bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
BUT HOW FAST DID TOPSY GROW?
Authors: JONES GRAHAM
Published: March 2008

The establishment of the University Grants Committee in the Britain of 1919 called for fundamental thinking as to the character and priorities of academic communities and the minimum levels of provision — staffing, research facilities, literature support, social amenities, and so on — necessary for any new foundation to be ranked as more than a primarily vocational training centre. Without assumptions and positions on these matters the Committee could not have done its work. Yet as regards libraries, almost no serious debate can be found in print among scholars of that day, and none among librarians.
STRUCTURES FOR SERVICES
Authors: McLELLAND DOROTHY
Published: March 2008

The initial impressions received by anyone surveying the structures for school library services in the United Kingdom may give rise to astonishment that there is such a diversity of provision within a comparatively small country. Resembling a patchwork, with some pieces taken from the same garment but others culled from a variety of sources, the organisations and services are by no means uniform. Again, like patches which recall memories of times gone by, the library structures derive from older organisations grafted onto newer ones. Even where it at first seems possible to compare like with like, there are often variations in staffing and services, due largely to developments (or lack of development) before the re‐organisation of local government in the mid‐1970s.
ENGINEERS FOR THE ENGINE ROOM: THE ROLE OF THE COLLEGES' RESOURCES SERVICES
Authors: WILSON MAURICE
Published: March 2008

A fashionable cant in education is that teachers are not so much concerned with teaching as with learning. This belief emerged mainly as a result of the work of new thinkers in the 1960's who directed attention to the importance of the learner in the learning process and who heightened an awareness of knowledge as a variable rather than as a given. The resulting re‐appraisal of teaching methods focussed on learning as “acts of cognition, not transferrals of information”, with the teacher as a facilitator.
THE PRICE AND THE PACKAGE: YOUR LIBRARY PRESS
Authors: JONES GRAHAM
Published: March 2008

Intellectual distinction and visual panache lie outside the scope of this note: it concerns the arithmetic of the journal world. In terms of merit, it assumes arbitrarily that all titles discussed are equal and interchangeable.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES AND THEIR SERVICES IN THE ARABIAN GULF
Authors: NAZIM ALI S.
Published: March 2008

Academic institutions and their libraries in the Middle East have taken a new turn after the petrodollar boom. Prior to this boom these institutions and their libraries were very poor in many respects. The most noteworthy changes occurred in the Arab OAPEC countries, especially in the Arabian Gulf, and became possible because of the generous budget allocated to the development of education. At present there are 17 universities in the Arabian Gulf and they are divided among six countries, as follows: Saudi Arabia 7, Iraq 6, United Arab Emirates 1, Kuwait 1, Qatar 1 and Bahrain 1. The oldest universities are King Saud University (KSU) (formerly the University of Riyadh) in Saudi Arabia, and the University of Baghdad in Iraq; both were founded in 1957. Most universities came into existence in the 1960s and 1970s (nine universities in the 1960s and six in the 1970s). The most recent is the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in Bahrain, supported by the Arab Bureau of Education for the Arabian Gulf states. Another university which is under construction is the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Oman; this will be inaugurated formally in Autumn 1986. In Bahrain a university was announced on May 24, 1986 to be formed by merging the two existing major institutions: University College of Arts, Science and Education (UCB) and the Gulf Polytechnic (GP). Plans have already been approved for the construction of a university library building to merge the collections of the UCB and GP libraries.
LIBRARY AUTOMATION AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY
Authors: CRAWSHAW TOM
Published: March 2008

In this article, I do not intend to describe, except in the briefest terms, the LS2000 system, as this has already been ably reviewed elsewhere. Rather, it will be my aim to highlight the lessons which have been learned from the selection and installation of the system, and to review some of the special problems which we endure in Oxford, and the possible solutions which we are investigating.
A QUESTER IN SEARCH OF ACCLAIM
Authors: BALL G.R.
Published: March 2008

Whether it is right, in the era of GEAC, OCLC, DOBIS/LIBIS and other available turnkey systems, that any library authority should still try to develop an in‐house system, can be argued elsewhere. The fact is that Derbyshire is committed to just such a course of action. Such action can be seen, on one level, to be a natural continuation of the County Council's commitment to the user of services, in this case, primarily, the library user. The system is designed to speed up the basic transactions; to deal quickly and efficiently with requests; to provide the user readily with information about current or potential transactions (availability of desired items, range of stock, details of books on loan); to account for special conditions (student, child, pensioner, disabled); to keep accurate and secure information about the user; to extend the range of information directly available to the user. (Shades of Ranganathan's Laws of Library Science.)
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AN AUTOMATED INFORMATION SERVICE FOR INDUSTRY
Authors: WILKINSON JULIA
Published: March 2008

