bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
To automate or not to automate
Authors: Cluff Edward G.
Published: February 2008

I have been speaking on this subject since 1970 and so I am beginning to feel like one of the cast in The Mousetrap which has been playing for even more years than that. But soon after I spoke in November 1984 at an MKA Conference (Tower Hotel, London), a piece appeared in the computer press giving a 100‐word summary with typical inflammatory headlines of what I took an hour to say. The headlines related in no way to what I said in my one‐hour presentation but to a background chat during the lunch break. As a result, someone wrote a letter to the publication attacking me for identifying the possible high cost of implementing the Act because in his words, ‘the Act does not make any demands over what a normal business should do’.
Data protection? But I'm a librarian
Authors: Gillman Peter
Published: February 2008

I am casting myself into the role of the professional practitioner of the black arts of information handling. Naturally I have heard of the Data Protection Act, and I have even read some of the papers on the subject. I run a reasonably successful information service, with a home‐made integrated system based on dBase II. This runs on a micro which also has a modem for online searches, and which in addition is used for word processing.
Preparing data for subject access
Authors: Brooks Colin
Published: February 2008

With the coming of the Data Protection Act, we as computer professionals are interested in the following three activities:
Bibliographic current awareness services — a review
Authors: Rowley J.E.
Published: February 2008

Draws together the various options for current awareness services and assesses the future for such services. Attention is focused on the services offered by text retrieval packages in support of current awareness services. Both microcomputer and minicomputer/mainframe packages are considered. A review of other options for current awareness services discusses services from online hosts, database producers and national libraries. The electronic journal, electronic documents and document delivery services are identified as factors which might influence the nature of future current awareness services.
Current awareness in education: an evaluation of Trent Polytechnic's Education News
Authors: Whitehall T.
Published: February 2008

Education News is one of several information bulletins produced by the library at Trent Polytechnic. It contains references to articles in newspapers and journals on topics of interest in further education, higher education, and adult education. DES (Department of Education and Science) press releases are also included. About fifty copies of the bulletin are produced fortnightly. It is intended as a current awareness service for senior people in the Polytechnic administration and the departments, but it goes to people outside the Polytechnic as well, and half the recipients are librarians or information officers involved in some way with education.
Disjointed incrementalism and 1990
Authors: Cronin Blaise
Published: February 2008

Charles Lindblom (Professor of Economics & Political Science at Yale University) coined the term ‘disjointed incrementalism’. Lindblom was interested in the decision‐making process — the ways in which and reasons for which planners, managers and administrators arrived at particular policy decisions.
Developing special library services in Fiji
Authors: Oates Susan E.
Published: February 2008

Fiji is an island nation in the South Pacific, which whilst enjoying swaying palms, coral seas and a relaxed life style, also experiences many of the problems of Third World developing countries.
The next ten years in the biology library
Authors: Yeadon Janice
Published: February 2008

The aftermath of the electronics revolution and the probable continuation of a ‘tight’ financial climate; in particular the effects on libraries dealing with biological information and material. Important trends in biological research and their repercussions on library/information services are discussed. The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of many biological topics, e.g. language, the brain, acid rain, and the different clientele this brings to the biology library staff.
Handling statistical enquiries in the medical library — some practical examples
Authors: Hague Howard
Published: February 2008

Every library school student knows that statistics — like conference proceedings and technical reports — belong to that category of material called ‘difficult literature’. It is true that often it is not easy to find out what is available, and that frequently the published statistics do not give the figures in quite the way that your enquirer wants. A starting point for many enquiries will be the Guide to official statistics, compiled by the Central Statistical Office and the coverage of which is much wider than might be expected from the title. However there are other sources of information which may be less obvious, and these include recent journal articles and reviews, annual reports of organisations, textbooks, monographs and computerised bibliographic databases. In addition there are a number of organisations which may be able to provide statistical information or advise on it, such as the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), the Office of Health Economics (OHE), and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Bear in mind too that the various tiers of the National Health Service may issue their own statistics, for example the North West Thames Regional Health Authority produce their Annual patient statistics which give figures by district and by individual hospital. Libraries should try and get themselves on the mailing list for these documents!
Information and the doctor
Authors: Vincent Richard
Published: February 2008

