the UDC for both information (reference) retrieval and profile matching. It is hoped that some personal reflections arising from the experience gained and on associated matters will be useful to those involved in the management of information in large organizations.
The commission of European Communities' education policy information network: prospects and problems in the UK
Authors: Davies Jim
Published: February 2008

This paper gives an overview of the developing educational policy information network and shows how this European initiative together with parallel initiatives in the UK have lead to the establishment of the Educational Policy Information Centre (EPIC) project at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). The LEA experiment, within the EPIC framework is outlined. Similarities and differences in approach and actual and potential problems at both the Community and the UK level are set out.
Information retrieval: the published catalogue or the personalized information service?
Authors: Barker Veronica F.
Published: February 2008

When seeking information enquirers want accurate and up‐to‐date information. They also want to expend the minimum of time, mental energy and money on obtaining information. But often enquirers are inexperienced in the systematic searching of indexes and may need help in clarifying their needs, and in translating expressions of need into the language of the information retrieval system they are trying to use.
Librarians and the language barrier
Authors: Dickson A.J.
Published: February 2008

The issue of language as a barrier to the work of librarians in post‐war Britain was pinpointed in the report of the Royal Society's Scientific Information Conference in 1948. Concerning the work of information officers, it stated:
Managing to meet translation needs
Authors: Finlay Ian F.
Published: February 2008

There can be few firms in the UK which do not, at least occasionally, need to have some document translated. Articles, letters, patents and, to an increasing extent, telexes are most likely to be involved. There are two main reasons for this need for translations. Firstly, there has been a veritable information explosion during the years following the Second World War, this having affected most fields of human endeavour. Secondly, there has been an increase in the number of languages in which useful information is being produced, largely because of industrialization in many countries which, in the past, made little contribution to technology. This need for translations shows every sign of continuing in spite of the increasing practice in certain countries of producing material in English coupled with the appearance of various cover‐to‐cover translations of foreign journals into English. The need for translations has obviously also increased within such organizations as the European Economic Community with its six official languages.
The training of translators
Authors: Picken Catriona
Published: February 2008

‘If you have a degree in modern languages, you can translate. If you can translate, you can translate into a foreign language just as easily as you can translate from that language into your mother tongue. If you are a translator, you can also act as an interpreter.’ Most technical translators will agree that these are three of the most commonly held misconceptions about translation and translators.
The work of the translator: four case studies
Authors: Picken Catriona
Published: February 2008

These case studies reflect the wide range of activities of people who are all labelled ‘translator’. Three of the writers, John Alvey, John Craddock and Albin Tybulewicz, are members of the Committee of Aslib's Technical Translation Group. The fourth, Douglas Embleton, is a Group member but less able to participate actively because he is based some considerable distance from London.
Quality and quantity of information
Authors: Chaplin M.F.
Published: February 2008

I was delighted to be asked to address this conference, because its theme—the economics of information—and, indeed, the contributions from other speakers, place information in the context of an important and valuable resource. There are two additional reasons for my delight. Aslib's invitation to me confirms its interest in the information problems of the construction industry. Also, whatever experience I have in the information field is as a user of information; I believe I can add to the concept of information as a resource and help the movement away from the idea that information providers see the production of information as an end in itself, regardless of the end user or how the information will be used.
Electronic translation?
Authors: Snell Barbara
Published: February 2008

‘The age of miracles is over,’ they say, attributing the wonders of today's world to technology. But if the advertisement for a ‘Language Translator’ is to be believed, we must continue to accept marvels. With this personal pocket computer it is claimed that, ‘You can communicate in a foreign country without speaking the language, or you can learn the language more easily thanks to a new electronic miracle.’ We are further told that the gadget translates words and phrases into and out of six languages.
Information or communication?
Authors: Wyatt H.V.
Published: February 2008