The Turing Institute has established a Library of the core publications in the field known as Artificial Intelligence (AI). In this article I will briefly describe the kinds of literature that the library is collecting, how it is indexed and controlled, and the services which are offered to library users.
CHOOSING A LIBRARY SYSTEM
Authors: NICHOLSON D.M.
Published: March 2008

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when choosing a library system was more often than not a simple matter of deciding to take the one option on offer, for example, the single commercial system on sale in a library's particular geographical area, or a proposal to develop an “in‐house” system on an existing computer with available capacity. It is conceivable, though perhaps unlikely, that the matter will again become simple and straightforward — if library automation should one day reach a point of development where there are no important new horizons to be explored and all surviving systems can do everything that might be required of them in as many ways as may be required of them, and if library procedures become, as a result of automation, more standardised and more susceptible to automated solutions in general, then a stage may be reached where for a library of a particular type and size there is one recognised choice of system. In current circumstances, however, choosing a system is a complex and difficult task, requiring, at minimum, many months of detailed research. It is safe to say, moreover, that this situation is not likely to alter appreciably in the foreseeable future.
BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND THE DECLINE OF GAELIC ON THE ISLAND OF ARRAN
Authors: CRAWFORD JOHN C.
Published: March 2008

The island of Arran is situated in the Firth of Clyde astride the Highland Boundary fault zone. It is 19 miles long by 10 miles wide. Although similar in size to the Isle of Wight it has only a twenty‐fifth of that island's population. The number of inhabitants in 1981 (4743) is almost the same as in 1755 (4600). The island's population reached its highest level in 1821 (6541) and fell steadily for the rest of the century, reaching a figure similar to its present level in 1911.
INFORMATION NEEDS OF RURAL POPULATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING LIBRARY/INFORMATION SERVICES
Authors: HOFFMAN‐PFEFFER CAROL
Published: March 2008

While working in a rural district library system, the question of planning library/information services to meet the needs of the population was always of foremost importance. Community profiles of the region had been conducted continuously for ten years, and during the eleventh year it was decided to survey the entire area in a methodical way to search for the information needs of the population. The purpose of the study was to identify information needs in a specific rural area in Israel in order to design a plan for library/information provision to meet those needs. The study consisted of a literature search of relevant material on information needs in rural areas and less developed countries and a multi‐level field survey in one specific rural area of Israel.
DOCUMENTING PAPERS ON BUMIPUTRA PARTICIPATION IN THE MALAYSIAN ECONOMY
Authors: SIEW MUN KHOO
Published: March 2008

Perhaps no other body of contemporary Malaysian economic documents is as significant as those related to the many seminars, symposia and congresses held on bumiputera (indigenous) participation in the Malaysian economy. Unlike those of most other seminars, the bulk of the hundreds of suggestions and resolutions emanating from the Bumiputera Economic Congress series have been consolidated into policy; and have resulted in the creation of many current vehicles for training bumiputera expertise; strategizing bumiputera expansion in the economy; and solving problems of the bumiputera businesses. Agencies and institutions such as the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; the MARA Institute of Technology; PERNAS (the National Trading Corporation); Bank Bumiputera; Malayan Banking; state development corporations; the CIC (Capital Investment Committee); Urban Development Authority (UDA): are but a few examples of the myriads of agencies created to help in achieving the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP itself, though propelled by the 13 May 1969 incident, was fundamentally a result of consolidated thinking of the initial congresses. For those interested in any aspect of Malaysia's modern social, political and economic history, therefore, the contents of seminar papers on this topic are of inevitable interest.
THE IMPACT OF OPEN LEARNING ON THE EDUCATION OF SUB‐PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY STAFF
Authors: McCULLOUGH SHEILA
Published: March 2008

It is now over 4 years since the Library and Information Science Open Learning Project at Telford College in Edinburgh began developing open learning courses for sub‐professional staff in library and information work. Since 1982, 315 students have enrolled on these open learning courses. The current enrolment figure is in excess of 200 (January 1987).
PAPER AND ITS PROBLEMS
Authors: PRIEST D.J.
Published: March 2008

Paper has become such a commonplace feature of everyday life that it is often taken very much for granted and so it is worth pausing at the start of this article to remind ourselves of the diverse nature of paper and its many applications. The paper on which this article is printed is only a start, and it is not difficult for anyone to produce a long list of many different uses for different types of paper. In no particular order there comes to mind banknotes, cereal cartons, credit card slips, kitchen towels, “manila” file folders, wrapping paper, official envelopes, sugar bags, carbon paper, corrugated packing cases, newspapers, wallpaper, etc., etc. Some applications are not so obvious; if the reader is sitting at a desk or table having a heat resistant plastic laminate surface, the pattern will almost certainly be printed on paper, layers of which are impregnated with resin, and heated and compressed to produce the familiar laminate material.
SCOTTISH NEWSPAPERS
Authors: MATHESON ANN
Published: March 2008