Clincians spend much of their time manipulating information. Their diagnoses are made through a comparison between their knowledge of the body's behaviour in health and disease and fresh data from each patient they see. But the knowledge base in medicine is expanding at an overwhelming rate, while doctors' capacity to acquire, evaluate, store, and recall new knowledge is inevitably limited. Present information technology allows rapid reference to the world's medical literature — through established library services or, more recently, through direct user access to major international bibliographies. But further developments, in intelligent user interfaces, in portable reference sources for selected data, and in systems for ready access to comprehensive reviews could improve the doctor's lot. Accumulated medical experience held on a user‐accessible electronic index may also enhance the data on which the doctor is able to draw to optimise patient management. The value of any medical information, however, will still depend finally on the quality of scientific observation and on the competence of the medical reviewer. The medical librarian, too, will continue to play a key role, as a source of expertise in accessing specialist information, and as an adviser to users who wish to play a more active part themselves in electronic information technology.
Morbidity statistics
Authors: Fry John
Published: February 2008

I am going to give you a really personal paper — personal because its based on my experiences, delving and fighting my way into the morass on morbidity data and all there is to get, and trying to put it into some order. To paraphrase Shakespeare's Mark Anthony ‘We only die once’ that's mortality ‘but before we do we suffer many ills’ and that's morbidity. The frequency and the cost of morbidity is more important than mortality which is a very final exit. Therefore logically we need to know very much more about morbidity than mortality but however, and I suppose that's the reason for this meeting, collection and trying to get morbidity statistics is difficult as Michael Alderson referred to in his paper (see pp.183–186).
Intellectual property: regulation of useable information
Authors: Eisenschitz Tamara S.
Published: February 2008

Intellectual property law regulates the exploitation of creative products. From patents one can obtain commercial intelligence and also technical information. Front‐page documentation when analysed for collections of patents yields commercial information on the technology, its markets, active inventors and institutions. The text of a patent is a technical document. It can be referred to for its specific details or combined with others to illustrate a trend. The overlap of patent and journal literature is greater than had been measured previously when only groups of patents are taken into account. Copyright concerns the availability of existing information. By trying to enforce existing law when the underlying concepts have lost their validity, the law has become unenforceable and requires considerable modification. The problem is an economic one of developing the market rather than a legal one of strengthening regulations. This approach is exemplified by the computer industry which relies on physical controls where possible.
Electronic publishing and the information profession
Authors: Gurnsey John
Published: February 2008

This paper is not so much about electronic publishing — as about change. More importantly it is about our professional institutions and their response to change. In many ways it is appropriate that I give this paper at an Aslib conference. In 1983 Aslib changed, if not its main name, then its subtitle to the Association of Information Management. This implies that Aslib has extended its interest beyond the field of just libraries and information bureaux, to information per se. In this respect, Aslib appears to be saying that its business is information, irrespective of its presentation and form. Such an approach seems both sensible and closely in line with modern developments; more importantly it is one which our other professional institutions could do well to follow.
Starting end‐users
Authors: Norton Robert A. , Westwater Jane
Published: February 2008

Online access for end‐users in a library and information service poses problems of organisational procedure, presentation and training, and cost (reallocation), as well as system ‘friendliness’, ease of access and usage, and levels of success in searching. In a controlled environment, two periods of end‐user searching were performed to give the user direct hands‐on contact with an online host, to gain a measure of evaluation for such problems posed, and, to gain a notion of user‐impressions of actual and future (potential) usage.
Online use and end‐users in media and advertising: an overview
Authors: Harris Kevin , Nicholas David , Erbach Gertrud
Published: February 2008

The established areas of online activity: finance, science, and now law, are characterised by the high value which they attach to information and their ability to pay for it. Outwardly this would seem to be true for the media and we would be rather surprised at their omission from this list. Indeed, one might expect that, given their close and heavy commitment to information research, information processing and packaging, and dissemination, they would make ready converts to online. Yet despite the considerable efforts expended by database vendors, who long ago targeted this potentially huge and lucrative market, they have gained little more than a foothold. Market penetration is weak, very patchy, with the case for online still, in many instances, unproven. This paper reports on initial research into online use in the media, and provides early findings from which general lessons may be learnt about the use, value, and impact of online information retrieval.
The information rich and the information poor
Authors: Wilson Alex
Published: February 2008