Science would not have been possible without a particular form of communication, which itself has changed over the years. Why has science flourished in our Judeo‐Christian culture and not in others? We have very little idea, but certainly the Gutenberg printing press made the rapid dissemination of scientific work possible. For the first two hundred years of the Royal Society, science was the activity of the gentleman intellectual. In the history of infectious disease, the books and journals of the period 1840–1890 show how fragile science was, and how recent the present‐day scientific paper is. Fact and opinion were intermingled; there was no refereeing as we know it; there was total confusion in the meaning and definition of terms; the presentation of data was long‐winded, repetitious and illogical, with very poor tables and figures; and so on. The professionalism of science has occurred in the past hundred years; if we are not very careful, I think it may well be the last hundred years of science before a return to another dark age.
Educational implications of the new information technology
Authors: Aston Michael
Published: February 2008

We, the educationalists, have never been very good at incorporating new technologies into the educational system.
Gaps and inadequacies in the bibiliographic control of the publications of the European Communities
Authors: Hopkins Michael
Published: February 2008

My first reaction on receiving the invitation to give this paper was that half an hour would be long enough only to sketch in barest outline the most serious gaps and inadequacies in the bibliographical control of Community publications. My second and more considered reaction was the rigor mortis would have certainly set in long before the completion of a systematic, title by title description of the bibliographical deficiencies of numerous catalogues and indexes produced by HMSO, commercial publishers and the European Communities themselves. Consequently, I have decided to take a rather broad view of the problems of bibliographical control and particularly, to try to relate these problems to the publishing policy and practice of the European Communities, so far as that may be discerned. I have also decided to restrict my comments to Community publications alone.
Cuts and the special library
Authors: Stubbs H.W.D.
Published: February 2008

When the conference organizer first approached me some months ago and persuaded me to deliver this paper, the title—initially ‘Cuts in Special Libraries’—rapidly crystallised to ‘Cuts and the Special Library’. This happened because I decided that I must cover the two aspects, namely public sector cuts which will impinge on special libraries and cuts in the provision of resources in the special library itself. I came to this conclusion since I see the two as interacting, as well as stemming from the same general economic climate in this Country; hence both aspects will affect most, if not all, of us who work in special libraries.
The matching of resource to service in an industrial information unit
Authors: Blick A.R.
Published: February 2008

An industrial information unit must undertake certain activities to meet its customers' needs. The paper discusses these activities and places them in an order of priority. The resources available to a small, medium or large information unit are matched against the activities. The major activities, in order of priority, are considered to be (1) customer liaison, (2) special collections, (3) internal reports, (4) current awareness, (5) retrospective searching, (6) system development, (7) external literature data base compilation.
A system for machine‐aided thesaurus construction
Authors: Dextre S.G. , Clarke T.M.
Published: February 2008

The BSI ROOT Thesaurus has been developed first of all as a comprehensive indexing and searching tool for technological applications and secondly as a labour‐saving device in the construction of further thesauri. The classified section of the thesaurus was prepared first and input to the computer, where it is held in subject order, and from the subject file the alphabetical section was generated entirely automatically. In future thesaurus projects it will be possible to make use of the system developed and/or all or part of the existing subject schedules.
Problems of local government planning publications
Authors: Nuttall Barry S.
Published: February 2008

I will start by quoting from two letters I have received from local authority planning departments in recent months:
ACOMPLIS: a computerised London information service
Authors: Farmer Penny
Published: February 2008

I hope that some of you may already be familiar with the name ACOMPLIS. This bibliographic database of urban information was established in 1973 by the GLC Research Library, which was at that time part of the Intelligence Unit of the Department of Planning and Transportation in the Greater London Council. Seven years later we are about to move into a new era as the system becomes available as an online information retrieval service.
Introduction: Help from the computer
Authors: Lawson Veronica
Published: February 2008

‘There you have it: the difference between the human translator and the machine’, said Barbara Snell, chairman of ‘Machine Aids for Translators’, when she saw the cover for these proceedings. Fully automatic translation was no longer ‘pie in the sky’, she had said when introducing the conference: ‘machine translation may not be pie on the table, but it is perhaps pie in the oven.’ If intelligent youngsters were not to be put off translating as a career, therefore, translators must equip themselves with machine aids in order to fulfil their potential and make the most of one attribute which the machine would never acquire: the ability to think. The translations of the conference title, so non‐literal and thoughtful, typify the human translator's approach. We render not words, but ideas.
Machine aids: a small user's reaction
Authors: Clark Robert
Published: February 2008