Historically, the Scottish newspaper came into being in the 17th century, some years after its English counterpart. News was first transmitted to Scotland from London and abroad by means of news‐sheets. However, the preponderance of foreign news tended to limit their interest, as far as readers were concerned, mainly to the Church and to men of letters, and it took some time for the newspaper habit to take hold in Scotland. The earliest surviving Scottish newspaper, in that it was published in Scotland and dealt with Scottish affairs, was Mercurius Scoticus published in Leith in 1651. It was followed by a handful of other titles over the next few decades but by the 18th century the situation had begun to change. More newspaper titles were produced in Scotland, and they began to carry local news as well as news from London and abroad. Advertisements were introduced, in the first instance, mainly for patent medicines and notices of entertainments. Governments recognized at an early stage that newspapers were a potential source of revenue and, in consequence, a newspaper stamp tax was imposed on all weekly newspapers in 1712. This tax, which was dubbed “tax on knowledge”, was strongly resented by the newspaper proprietors, who set about evading it as best they could, and in doing so determined the format of many of the newspapers of the period which were specially designed to circumvent the tax.
RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION OF THE WANLOCKHEAD MINERS' LIBRARY
Authors: JAMES STUART
Published: March 2008

At almost 1,500 feet above sea level Wanlockhead is the highest village in Scotland, lying in the Lowther Hills some eight miles above Sanquhar in Nithsdale and a similar distance from Abington in Lanarkshire, above the Clyde Valley. The name of its close neighbour, Leadhills, gives the clue to why inhabitants could have been induced to settle in such a remote, bleak and inhospitable location, for lead had been mined in the area since the Middle Ages. It was during the Seventeenth Century that mining in the area became a significant activity and in the Eighteenth Century the numbers of miners and their employees increased dramatically and social and village life developed.
PRESERVATION: A DECADE OF PROGRESS
Authors: RATCLIFFE F.W.
Published: March 2008

In his remarkable essay “On books and the housing of them” Gladstone was apprehensive of developments which have since become major problems of library administration. He observed that “already the increase of books is passing into geometrical progression” and he predicted that it was “in truth difficult to assign dimensions for the libraries of the future”. He proposed in somewhat pointed terms a Victorian version of Boston Spa. From the evergrowing mass of books, items would have to be selected for “interment”, “burial”. “Undoubtedly the idea of book‐cemeteries such as I have supposed is formidable. It should be kept within the limits of the dire necessity … But it will have to be faced, and faced perhaps oftener than might be supposed. And the artist needed for the constructions it requires will not be so much a librarian as a warehouseman ”. He speaks of “boundless' demand for books, of their processing and of their housing. Of special interest in this essay are his comments on preservation. “If we wish to give to the block [of the text] a lease of life equal to that of the pages, the first condition is that it should be bound. So at least one would have said half a century ago. But, while books are in most instances cheaper, binding, from causes which I do not understand, is dearer, at least in England, than it was in my early years. So that few can afford it. We have, however, the tolerable and very useful expedient of cloth binding (now in some danger, I fear, of losing its modesty through flaring ornamentation) to console us”.
THE BBC ADVANCED INTERACTIVE VIDEO (AIV) SYSTEM AND THE BBC DOMESDAY PROJECT VIDEO DISCS
Authors: NOBLE IAIN , HARGREAVES PETER
Published: March 2008

Unless you have been on the library equivalent of a desert island, you will know that the BBC AIV system and the Domesday Project Video Discs were released at the end of last year. We bought the system in March but only now do we feel ready to release it for general use. The bibliography (not exhaustive) at the end of this review lists several articles which describe the technical aspects of the system in detail. Similarly other references (and BBC television programmes) have highlighted the immense co‐operative effort which went into collecting the data on the discs. We do not intend to repeat all this information, although a brief description follows. What we would like to do is to give the subjective impressions of a group of librarians, working in a particular library, setting up and exploring the system. We would hope that rather than being seen as any form of definitive assessment of the system, this brief expression of points of view will encourage others to agree (or disagree) with our opinions, give us the benefit of their own experiences and pass on any handy tips they have picked up.
USE AND RELEVANCE OF INFORMATION ON THE CARD CATALOGUE TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Authors: OSIOBE STEPHEN A.
Published: March 2008

The card catalogue has as its prime objective the provision of multiple access points to the library's collection. To achieve this objective, card entries are made by author, title and subject headings. Within the main body of the catalogue card, other items of information are included in varying amounts of detail by librarians to aid the reader in locating and identifying a given material he may wish to consult within the library's holdings.
Primarily about Communication: Ten Years of the Primary Communications Research Centre
Authors: Meadows A.J.
Published: March 2008