Since the USA leads the world in information technology and in electronic information products and services, it is natural that our American colleagues have led the way in discussing the moral and political issues lying behind national information policy. I am pleased that, by giving me this title, ASSIG is doing its part in raising the level of debate among the library and information science profession in the UK. I want to discuss trends in access to information by various groups in society; particularly as they are affected by new technology. I start from the premise that the professional ethic of librarians and information workers supports the ideal of free and equal access to knowledge, as one pillar in the temple of democratic society; and that we regard this as an international responsibility.
1 man — 100 votes: a new approach to reviewing periodicals subscriptions at the University of Sussex
Authors: Horwill Cherry , Lambert Peter
Published: February 2008

Members of staff and D.Phil. students were sent lists of current periodicals titles thought likely to be of interest to them, and given 100 votes to indicate the value they placed on the titles; titles not on the lists could be added. Votes were analysed using the library's computer. Lists of titles for cancellation, subscription and deferral were circulated for comment. After consequent modification, 164 cancellations and 74 new subscriptions were made, rebalancing resources from humanities to sciences. Other uses for the data have been found also.
Retailing and the M25: a review of studies
Authors: Morgan Gareth
Published: February 2008

In my paper I want to concentrate on three different aspects of the study of retailing around the M25. First I want to consider the implications of the opening of the M25 for the retailing industry in terms of its effect on market areas, in other words the theory of the effect of the M25; secondly, I want to examine some of the major developments or proposals that have arisen as a result of the M25 and then finally I'm going to consider the type of studies that these new proposals have created a need for, and the information requirements of these studies.
Do VDU's make you sick?
Authors: MacMorrow Noreen
Published: February 2008

The VDU or visual display unit is one of the most pervasive manifestations of technological change. It is also the one which has aroused the most controversy and, at times, misinformation about possible adverse effects on the health of users. As VDU's become increasingly common in the workplace it is important to examine these allegations and consider their veracity.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Authors: MacMorrow Noreen
Published: February 2008

A recent article (Aslib Proceedings, March Vol. 39, No. 3) ‘Do VDUs make you sick?’ dealt with the possible health hazards which the misuse of visual display units (VDUs) can cause. These hazards are:
Introduction: Chairman's address
Authors: Read CBE Charles N
Published: February 2008

The view is increasingly accepted that information is now the key economic and strategic resource in developed societies, from manufacturing to marketing, from finance to defence, from government to the leisure industries — indeed in many activities of society.
How to spend £10 million without really trying: financial control and resource management
Authors: Wares Christine M
Published: February 2008

Before considering the financial responsibilities of a Director of Libraries and Arts in a local authority, I would like to set the scene in my own authority, the London Borough of Camden, in order to put my remarks in context.
Management development for information professionals of the future
Authors: Brindley Lynne
Published: February 2008

This simple title, Management development for information professionals of the future, hides within it a large number of difficult issues. I want firstly to make explicit some of my assumptions about the future as a background to addressing the question of what sort of systematic and continuing preparation information professionals will need to play the kind of central role envisaged for them by bodies such as Aslib. I hope to encapsulate the challenge and opportunities of the next few years as a speculative context, without going into too much detail. This will lead on to an identification of the key requirements and possible ways of meeting needs, with some final thoughts on our capacity as a profession to meet these complex challenges.
Implementing the information audit
Authors: Worlock David R.
Published: February 2008

When the EUROLEX researchers, in the early phases of legal information market research in this country, asked lawyers what information they expected to find on a legal database, the answer (once the concept of a database had been explained) came back clearly: ‘everything’. EUROLEX market research and the discrimination of lawyers both improved during the five year life of that project. Yet the answer contains a salutary lesson which is greater than a mere representation of the conservative nature of lawyers faced by a question they had not previously encountered and seeking an answer that had to be in some respects, at least, correct. The answer ‘everything’ also represents our heightened expectations of all electronic information delivery methods, our over‐hyped presumption that the simple addition of a new technology will provide information values which create knowledge and solve problems without the necessity for clear definition of both the knowledge and the problems on the way.
Leadership as a resource & mdash interpersonal skills
Authors: Feldman David
Published: February 2008