A technical survey of the kinds of equipment that may improve both the quality and quantity of a translator's work is followed by consideration of the new conceptions and attitudes imposed by such equipment. The importance of motivation and other psychological factors is discussed, and the need for greater attention by manufacturers to human factors is stressed. Finally, a plea is made for improved telecommunication facilities and media compatibility between systems of different makes.
Translating and online
Authors: Duckitt Pauline
Published: February 2008

Information can be retrieved by direct interrogation of a remote computer by means of a keyboard terminal and a telephone. The advantages of such an online system are fast access to large quantities of data and the opportunity to refine the enquiry by conversing with the computer. At present, data bases can be used to determine if a translation of a document, or an alternative, already exists. They can assist with translating particular words or phrases, especially in new subject areas. In the future, online systems may be exploited to produce more sophisticated aids, reflecting the structure of language.
Terminological Data Banks: a model for a British Linguistic Data Bank (LDB)
Authors: McNaught John
Published: February 2008

A description of a model linguistic data bank (LDB) for a British market will be given, based on the results of a continuing feasibility study. A LDB represents an economical and highly efficient way of organizing Britain's efforts in the field of terminology, both with respect to English and the many foreign languages through which contact is maintained with non‐English speaking countries. The institutional and organizational structure will be outlined. Emphasis will be placed on services to be provided to various groups, and in particular to translators, and on the important role these groups will play in assuring the continued viability and relevance of the LDB, not only as users, but as contributors and advisers. Data acquisition policy and financial aspects will be considered. A multilingual, multidisciplinary British LDB will provide translators with a valuable service, whose applications are many, whose products are varied to, cater for a wide range of needs, whose terminology is continually revised and updated and whose modes of consultation are several.
Word processing and information management
Authors: Whitehead John
Published: February 2008

Everyone here tonight must be aware by now that we have entered a new, technological era—in fact, a second industrial revolution. If you are not aware of the new developments taking place you are either blind, deaf—or, even worse,—either not interested or of the opinion that it does not affect you personally. Either of the latter points can be fatal! Anyone who feels that they are not involved is going to become the Twentieth Century equivalent of the Dodo and anyone who is not interested in new technology is not, in my view, worthy of being called a professional—whatever his profession may be!
Creating an identity
Authors: Hutchinson Patsy , Kirby John
Published: February 2008

In common with many other Polytechnic libraries, Sheffield City Polytechnic Library is made up of a number of previously autonomous units, with a wide range of buildings, some new, some converted premises, and a divergent set of traditions and practices. It was important to weld these disparate libraries into one coherent library system and as part of this process it was felt important to develop a corporate identity for the Library.
Current affairs information: Chairman's opening remarks
Authors: Menhennet David
Published: February 2008

The conference sessions are entitled ‘Instant Information in a Changing Scene’. You will not need me to tell you that ‘current affairs information’ and ‘instant information’ are not necessarily always one and the same thing. If I am asked the exact date of the Battle of Trafalgar, and am able to reply at once, then I am giving instant information, but not on a topic of current affairs. Alternatively, on being required to find the very latest official Government statement on a particular subject, and on being given half a day to do so, I am handling a current affairs enquiry on a far‐from‐immediate basis. A very obvious distinction: but one which I know we shall bear in mind throughout today's Conference.
Current parliamentary and government legislation, prospects and events
Authors: Pond C.C.
Published: February 2008

‘Current Affairs Information, Resources and Needs’ is the title of the Conference, and its wily sub‐title is Instant Information in a Changing Scene. I am always suspicious of sub‐titles—‘Tess of the D'Urbervilles—a pure woman:’ ‘Twelfth Night or What You Will’—the sting is always in the tail, and the subtitle often seems more important than the actual title. So is ‘instant information’ the theme of this Conference, or is its relegation to a subtitle an indication that it is a pious hope behind the more prosaic ‘current affairs’?
The international political scene
Authors: George Alan
Published: February 2008