The Primary Communications Research Centre started its life at the University of Leicester in 1976, closing down ten years later in 1986. Its objective — to study all aspects of primary communication — was unique at the time. This retrospective survey by the Project Head looks at the thinking behind the foundation of the Centre and assesses its activities.
An Availability Survey in Co‐operation with a School of Librarianship and Information Studies
Authors: Revill D.H.
Published: March 2008

The practical problems in conducting simultaneous surveys across nine site libraries are described. Basic data, results and analyses are provided. An overall availability rate of 75 per cent was discovered. Comparisons are made with a previous survey. A supporting survey of readers' awareness of the survey was also conducted. Improvements are suggested. Benefits and disbenefits for both the teaching department and the library are discussed. The meaning, and limitations, of availability studies are outlined.
The Library and Society: A New Look at Old Values
Authors: Whiteman Philip
Published: March 2008

A number of fundamental values for the library profession are identified and discussed, specifically: a respect for the physical forms of recorded knowledge; the steady building of useful collections; the tradition of personal service in libraries; and their cultural and social roles. Recent trends and policies which threaten these values are examined and two areas are considered (the Library Association and the library and information science schools) in which action might serve to challenge these threats.
The Impact of a Dwindling Budget on Library Services in Tanzania
Authors: Nawe Julita
Published: March 2008

The impact of ever‐dwindling budgets on library services in Tanzania is considered. The areas discussed at length include the stock and actual delivery of services. Suggestions are made for improving the services through a re‐evaluation of the Ministry of Education's outlook on funding, training and staffing for libraries.
Knowledge Representation and Information Seeking
Authors: Hannabuss Stuart
Published: March 2008

Knowledge is a socially constructed reality based on facts, values and beliefs, with close associations with what we regard as true and valid and what appears to cause and explain what. Individual or collective, expert or novice, people know that and what they know through handling and analysing information. Information searches (informal, as conversations, formal, like reference enquiries) reveal and depend on frames of knowledge in participants. It is important for information intermediaries to recognise the cognitive style of the enquirer.
Caring Libraries in a Caring Society
Authors: Hendry J.D.
Published: March 2008

The present state of public services, particularly library services, is examined in relation to the United Kingdom Government and its advocacy of an enterprise culture. The role of librarians in promoting a community‐based caring cultural service is argued for. Scottish public libraries are discussed in the context of such a service, of Scottish cultural history and of the resurgence in arts and culture in Scotland.
The Australian Bicentenary in Print
Authors: Day Alan
Published: March 2008

Important and interesting books and articles published in England and Australia in connection with, or commemorating, the Australian Bicentenary are described. Five “official magazines” authorised by the Australian Bicentennial Authority are included, together with an outline of the eleven volumes of Australians: A Historical Library.
Social Influences on the Diffusion of Knowledge
Authors: Newhouse Robert C.
Published: March 2008

Primary social factors that may act as facilitators or inhibitors to the diffusion of knowledge in the social setting are discussed. The source of information is examined with respect to credibility, trustworthiness and attractiveness. In addition, four major issues are presented regarding information diffusion: logical vs. emotional appeals, one‐sided vs. two‐sided arguments, order of presentation and size of discrepancy.
The British Government's Plans for Public Libraries
Authors: Drabble Margaret
Published: March 2008

The text of a speech delivered at a public meeting in Holborn Public Library on 14 June 1988, in which the future of the public library service is considered. The Government's plans and the public's needs are discussed.
Reminiscenses
Authors: ROBERTS HENRY D.
Published: March 2008

AT the end of October, 1935, I retired from active service, after more than fifty years spent in library administration. And now my friend, the editor of this journal, asks me to write some reminiscences in a short article. The limitations of space do not provide for more than a series of brief notes, but it is possible that fuller details may subsequently appear in another form.
Library Economy Writers: Genesis
Authors: BERWICK SAYERS W.C.
Published: March 2008

YOU recall Dr. Johnson's definition of a lexicographer. Might it not also apply to the writer of text‐books ? “A harmless drudge” if not exactly a tonic description of a man would seem void of offence, except to himself. If, however, you were such a writer you would learn too soon that “harmless” is not always admitted to be your adjective. Once words escape into print they may be weighed and found both wanting and actively bad.
Books and Youth: Intermediate Libraries Reviewed
Authors: STEEL MURIEL
Published: March 2008

THERE comes a time when the youth looks either like a man in boy's dress or like a boy in man's dress. Girls at this stage are unkindly, though accurately, termed gawky. Dress is one of the outward manifestations of the difficulties that beset youth: a less obvious but not less real problem is that presented in his reading.
David Laing: Librarian and Bookman
Authors: WEIR JOHN L.
Published: March 2008