My theme under the heading ‘Leadership as a resource — interpersonal skills’ will focus attention on recognising, developing, constructing and resourcing a major, albeit often unrecognised, and apparently intangible, factor in the success or failure of ‘adaptation’: the skills, perseverence and abilities of ‘leaders’ to guide, see, support and motivate people through change. There is, of course, nothing new in change, although perhaps it would be true to say how the pace of that change has increased in recent years. Indeed, it surrounds us at this conference in the changing world of information retrieval — a long way from philistines such as myself who refer to ‘librarians’ and visualise piles of paper, rubber stamps and dusty archives. Far removed from the key resource we now represent within organisations for the competitiveness and dynamism of the organisation itself. I have in mind the ‘Big Bang’ mentality of the city, or the competitiveness of industry and commerce, where information is increasingly knowledge and knowledge aids decisions, and decisions create action and management policy. And those who get it right in our competitive climate will survive and prosper — others will not. Adapting to change is not new. I am reminded of a quote:
End‐users: threat, challenge or myth?
Authors: Nicholas David , Erbach Gertrud , Harris Kevin
Published: February 2008

In spite of ostensibly favourable conditions, end‐user searching of online text information retrieval systems among City firms is relatively uncommon. Online searching is flourishing but is very much the province of librarians. Textline is the exception, being used fairly extensively by intermediaries and end‐users alike. Textline's success is attributed to shrewd marketing, user‐friendly software, a wide and relevant coverage policy, its abstracts and early entry into the market. Job perceptions, job pressures, human nature and attitudes towards information technology appear to be inhibiting widespread end‐user searching. Intermediaries, who are actively encouraging end‐use, or who are trying to get involved in the planning of integrated information systems, still seem to be in the minority.
Issues facing learned libraries
Authors: Hall David
Published: February 2008

The London Science Centre communicates with some 560 learned societies. Nearly all have libraries, archives and collections of various kinds, forming individually, as well as together, unique collections of special value to mankind in scholarship and learning. The size of library varies from a few shelves, perhaps in a university library, to a fully international information service making maximum use of information technology. During recent years librarians and library committees of societies have seen and are seeing a period of great change brought about partly through the ‘explosion’ of information technology, and partly through changing values and attitudes.
Towards an information market model
Authors: Rowlands D.G.
Published: February 2008

The marketing of consumer products has developed into a sophisticated operation, largely in response to the maturation of markets and the consequential increased competition. Those participants active in markets are constantly vying with each other for their share of the value added, and complex interactions between the different components of the market develop. The market for information, in contrast, is relatively undeveloped, and whilst information has some characteristics which differentiate it from conventional consumer products, there is nevertheless considerable similarity which allows an analogous model for the information market to be constructed.
International sources
Authors: Deschamps Judith
Published: February 2008

The services I am going to talk about are sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme, OECD (the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the Commission of the European Communities. Many databases, available online and otherwise, include information from a large number of countries. The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to some less‐widely publicised activities which can assist you in obtaining information on environmental chemicals and pollution.
Business use of information services
Authors: Brooks Martin
Published: February 2008

First of all, I would like to add my congratulations to you at Aslib on your 60th Anniversary. It is a salutary thought that whatever we pontificate about now, some very foresighted people 60 years ago recognised that there were specialised information requirements.
Social and industrial innovation and policy change
Authors: Preston Paschal
Published: February 2008

In this paper I want to examine the scope and limits for a major shift in the internationalisation of trade in information and communication services (or ‘tradeable information’ markets) by the close of the present century. I will seek to relate together some of the key socio‐economic, policy, institutional and other factors which, in interaction with new information and communication technologies (ICT), will influence the form and extent of transformations in the structure and spatial scale of information services markets. Thus, the focus of the paper is on some of the key issues related to the globalisation of information and communication (IC) services markets associated with the development and diffusion of new ICT. My discussion is strongly influenced by the British industrial, policy and research context where the potential for the development of international trade in information services has become a matter of increasing concern to industrialists and public policy makers in more recent years (eg ITAP, 1983).
Press releases: a neglected source of information
Authors: Johnson Karen , Haythornthwaite Jo
Published: February 2008

Press releases are a major means of communication between the government and the public, and yet they remain an under‐rated and neglected source of data. This paper describes the functions fulfilled by press releases and seeks to evaluate their potential value to the information professions and to researchers by means of interviews with the press officers of two major government departments and two quangos.
Libraries and the economic development of Ghana
Authors: Alemna A.A.
Published: February 2008

This paper is of the view that libraries play an important role in the economic development of every country. It reviews the present state of library services in Ghana in relation to their contributions to the economy of the country. The writer concludes that libraries are contributing very little to the economic development of the country due to various problems such as lack of funds and the misconception of the role of libraries by administrators and policy makers. Suggestions are made for the improvement of the situation, which include various contributions that the Ghana Library Association can make towards the success of the Economic Recovery Programme.
The Defence Research Information Centre: services and new developments
Authors: Farquhar G.
Published: February 2008