The International Political Scene’ is a very general and somewhat vague heading, so let me start by explaining what it means in the context of my paper. Naturally, my perspective is the business viewpoint. I shall be looking at the international political environment in relation to business policy on public issues; and will discuss the more important sources of information on political developments and some of the problems of using this type of information. I say ‘discuss’ because I will be providing a commentary based on practice and experience, rather than a critical review. Also, I thought it prudent—in the interest of good relations—not to mention any proprietary services by name.
Matching user needs in health care
Authors: Brember Ginny , Leggate Peter
Published: February 2008

This paper outlines the pattern of library services available to staff in the National Health Service (N.H.S.) and gives a preliminary report of a study of library usage and of attitudes towards libraries among clinical and pre‐clinical staff in the University of Oxford. Libraries serving N.H.S. staff are numerous but small, most commonly being staffed by a single librarian, and receive little publicity. In spite of their small size a significant number of N.H.S. libraries have a ‘special library’ character. Teaching hospital libraries represent the intersection between the university and the N.H.S. library systems and are the largest of the libraries serving N.H.S. staff. Data on usage and attitudes were collected by several different methods (questionnaires, interviews, observation, library statistics, feedback forms an analysis of ‘failures’ in finding documents) in the expectation that this would give a richer picture than would be provided by any one of the conventional survey techniques. The use of modelling methods for interpreting data is discussed.
The UK Serials Group
Authors: Woodworth David P.
Published: February 2008

The first tentative steps towards establishing some form of organization catering for those interested in serials was taken after a conference organized by Blackwells, the Oxford booksellers, publishers and agents in 1975. Immediately following this conference, and profiting from the impetus created by those librarians present, another meeting was arranged at Leicester University consisting primarily of librarians, resulting in the formation of a small ad hoc working group to consider the matter further. No ‘brief’ was given to this committee but the feeling of the meeting as a whole was that what was needed was not another organization which merely organized meetings but one which would become a pressure group on behalf of interested bodies and individuals. Consequently it was resolved that a Serials Librarians Group be set up.
Performance measurement and information management
Authors: Cronin Blaise
Published: February 2008

Evaluation is a term which crops up with increasing regularity in the professional literature of our field. The term is easy to understand, but it does have a wide variety of applications. Evaluation studies can range from full‐blown assessments of international information systems and referral services (e.g. AGRIS and INFOTERRA, respectively) to the evaluation of a particular service (e.g. a current awareness bulletin) in a specific organization. In this paper we shall be talking about in situ evaluation of services or systems which are ‘up and running’. Evaluations of an experimental kind (e.g. the Cranfield indexing studies) or the evaluation of innovative developments (e.g. Prestel as a carrier of community information) will not be considered.
Taking the measure of service
Authors: Cronin Blaise
Published: February 2008

I should like to begin with an analogy, which was used originally by Alan Gilchrist in a paper on cost‐effectiveness some years ago. The analogy is repeated almost verbatim because it says precisely what I want to say, better than I could have said it myself.
National information policy
Authors: Anthony L.J.
Published: February 2008

In November 1981, the Joint Consultative Committee of Aslib, the Institute of Information Scientists, the Library Association, SCONUL, and the Society of Archivists, organized a Seminar at the Lane End Management Centre, the purpose of which was to clarify ideas about actions which the constituent bodies wished Government to take in the development of a national information policy.
Towards a national information policy
Authors: Brown Royston
Published: February 2008

What kind of consultative machinery is needed and who should be involved?
New technology and marketing—the challenge for librarians
Authors: Cronin Blaise
Published: February 2008

Though I have had little contact with the medical library profession, I do know that your group (Medical, Health and Welfare Libraries) is highly active and highly thought of throughout the profession. From my point of view, however, the grouping of three really quite different professional sub‐groups under one banner presents a number of problems. If I'm to talk about marketing then I've got to take some note of the markets served by these three groups. Since the markets served by these groups are quite different from one another I can either attempt to say something which applies equally to all three, thereby missing some of the key differences, or I can attempt to touch individually on the problems and peculiarities of each sector in turn, but without going into sufficient detail to avoid generalities. As a group you are serving three very distinct user populations: medical professionals with highly frequent, demanding and specific information needs, a captive, if floating, patient population whose needs are less specific, more diffuse and less clearly defined and a broad base of administrators and planners. (See Fig. 1 below). This trichotomy is, of course, a gross oversimplification on a number of levels, but I mention it merely to show what I mean when I say that as a group you are aiming to serve a number of distinct markets. Keith Morton has referred to the National Health Service as an information market and I should like to quote what he had to say, since it confirms my first impressions as an outsider looking in.
Reflections on word processing: the experience of a small medical library
Authors: Whitsed N.
Published: February 2008