I SUSPECT that we praisers of past times, we who walk in spirit with the mighty bookmen of bygone days, are now somewhat in the minority. That being so, it was a heightened pleasure to hit upon Mr. Phipps Hemming's delightful gossip on Richard Heber in a recent number of the Review. We admire Richard, I make bold to say, far more than we admire the probably more worthy Reginald. Decidedly the former's labours—whether or not pointless and mistaken—deserve not to be forgotten. Father of all the “second copy” and “duplicate” men he undoubtedly was: yet he somehow contrived to leave a healthy tradition behind him. For Richard Heber was no mere accumulator, but an appreciative scholar and a cultured gentleman beside. Long may his name be remembered, even in times when his “three copy” rule has fallen into derision.
Old English Farming Books
Authors: FUSSELL G.E.
Published: March 2008

HOW old is old? If it were not that there were, at least for practical purposes, no English farming books before the age of printing, that question would intrigue me vastly— because I should not know how to begin writing this essay. Fortunately, however, any scruples I may have are removed by a matter of fact. The first English farming book was published in the third decade of the 16th century. It was Fitzherbert's Boke of Husbandry, issued in 1523.
The Bookless Million
Authors: CRAIG ROBERT
Published: March 2008

DURING a recent stay in one of London's vast new dormitory towns I had desire to purchase a weekly known among people of literary interests for its high standard and tone. My excursion to buy it developed into a search, and in the search I failed.
Library Economy Writers: Some Americans
Authors: BERWICK SAYERS W.C.
Published: March 2008

THE spirit of American librarianship is the admiration of the world. To some extent also the wonder, because the pioneers there were of the same substance in general as those who founded Australia and New Zealand. Yet in the United States the “library idea” developed, slowly at first indeed as everywhere else, but in the nineties and the first decade of this century with a verve and liberality which outpaced us all; while, in our Dominions, it grew relatively much more slowly and always braked by the European idea that a lending library ought not to be free. A divided philosophy it seems. In America the axiom has been accepted that reading is culture and in it is included the culture of the imagination through works of all kinds, even fiction; and that this is to be dispensed, as education is, freely and at public cost. In continental Europe, and through it conveyed in some way to the Dominions, our axiom has been that reading may indeed be culture, but its relation to education is vague and unproven, and at the best the desire to create readers should stop short at offering them books for use in their homes entirely out of public funds.
Typefaces and Format for Modern Books
Authors: KATIN LOUIS
Published: March 2008

DURING the past decade we have witnessed a remarkable improvement in the typography of books, although in large part this has been confined to the design of typefaces rather than to the design of the books themselves. “Cold type” has undoubtedly become far more legible and far more aesthetic than it had been for many years. Correct use of type by the printer is, however, as important as its manufacture; hence the benefits we should derive from the improvement vary from book to book according to the degree of craftsmanship of the printers.
An Old Soldier Looks Back
Authors: GIVIN SMITH D.
Published: March 2008

A TREASURED possession of a Glasgow nurse who served at a base hospital during the last war is a tiny piece of indiarubber common to the pencil case of every schoolboy of the 1914–1918 era. The rubber belonged to a private of the Gordons found wounded at the edge of a shell hole two days after the item “Western Front Quiet Last Night” appeared in home newspapers.
Delegation of Powers
Authors: HEWITT ARTHUR R.
Published: March 2008

A LTHOUGH it is customary for the functions of a library authority in England to be exercised by a committee, it is not compulsory for a library authority to delegate its powers and duties, except in the case of a county council and a county borough council adopting the Acts after 1919. In these cases all matters relating to the exercise of powers under the Acts, except as to rating and borrowing, must stand referred to the education committee. That committee may delegate all or any of their library powers to a sub‐committee. In Scotland, however, the library committee has certain duties conferred upon it by statute and it does not function merely at the pleasure of the council. The power to appoint a committee and delegate powers to such a committee contained in section 15(3) of the Public Libraries Act, 1892, was repealed and replaced, except as to London, by the Local Government Act, 1933, which provides that a local authority may appoint a committee for any general or special purpose which it is thought would be better regulated and managed by means of a committee and it may delegate to such a committee, with or without restrictions as may be thought fit, any functions exercisable by the local authority either with respect to the whole or part of the area of the authority. Certain powers are, however, reserved exclusively to the local authority, namely, the power to levy or to issue a precept for a rate and to borrow money. The powers of the 1892 Act so far as London is concerned are virtually superseded by the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1934, which enables local authorities to appoint committees in terms similar to those contained in the Local Government Act.
Don Quixote Visits a London Library: An Amiably Libellous Extravaganza
Authors: SNAITH STANLEY
Published: March 2008

THE assistant said, “Step this way, please.” A lift bore us with soundless urgency into the upper regions and decanted us into a corridor, and a moment later I was ushered into the Librarian's office.
Making Children Book Conscious
Authors: EVANS FREDERIC
Published: March 2008