The Defence Research Information Centre, or DRIC as it is commonly known, is the MOD's central deposit and dissemination point for defence scientific and technical literature to the UK and overseas Defence Community. In March 1986 it moved from St Mary Cray to central Glasgow, where it is now located along with a number of other MOD branches in a modern office block. It was formed in October 1971 by the merger of the defence component of the Technology Reports Centre (TRC) with the Naval Scientific and Technical Information Centre (NSTIC). DRIC is part of the Procurement Executive of the Ministry of Defence. In order to discharge its remit DRIC is organised into 2 groups. Mr M.R.C. Wilkinson is the head of DRIC—he reports to the Director Establishments and Research (B)—DER(B) who in turn reports to Deputy Controller Research [DC(R)]
Management of libraries in Ghana: concepts, practices and constraints
Authors: Alemna A.A.
Published: February 2008

This paper discusses the management of libraries in Ghana with reference to the existing practices in the country, and various problems involved in the administration of these libraries. Management plays a very important role in librarianship, yet librarians in Ghana find it difficult to execute this function owing to various constraints such as inadequate training facilities in the country, lack of funding for libraries, and the low image of librarians in the country. The writer suggests among other things, the organisation of regular seminars and conferences at local, national and regional levels for librarians to improve upon their management techniques and efforts by librarians themselves to change public misconception of their profession.
The development of public libraries in Nigeria: the case of Bauchi State Library Service
Authors: Antwi I.K.
Published: February 2008

This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the operation of the public library system in Nigeria by using the Bauchi Public Library as a case study. The text reviews the origin and growth of the Library over the years and finds that the Library is book oriented and thus basically caters for literates. The existing resources of the Library are evaluated while the problems facing it are documented. Recommendations are made with the view to bringing about the general improvement in the Library in terms of management structure and providing more facilities to cater for all categories of users.
Developing our staff
Authors: Peel Malcolm
Published: February 2008

If ‘partnership’ means anything, it must mean partnership with those who work for us; our staff.
Information architectures: the information resources entity (IRE) modelling approach
Authors: Woody Horton Forest
Published: February 2008

Most approaches being put forward today for constructing an information architecture for a large organisation, such as a Fortune 1000 company, are essentially top‐down approaches. That is, organisations are first admonished to come up with a list of critical success factors. Then they're told that every business or enterprise, no matter what kind, has certain standard ‘classes of information’, into which all of the organisation's information systems, data, records and files can be shoehorned. ‘Prepare a matrix,’ we are told, ‘and then correlate your information classes with the critical success factor list.’
Technology in university libraries in Ghana
Authors: Ellis Badu Edwin
Published: February 2008

Libraries and information services form part of a larger community which exists to pass information from the originator to the recipient. This community also includes the producers and distributors of both print and non‐print information, information brokers consultants, educationalists and research workers.
Online service pricing and expenditure
Authors: Forrest Vicki
Published: February 2008

The financial aspects of online services are becoming increasingly important; with pricing debates occurring at two levels: that of the intermediary and that of the online host. Information on spending patterns can provide a useful contribution at either level; this is illustrated by recently‐obtained data concerning the expenditure of selected groups of UK online‐using institutions. Figures for the amounts spent by public and academic libraries reflect their role as intermediaries, conducting client‐specific searches. These are generally priced in relation to expenditure, as libraries attempt to recover at least some of their costs. As regards the hosts, there is a need for more detailed research into the possible effects of price variations upon demand. This is an area in which figures for spending could prove extremely valuable, if used, on a long‐term basis, to investigate the interaction between price changes and expenditure trends.
A survey of European Communities databases
Authors: Hanson Terry
Published: February 2008

The purpose of this survey is to list and describe the publicly available databases produced by the European Community (EC), the databases produced from EC information by private companies and the principal database services from private companies that have particularly good coverage of EC affairs.
Book production and publishing in Nigeria
Authors: Iwe J.I.
Published: February 2008