The Philips word processor has been chosen by the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School Library because of its ability to perform tasks, particularly the catalogue cards, and its ease of use. Its characteristic features are given and details are included of the type of equipment available. Emphasis is placed on the comparative simplicity of operation, good visual display unit and printout facilities. Specific applications at Charing Cross are identified, describing use of the various facilities. The merge process is explained showing how the system could be set up to send out personalised overdue letters. The establishing of a catalogue card system is described. A number of projects ‘in process’ are outlined. These include the establishing of an order file, maintenance and monitoring of statistics for on‐going and short term purposes. The value of using somebody else's equipment before purchasing is stressed and the point made that as technology isn't likely to remain static it is impossible to wait for the definitive machine. Finally, ideas are given as to ways in which the machine may be used by members of a parent body to maximize use.
IT82: a polytechnic response—opening remarks
Authors: McLean Neil
Published: February 2008

Information technology as a term is now firmly established in the minds of not only professional groups and the commercial and industrial world but in the public mind. This process has been hastened by the enormous boost to publicity which has resulted from the emerging IT82 campaign. The diversity of the campaign is itself bewildering and is an indication of the pervasiveness of the new technology upon society as a whole. The term ‘information technology’, inadequate as it may be, cannot be ignored and librarians face the challenge of translating it into meaningful goals for their respective institutions.
Information technology in polytechnics
Authors: Paker Yakup
Published: February 2008

Information technology, a recently coined term, remains susceptible to varying interpretations by different people. The intention, clearly, is to emphasize the emergence of a new technological era which manifests itself in so many unrelated disciplines and activities. The French have the tendency of inventing new words for emergent concepts such as ‘informatique’ which is computer science and technology, applications and wider social and economic implications. More recently, they have introduced the term ‘telematique’ to describe the convergence of computers and communications and ‘burotique’ for office automation. The English language seems to have a resistance to invented words. For example, informatics (the equivalent of informatique) has found only limited acceptance. The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) has a committee entitled ‘Computing and Informatics’ where the word computing has been retained, presumably, to help those who wonder at the meaning of informatics. The suggested equivalent of ‘télématique’ by some American authors ‘teleputer’ has not caught on, therefore, we have Information Technology instead.
The influence of technology on professional curricula
Authors: McGarry K.J.
Published: February 2008

My paper deals with three pivotal and interrelated problems: the growth of information technology: a cluster of professions involved in various ways with this recorded information; and the curricula which provide the necessary framework for the education and training of these professionals. My views are those of a lecturer and a manager of learning resources and, as such, are coloured by my own experience and from thinking, reading and arguing with colleagues.
The role of the professional organisation
Authors: Lewis Dennis A.
Published: February 2008

Those were the final words of Leslie Wilson's retirement address to the Aslib Annual Conference in Edinburgh four years ago almost to the day.
An aid to calculating search costs online
Authors: Smith N.R.
Published: February 2008

A simple model has been developed that enables the online searcher to calculate the total cost of a search at any point during the search. The parameters of the model are simply the online search time and the number of references that the searcher intends to print. The model can be represented graphically or in a discrete tabular form, as the searcher requires, and should be applicable to bibliographic databases on most retrieval systems. It should be particularly useful to searchers who have to work within financial constraints.
Information service models: some options, some choices
Authors: Blake Bill
Published: February 2008

This article is the third to appear in Aslib Proceedings on the work of the EISSWA Research Project. (Experimental Information Services in two Social Welfare Agencies). The previous two gave a resumé of the project's activities and began to examine factors which might inhibit effective service provision. This one, which forms one of the concluding chapters of the final report submitted to the British Library in 1980, attempts to draw the projects findings together in providing some choices for the nature and content of information services; not only for social welfare practitioners, but for any organisation where information professionals are striving to meet their diverse customer needs.
Measuring a library
Authors: Peacock P.G.
Published: February 2008