IN this age of mechanised entertainment it is necessary to make a conscious and purposeful effort to establish reading as part of the interests and activities of the normal person. The cultivation of the habit of reading, and especially of the reading of worth while books, cannot be left to chance in the face of the highly organised and well advertised talking pictures, gramophone and radio.
The Library and the Evacuee
Authors: ALLAN JOHN R.
Published: March 2008

THE evacuation brought many problems to the country districts—problems that those who ordered it had not bothered to think‐out beforehand. One suspects that the ministers responsible looked on it as an exercise in moving a million people from one place to another; and, when the million had been moved, congratulated themselves on another astounding success. But the moving was only the start. It was a far more difficult business to keep the evacuees in the country. That raised problems for everybody—including the rural librarian. Some people may say the evacuees didn't want to read anything except timetables for trains to take them home. The rural librarian, being a man of understanding, might have foreseen that demand and supplied it. But there are other and better ways in which the rural librarian might have helped and is helping. For the rural library can provide the evacuees with a substitute for the pleasures of town; and, more important in the longrun, can help them to understand that strange, almost foreign, thing—country life.
The Theatre
Authors: BRIDIE JAMES
Published: March 2008

LET us be quite clear at the outset as to the meaning of the common terms used about the Theatre. The Theatre itself is a place for viewing or seeing things. The thing it presents to our vision is the Drama. Drama consists of people doing things. It takes the form of a play, which is a method of passing time when there is nothing better to do. This play may be a comedy, a tragedy, a farce or a melodrama. A comedy gets its name from komos, a binge, and ode, a song. It is a composition intended to be part and parcel of a binge. The word tragedy is tragos, a goat, and ode, a song. Some fool says that a tragedy is so called because a he‐goat was presented to the winners in a competition for sad and elevating choral performances. There is not the slightest evidence for this. A “goat song” is as plain a piece of description as a “swan song.” It is a song, delivered with a peculiar bleating intonation, about a certain human quality shared by mankind with the goat—that of butting furiously and hopelessly against the facts of life. Farce comes from the Italian farcio, I stuff. It means a haggis. It means an hour or two filled with anything that comes into the heads of the author or the actors.
A Teacher looks at the County Library: An Address
Authors: CROWE W.B.
Published: March 2008

IF you are as tired hearing about the function of the library as we teacher‐librarians are of hearing about the function of the school I shall do well not to make any reference to it: for it seems that if there is a wave of juvenile crime, the school is not fulfilling its function: if business men cannot get typists to add and spell accurately, the school is not fulfilling its function: if road accidents increase, if the churches are empty, if the landworkers are drifting to the towns—the school isn't fulfilling its function. Frankly, one looks forward to the time when with the help of the county libraries the school will begin to shoulder all its responsibilities!
Libraries in Bombed Centres: Some Reports
Authors: L.R.  , SNAITH STANLEY
Published: March 2008

THE destruction caused by aerial attack to a number of libraries in different parts of the country is not really news. Tens of thousands of people know the facts regarding their own districts, but the news is now coming through regarding the general situation, and, on the suggestion of an American correspondent, we present here a picture based on various reports. A certain vagueness here and there may be due to the censorship of the Press Bureau, who have had the material before them.
Readers' Progress
Authors: KENT MURIEL
Published: March 2008

READERS of The English Review, in the good days when literature took precedence of politics in its pages, may recall a fascinating account of Richard de Bury, author of Philobiblon (1345), an ardent book collector, and the founder of an early lending library. The writer of the article quoted, among other lyrical passages in praise of books, one that seems specially apposite in our own distressful times:—“In books I find the dead as if they are alive; in books I foresee things to come; in books warlike things are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace.”
Books and Reading in War‐Time
Authors: SNAITH STANLEY
Published: March 2008

ONE of the most heartening signs in these dark days is the persistence with which good books are being issued and read. Almost surrounded, and in danger of attempted invasion, it is of our very heritage that we should cling all the closer to those things which are the refreshment of the spirit. The Daily Express may bellow that “There is no such thing as culture in war‐time,” but the government knows better, and its appropriation of sums to further cultural activities showed real, if unexpected, vision.
Association Memories
Authors: BENSON THORNE W.
Published: March 2008

IN the comparatively small world of librarianship it is an undeniable distinction to be invited to contribute to the proceedings of this school in this particular way, and I assure you I am very sensible of the honour accorded to me. Realising that I have now reached the stage when I must be regarded as having arrived at the beginnings of old fogeyism at least, I am quite frankly going to claim one of the recognised privileges of advancing years by indulging in some reminiscencing. For full forty years now I have been actively interested in the affairs of librarianship, so it is my purpose to use this opportunity for paying some tribute to the two Associations with which I have been connected all the time, for the many valued friendships made, as well as for the encouragement and inspiration it has been my good fortune to receive.
Books and Reading in War‐Time
Authors: SNAITH STANLEY
Published: March 2008