Publishing has often been regarded as the bedrock of librarianship. The soundness of this belief requires no argument because the publisher and the librarian continually play complementary roles in the provision of materials for the dissemination of information to the public. While the publisher is mainly involved at the earlier stages of the technical professional production of books and other information materials, the librarian has the singular duty of making sure that these materials, in addition to the information contained in them, are made available to readers. In other words, if the publisher does not play his or her part, the librarian may not have the materials necessary for the performance of his or her duties and if the librarian fails in a professional role, the single, major means by which the publishers' output gets to the largest number of population is lost. Thus, the professional roles of the publisher and the librarian are closely related and interdependent.
Marketing and promotion in today's special library
Authors: St. Clair Guy
Published: February 2008

All libraries engage in some form of marketing and promotional activity, either active or passive. Four benefits come to those who promote their library services: usage; increased value in the organization; education of users and non‐users; and changed perceptions. Effective library marketing includes combining the concepts of marketing, promotion and public relations, but it begins with a clear definition of the library's mission in the parent organization. The special librarian then needs to analyze the parent organization in terms of funding sources, the contributions the library makes to the mission of the parent organization, and the value of the library's services to users. Such analysis leads to innovation, follow‐up, and involving others in promoting the library and its services, which result in successful marketing for the special library.
Will sophisticated computer systems replace professional librarians or complement their skills?
Authors: Gunson Nicky
Published: February 2008

Information technology can either replace human effort and skill or it can complement and enhance it. Computer systems introduced into industry reflect both of these capabilities. In general, the skills replaced by computer systems in industry are mechanical/repetitive skills, although some middle managers are now being by‐passed as large centralised computer systems and networks have made communications between the centre and the periphery more direct and reduced the need for intervening filtering and interpretation. Many computer systems also complement managerial skills by aiding decision making. In the future it is possible that expert systems may replace some managerial skills, but the intuitive and experiential nature of much managerial work makes it unlikely that this replacement will be widespread.
Moves, Mergers & Mayhem: Recent Library Developments In CAB International
Authors: Hamilton CJ
Published: February 2008

Every library move is unique and the precise details of one specific case are therefore unlikely to be of much direct application elsewhere; this may account for the fact that while there is at least a handful of books on library design, there is virtually no literature on library moving.
The libraries of the Agricultural and Food Research Service
Authors: McKeen Mike
Published: February 2008

In the last decade the Agricultural and Food Research Service has been transformed as resources are concentrated in fewer large institutes. This paper presents the new dispositions with a brief commentary on their evolution.
Key technologies — chasing the gap
Authors: Keary Mae Y
Published: February 2008

The title of this paper may seem somewhat unusual, as it poses the question, what is a ‘key technology’, and what gaps are being chased? A recurring theme in research such as this is the need to define words or concepts. One of the first tasks was to define ‘key technology’. To arrive at a helpful definition, the whole subject of ‘technology’ was looked at in some depth.
The role of European Documentation Centres (EDCs)
Authors: McCarthy Elmarie
Published: February 2008

The European Community is virtually unique among international organisations in the impact it has on the lives of the citizens of its Member States. As the 1992 programme nears completion this impact will certainly increase. In order to gain the support of its citizens it is vital for the EC to publicise and explain its initiatives. Consequently the EC has developed an extensive information policy, aimed at informing different sectors of the population.
Protecting the microcomputer from virus attack
Authors: Corbitt Terry
Published: February 2008

Virus attacks on microcomputer systems have been happening since the mid '80s. This has made it necessary for professional people to take positive action to protect their records from this threat.
Factors affecting the future of libraries
Authors: Martyn John
Published: February 2008

As some of you may know, I was involved in the British Library Information UK 2000 project, the report of which has recently been published. This project was basically a forecasting study, using a quasi‐Delphi approach to work up forecasts of developments of one sort and another which are likely to affect the library and information world during the next decade. I am not going to describe Information UK 2000 in any detail, because of course you will all have read the report itself, or will be reading it very shortly, although I shall be using some of its findings. I only mention it now for two reasons; the minor reason is to add an appearance of authority to what I am going to be saying, by indicating that I have been thinking and reading about the possible future for long enough to have developed some views; and the major reason is to justify the tentative nature of my title this evening. Anyone who spends time in a serious attempt to form a picture of the likely future sooner or later develops a strong tendency to qualify any possible conclusion almost out of sight, because of a growing awareness of the extent to which unforeseen events can knock any prediction off course. Unpredictable events are precisely that, the unforeseen is not foreseen, and all one can do is work on a basis of “If things keep on the way they are going….” Between starting the project and publishing the report we had the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, the unification of Germany, economic recession and rising unemployment, the fall of Mrs Thatcher, the Gulf war, the introduction of the community charge and, a bit nearer home, two changes of Minister for Arts and Libraries. I would have liked to call this talk, “Some factors which may or may not influence the future of library and information departments to a greater or lesser extent, assuming nothing very dramatic happens in the meantime”, but I thought it might be taken as evidence of a certain indecisiveness, so I decided to back off a bit and keep it simple.
The employees' attitudes regarding library services and facilities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Library in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Abbas Tameem Jamal
Published: February 2008