A method of estimating occupied shelf space in a library is described and the level of accuracy obtainable is discussed.
Interlending strategy for the future
Authors: Ede Stuart
Published: February 2008

The Report of the British Library ad hoc Working Party on Union Catalogues was published recently. The author, who is Head of Records at the British Library Lending Division and who acted as Secretary of the Working Party, provides a commentary on its recommendations and outlines the relationship between the proposed interlending strategy and the UK Library Database System. Progress towards the Lending Division monograph stock catalogue and the union finding list of foreign language monographs recommended by the Working Party are also reported.
Monitoring the demand for the services of academic libraries—interpreting survey evidence
Authors: Brettell Saxon , Basker Jim
Published: February 2008

In a previous article, the authors suggested that surveys could usefully provide monitoring information for management of capital services in libraries, such as seating, because of the complex interdependencies between users' behaviour and the provision of services reflecting a joint supply or joint demand relationship—or both. The authors then suggested a utilization quotient as an especially useful summary statistic for analysis and applied this to a particular survey of an academic library.
Using a general purpose microcomputer for online searching
Authors: Nicholson D.M. , Petrie J.H.
Published: February 2008

In 1981, the Online Search Service at the University of Strathclyde began using a microcomputer, rather than an ordinary ‘dumb’ terminal, to search online databases. The system chosen was a Cifer 2684, a British‐built microcomputer, incorporating twin Z‐80 microprocessors (each with 64K RAM), the CP/M operating system, and twin 5¼″ double‐sided, double‐density flexible disc drives holding around 250,000 characters each. A feature of the hardware is an arrangement to enable fast transfer of data on to disc (a full description of the system is given by Petrie and Cowie).
One way in—the alternative information scene
Authors: Lee Donald W.
Published: February 2008

Alternative information networks—born out of social change as part of the 1960's sub‐culture—have adapted, died and been re‐born in many ways until now in the 1980's they form a valuable, fascinating fringe information source completely separate from mainstream intelligence and often as far away from the Government's computerised concept of IT. as it is possible to imagine.
Non‐profit marketing—libraries' future?
Authors: Condous Crystal
Published: February 2008

Libraries are facing serious competition from the ‘profit’ information industry which has seen the potential of an ever‐increasing information service sector. Sophisticated information retrieval systems, and management information systems are finding their way into research organisations and business corporations, areas traditionally served by libraries. Until recently the concept of marketing non‐profit organisations has been considered inappropriate, centred around the underlying theory that such organisations are not involved in an exchange process. With the extension of the exchange concept, marketing as a tool has been applied in the non‐profit sector with a degree of success. Marketing requires analysis and planning and the view that promotion is marketing is misleading. The components of a good marketing strategy include not only a promotional campaign but also product analysis, the development of appropriate outlets for the products, and an effective pricing structure. These mix components are reviewed with an emphasis on the most neglected area, product analysis. Libraries' core products are examined and the appropriateness of the product life‐cycle concept is discussed. In conclusion, the article suggests that a change in attitude to marketing may help libraries to improve their image and to attract users. Through careful analysis, planning and implementation of marketing the survival of libraries may be less doubtful in a rapidly changing technological world.
Copyright and computer software: the publishers' view
Authors: Davies John
Published: February 2008

The Publishers Association has been monitoring developments in new technology as they affect publishing over a period of years. The central forum for discussions has been the Electronic Publishing Committee. Three main areas of electronic publishing have been identified as areas into which traditional publishers will want to extend their activities. These are databases/document delivery systems, video/film publishing and the development of computer software. The Committee has produced a number of publications including an introductory guide to electronic publishing, a survey of microcomputers in schools, a check‐list of opportunities and pitfalls which publishers may encounter, and lists of organisations active in the various areas of electronic publishing. These last lists indicated that of 81 organisations currently active in video and online publishing only 6 could be described as traditional publishing firms, so in looking at the market overall, we are talking about the policies of nascent specialist industries as well as those of present publishers in print. As far as databases and document delivery systems are concerned, the activities of the Committee have largely to date concentrated on the establishment of Publishers Databases Limited, a novel co‐operative company through which publishers can, through individual shareholdings, invest jointly in setting up their own distribution systems. The brochure of this company is currently available to bona fide print publishers on specific request to The Publishers Association.
Photocopying and licensing: the publishers' view
Authors: Pinnock Kenneth
Published: February 2008