WHAT of the novelists? The war has brought them a wonderful opportunity, a new world bursting with fresh, unhackneyed, living material for their pens. Will they take it? Not yet perhaps. So far our Elder Novelists have pursued their even tenor with majestic disregard of the fact that the old world, their world, has collapsed on its foundations. But for the young writer who has the gift of clear sight, and can forge the right instrument of expression, there is no lack of matter. Aerial combats, mine‐sweeping, A.A. gunnery, munition making, the work of fire services and the various A.R.P. organisations, evacuation and the new social conditions it has created—all this is of our time, it is history in the making. So far only John Strachey has broached it. For others, that excellent volume Their Finest Hour points the way. Here the narrators are unsophisticates, amateurs, but their sheer sincerity and the vividness of their subject‐matter make their essays compelling. The fireman's masterly understatement on arriving at the blazing inferno of the Docks: “Well, this is a bit of a —!—”the remark of Mrs. Hart of Bethnal Green, whose house had been bombed: “Our house doesn't look like much now! Just a dirty heap for the dustman to carry away”—the pilot bawling into his radio phone: “Oh, look what's coming, dearie, hordes and hordes of nasty Messerschmitts!”—these things come with the sharp tang of reality, besides which the cultured cadences of the professional writer look shabby.
Association Memories
Authors: BENSON THORNE W.
Published: March 2008

JOHN Y. W. MacAlister was a wonderful honorary secretary and accomplished a great deal for the Library Association, obtaining its royal charter among other things. Very progressive in outlook, he was fruitful in suggestion for improving the library service in all sorts of ways, and his far‐reaching influence with important people enabled him to procure favours and concessions such as few others have ever been able to effect. For instance, when the Second International Library Conference was held at the Guildhall of the City of London in 1897, MacAlister secured the whole dress circle of the Lyceum for the delegates to see Sir Henry Irving in one of his most famous performances, and likewise arranged for every delegate to be accepted as an honorary fellow of the Savage Club while the Conference lasted. He read a paper at the Conference too, of which the following is his own characteristic synopsis:—
The Librarian's Tools
Authors: BESTERMAN THEODORE
Published: March 2008

AFTER the last war the ever‐increasing flood of books and the even more rapidly increasing demands by readers, together with other factors, led to a remarkable development in many forms of library co‐operation—a movement crowned by the establishment of the National Central Library, with its regional offshoots, now an essential part of the British, and even the international, library world. Yet this development has done little more than reach the threshold of the possibilities inherent in such co‐operation. It is scarcely possible to doubt that this movement will be greatly extended during the re‐planning andreconstruction which must follow the present war. For instance, one of the most desirable forms of inter‐library co‐operation, hitherto almost entirely neglected, will certainly be stimulated by post‐war financial stringency—I refer to the regional purchasing programme. On such a programme, each library in a group buys only the books in constant demand, then specialising in some one department of lesser demand, the group as a whole thus covering the whole field of knowledge piecemeal.
Association Memories
Authors: BENSON THORNE W.
Published: March 2008

IN indulging in these reminiscences of days before the war of 1914–18, and set forth in the comparative tranquillity of the late thirties, I am preparing the way as it were to pay a tribute to the organisations which have made it possible for me to enjoy the privileges which have been mine, and to commend to you the benefits to be derived from taking advantage of the spirit of association. By taking active part in the affairs of the former Library Assistants' Association I entered a world which vastly increased my knowledge of human nature, intensified my interest in everything appertaining to libraries and librarianship, and provided me with a host of friends such as any man might be proud to boast about. Though well aware that temperament plays an extraordinarily important part in this matter, and equally alive to the fact that possibly I might have found the same happiness in Nalgo, Freemasonic, Photographic or any similar circle, I cannot help feeling that one's vocation has a paramount claim over all others, and that by allying oneself to any organisation having the furtherance of one's life‐work as its purpose, such a sphere offers the greatest opportunities for self‐expression, and the exercise of the creative impulse. Perhaps my enthusiasm deludes me into imagining golden glories where only bleak desolation exists, but it would take a lot to convince me of error in this direction, feeling absolutely confident that anyone who is willing to give cheerful service in promoting the welfare of his own professional organisation will not go unrewarded.
A Bookish Causerie
Authors: SCOULLER EDWARD
Published: March 2008

SINCE literature in any real sense of the term must be a reflection or a portraiture of life, any historical event or movement must have its due effect on literary production. The obviousness of this truism has obscured it from the majority of those who write histories of literature.
Samuel Brown and his Libraries
Authors: BROWN TAYLOR
Published: March 2008