A research study was formed in the Spring of 1991 to survey the perceptions of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) employees in Saudi Arabia concerning their needs and their attitudes regarding library services. The problem of this study was the lack of knowledge about user satisfaction with the library services which are provided at the library of the MFA in Saudi Arabia. The purposes of the study were two‐fold: (1) to measure, evaluate, and analyze user satisfaction with the library services provided at the MFA Library for the employees; and (2) to develop a model for evaluation of all governmental libraries in Saudi Arabia. The data gathering instrument of this study was distributed to 425 employees from the MFA in Saudi Arabia. Usable questionnaires were returned by 280 or 65.88 percent of the participants and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The results of the survey showed that the more education an employee had, the more dissatisfied the employee was with the library's services. Significant differences were also found depending on the rank of the employee, the employee's age, the nationality of the employee, and the number of years the employee had worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The most serious problem was the lack of space and adequate funding.
Practical information management for social services
Authors: Davenport Elisabeth
Published: February 2008

The current pattern of reporting in social services represents an attempt at rationalisation, a move away from multiple agencies handling different functional areas (the elderly, children, the chronic disabled) which resulted, in some cases in five or six agencies handling the problems of one individual, family or social unit. In one way, this state of affairs might be interpreted as a kind of customisation, an acknowledgement of different aspects of care or different perspectives which care demands, though the solution was clearly inelegant. Though the prevailing organisation of social services (by social unit, family care, for example) represents more efficient resource allocation, it fails to do justice to the manifold nature of most social problems, because current reporting structures, and patterns of task differentiation, have produced what may be called a social work archipelago, composed of units with closed information habits which reduce the impact of decisions and judgements on the system as a whole. In this short paper, I offer a basic model for information in social service, which is based on previous studies and informal observations by practitioners.
Types of information in social services departments: client records and organizational records
Authors: Whittick Margaret
Published: February 2008

I approached the writing of this paper by trying to reach some tentative conclusions about some of the differences between administrative records and other forms of information. It seems to me that published sources, information digests and management information have as their aim the dissemination of knowledge. This knowledge is directed either at the world at large or at a general, though perhaps specialist, sector of it. Moreover the knowledge is packaged, selected and processed to illustrate a theme, to answer an information requirement or to prove a point. Records, on the other hand, are composed of items of information directed at particular known users or recipients and created in the service of a particular administrative process. They are thus relatively unselfconscious. The case report which documents a particular social work decision does not wish to call attention to itself except as a justification for and record of that decision. It is this specificity and unselfconsciousness which seem to distinguish administrative records from the rest and which give them a unique value.
The Fourth Resource
Authors: Bowes Roger
Published: February 2008

The last time I stood on this platform was in 1978 and you were the People's Republic of Poland. There was little optimism then that anything would ever change.
EUR‐OP: information and publications in the context of opening onto Central Europe
Authors: Brack Serge
Published: February 2008

It is obvious that explaining in depth the information policy of the European Community and the role that the Publications Office is playing in that context would normally require a much longer period of time that we can actually afford today. My aim will therefore be to try to give you the best possible general survey on those matters and to leave it to your possible later questions to come back and go further into details on particular topics. In order to ease your following this intervention I will just say a few words about the articulation of my speech.
The academic initiative
Authors: Warpechowska Joanna
Published: February 2008

I am going to talk about academic and scientific computer networking in Poland. Activities on a computer network in an academic and scientific environment were initiated some years ago concurrently in Warsaw and in Wroclaw. After the preliminary work the thoughts were combined and now almost all major academic circles have joined forces in studying and constructing networks. As a result of many years of work, national hardware and software consistent with the ISO/OSI model was created.
BC‐Net in Poland
Authors: Borowiecki Andrzej
Published: February 2008