History does not repeat itself, but it sometimes needs to be repeated. What I shall attempt in this paper is to explain what publishers think about the question of copying and copyright, how they have come to hold the views they do hold, and what action they are trying to take or to instigate. An historical approach seems to be the obvious and natural way of doing this—to go back a few years and retrace the path that has brought us to the present. It accords, too, with such qualifications as I possess for talking to you today. I am in no sense an expert on copyright; but I have been deeply involved until a few weeks ago (and even that time is sufficient, in this area, for one to become seriously out of date) in the discussions and negotiations about copying and copyright that publishers have been involved in ever since the time when Whitford was taking evidence and producing his Report.
Special libraries and information services and the development of the UK information industry
Authors: East Harry
Published: February 2008

It would not be particularly useful to dwell overlong on defining the information industry. That term, as currently used, can be understood to cover some aspect of most activities in industrialised society. However, it seems to me to be more useful to narrow the focus to those factors that most concern the sort of people who attend Aslib conferences, and the type of special libraries and information units they work in.
Information and action in professional decision‐making
Authors: Hounsell Dai
Published: February 2008

In this paper I shall try to explore problems in translating information into practical action. My examples are drawn from education, but my wider concern is with the take‐up of information in the professional domain. By this I mean information which is relevant to the quality of professional decision‐making processes, and especially where those decisions affect or determine interaction with other individuals—be they clients, patients, students, fellow‐professionals or employees. In an industrial context, the information would be relevant to management styles or industrial relations rather than to a new technological process. In a medical context, it would be relevant to patient‐doctor relationships, but not to the nature of symptoms or the kinds of drugs to be prescribed. In education, it would concern not the content of a new examination syllabus or the applicability of a test of performance, but a teacher's curricular goals and teaching strategies.
Updating managers—assessing the case for a radical approach to retraining
Authors: Mills Rowena
Published: February 2008

As you will appreciate, I am speaking to you as an industrialist, that is, as a user of information.
Word processing in information services
Authors: Yates‐Mercer Penelope A. , Bracegirdle Ailsa A.S.
Published: February 2008

Screen‐based word processors have been available all through the 1970s, although widespread interest and use dates from about 1975. Conventional offices, generating and manipulating many thousands of words, started to take advantage of the features word processors offer on a much wider scale than they had ever done with their forerunners, the automatic typewriters. Libraries and information departments who were concerned primarily with the already printed and published word were rather slower to realise that they too generated a relatively large number of words in their own right and that these words, in the form of, for example, catalogue cards, accessions lists, abstracts, bibliographies, reports and so on, could perhaps be handled more beneficially by word processors. However, once it began, interest grew rapidly, although actual installation of equipment has been considerably slower—probably a reflection of the limited budgets frequently allocated to such services for the purchase of technological aids.
Machine Learning Systems
Authors: Forsyth Richard
Published: February 2008

With the dramatic rise of Expert Systems has come a renewed interest in the ‘fuel’ that drives them—knowledge. For it is specialist knowledge which gives Expert Systems their power. But extracting knowledge from human experts in symbolic form has proved arduous and labour‐intensive. So the idea of machine learning is enjoying a renaissance.
Developments in Information Technology: an overview
Authors: Gillman Peter L.
Published: February 2008

Last Christmas my daughter received a book as a present. There is nothing apparently noteworthy about that, but this book is different. She is the heroine of this story; the other characters bear the names of her friends; and the action all takes place in our home and neighbourhood. All that we, the parents, had to do, was to supply the publishers with the appropriate pieces of information, and a word processor looked after the rest.
Alternative careers for library‐information workers
Authors: Slater Margaret
Published: February 2008

Certain assumptions are implicit in producing a paper under the above title. Doing so would seem to indicate that alternative careers for library‐information workers are necessary, possible, desired and desirable. The topic is also self‐inflating or self‐reinforcing. It suggests the existence of a continuing basic problem, instead of a matter of short‐term expediency.