THE reading of books has ever been fostered in Scotland, and in the eighteenth century Scottish education maintained a position hardly inferior to that of other European countries. With many Scotsmen of that period education was almost a passion which had much in common with their other passion—religion. From out of this feeling sprung a desire to lend books as a means of encouraging religious enthusiasm and conversion. To instance only two such schemes we may mention the Leighton Library at Dunblane founded by Archbishop Robert Leighton, and the parochial and presbyterial libraries for the use of ministers, students and schoolmasters in the highlands and islands, established in the eighteen hundreds by the General Assembly of Scotland. The East Lothian itinerating libraries scheme was started to increase the reading of theological books, and a large part of the finances were derived from the profits of the sale of religious periodicals, pamphlets and tracts. The story of Brown's life and scheme deserves retelling.
Desiderata Bibliographica
Authors: BESTERMAN THEODORE
Published: March 2008

IN my recent notes on “The Librarian's Tools” I glanced rapidly at the major types of reference works, mainly bibliographical, today available to the librarian and, through him, to the student and the general public. Any such survey shows that the field is a rich one, deserving of rather more thorough gleaning than it receives at many hands—and the more detailed the survey, the more impressive are the existing tools of the librarian found to be. It is therefore with deep admiration of the systematic bibliographer's laborious devotion, and in no carping spirit, that I point to the gaps which are also revealed by the same process of analysis. It is indeed paradoxical, but none the less true, that although the available facilities are great and insufficiently used, yet many additional bibliographies are needed, to say nothing of more general works of reference.
When Every Picture Tells a Story
Authors: DE BANZIE ERIC
Published: March 2008

THE wartime newspaper, despite its attenuated form, eagerly devotes a large proportion of its limited space to photographic reproductions in the knowledge that where the average reader is concerned a picture will portray an event more graphically than any column of descriptive writing. This is not an outcome of the unusual conditions of war, but is the continuation of a process that has been in operation over a number of years.
Social Service Films in the Public Library
Authors: STEWART WILLIAM
Published: March 2008

SOCIAL service, as a term, is new, while the modern outlook is as new as the term. It suggests a scientist at his test tubes or a statistician at his tables; a voluntary ambulance at the roadside or a nurse at the Child Welfare Centre. In its narrowest sense it is an extension and enlargement of the older charitable institutions; in its widest sense it covers practically the whole gamut of human enterprise.
Reading Habits in Fiction
Authors: GREEN MURIEL M.
Published: March 2008

FOR some time past I have been collecting comments illustrating the views of novelists on popular reading habits, and I have been much interested to find the extent to which they have expressed themselves on the subject through the mouths of their characters. The general subject is one of some interest to librarians, and the collection of extracts I have made may amuse colleagues, even though it may not instruct them. We may take it that the novelists are qualified to make such observations in view of their natural interest in books and in the habits of their readers. So what can be more enticing to them than to describe their heroes' or their villains' books and their use of them? No doubt the extracts given will carry some sort of a lesson for librarians. And so to it …
Learning Theory Applied in Management Education
Authors: Ratiu Indrei
Published: March 2008

Examples of deliberate attempts to apply learning theory in the design of management education are rare—largely because, as the words imply, learning theory is concerned with learning rather than with teaching, and consequently not always of apparent help to the educator. This article describes an attempt to apply a relatively unfashionable stimulus‐response model to the task of overcoming differences in numeracy level on a large postgraduate programme. The approach has now been in use for four years in succession and over the last two years has been adopted by a second business school as well. But this apparent success has not been without its problems…
Organisation Development in the Health Service
Authors: Lees Stanley
Published: March 2008

What should the behavioural science aspect of a six week, middle management nursing course be attempting to achieve? How should the behavioural aspect be integrated into the total course structure? What happens when the first week of a course is given over to a study of OD activities? What are the implications of this?
Using CCTV in Management Training
Authors: Smallwood Robert H.M.
Published: March 2008

This is the common reaction of the frustrated trainee who is seeing himself, or at least attempting to see himself, for the first time on closed circuit television (CCTV). In this article it is the intention to examine the requirements of a trainer to prevent such comments being necessary when video recording role plays in interpersonal skill training. The means of applying the recorded material to provide meaningful feedback will be covered in a following article.
Systematic Analysis of Trends and Pressures
Authors: Hutchinson Colin
Published: March 2008

The adverse state of the British and World economies in recent years means that corporate executives are under heavy pressure to manage the cash flow with particular care. The survival of many companies and some industries is threatened, and causes attention to focus on the short term survival needs which require immediate action. Those activities which are analogous to repairing a breached dam may be the most urgent, but other issues have comparable importance, even though it is difficult to find time to give them attention.
Selection and Promotions: your reasons in writing, please
Authors: Stewart Andrew , Stewart Valerie
Published: March 2008

Under the Equal Opportunities Act, anybody making a selection or promotion decision may have that decision challenged in the relevant Industrial Tribunal, if someone decides to allege that the promotion or selection showed discrimination on the grounds of sex. It is an open secret that similar legislation on race is likely to follow. If we follow the American pattern, we may even have legislation about discrimination on the grounds of age.