Ladies and gentlemen. I have the honour to speak at today's EUROINFO conference on the day of the opening of BC‐Net (in Poland). I would like to say more about what BC‐Net is and how important it will be for small and medium‐sized Polish companies, which in a time of economic and property changes are looking desperately for partners for economic co‐operation all over Europe and the world. Poland has the honour of joining BC‐Net as the first country from eastern post‐communist Europe. As Mr Hamelinck has mentioned, other partners such as Czechoslovakia and Hungary will soon join BC‐Net, as well as other partners from outside Europe.
The languages for information in Europe: Projects of the CEC for the language industries
Authors: Parajon Collada Vincente
Published: February 2008

This paper was given at an open meeting of WERTJD, the West European Round Table on Information and Documentation, held in Bordeaux on the 31 May 1991. The topic was The Languages for Information in the Europe of 1993. The meeting had been organized on behalf of WERTID by its French member ADBS, Aslib being the British member.
The development of a standard test method for the wear resistance of library buckrams
Authors: Green Paul
Published: February 2008

During the early 1980s, a serious problem arose with the buckram used to bind our journals and books. The problem was brought to light by our readers, who complained that they were unable to read the lettering on recently bound journals, in particular in the relatively dim lighting of the bookstacks. This problem appeared to be particularly acute with blue, orange and purple fabrics and in essence, the fabrics appeared to be extremely “fuzzy”, to the extent that the blocked lettering had become almost completely obscured. Volumes bound prior to 1980 were, however, perfectly legible, despite their greater age and wear. It was thus clear that a serious problem had occurred with the quality of the library buckrams used on our journals. Furthermore, our binders confirmed that they had not changed suppliers, so the problem must lie with the manufacturers of this fabric, specified as a top grade library buckram.
The world economy: business, politics and culture
Authors: Gogolek Wlodzimierz
Published: February 2008

Frankly, I feel as if I have been called up to the blackboard, like a student or even a pupil, because a few days ago during the Poznan Trade Fair I was invited by the British Foundation to make a presentation by this blackboard. As a broker for Dialog, an American Information Service I couldn't agree without obtaining permission from my bosses in Pal Alto. It is “a few” kilometres away from here and I needed to obtain their permission.
Statistical information for businesses from Eurostat
Authors: Mendosa Sara
Published: February 2008

Eurostat is one of the directorates‐general of the Commission of the European Communities. Its aim is to create a European statistical system which will produce comparable statistics, by developing common classifications for products, industries, activities and regions, by surveys and questionnaires prepared by Eurostat in collaboration with the national statistical offices of the Member States and also by detailed methodologies giving common concepts and definitions for such areas as national accounts, agriculture and foreign trade. Eurostat publishes macro economic statistics for the twelve Member States covering national accounts, finance, balance of payments, social, agriculture, foreign trade, industry, energy and developing countries. An effort is made to have comparable information for the Communities, main trading partners, the United States of America and Japan, especially where the short‐term economic indicators are concerned. Three public databanks have been developed. CRONOS contains over a million chronological time series covering all the above subjects in very great detail. COMEXT is the foreign trade databank for the trade between the Member States and over 200 partner countries using the Combined Nomenclature, a goods classification with approximately 10,000 products. REGIO has the macroeconomic regional data for the Member States using the NUTS classification to breakdown the countries into three interrelated levels. A wide range of publications, microfiches, floppy discs and CD‐ROMs are also available. Eurostat's products reflect the economic and social policies of the Commission, especially where agriculture and national accounts are concerned. The information Eurostat requests from the Member States is directed by the needs of the Commission services.
SGML concepts
Authors: Bradley Neil
Published: February 2008

The abbreviation SGML stands for Standard Generalized Markup Language. Markup refers to adding style and formatting information to text prior to publication. It is a Standard because SGML has been accepted and published by the ISO, and is not owned by any manufacturer or software vendor. It is Generalized because SGML is powerful and flexible, allowing it to be used in many applications. And it is a Language that embodies a specification for creation of a set of rules to define the structure of a document. SGML has been designed to easily cross incompatible computer platforms, and its “open” nature allows for relatively simple access and manipulation of an SGML conforming document by both people and computers. Above all, SGML proposes a new way of thinking about document creation and presentation, by shifting document style considerations to the publication process rather than the creation process. This is done by dividing the document into named, logical elements, to which any style can be later applied. A by‐product of this approach is the effective creation of a flexible database, providing further access to the data for information retrieval or for re‐publication.