bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Intermediate Lexicon: an aid to international co‐operation
Authors: Horsnell Verina
Published: February 2008

This approach to co‐operation between libraries and information centres considers the use of switching languages. These can be employed in situations where several centres with a common interest wish to co‐operate in the collection and indexing of information bearing material, yet prefer to retain the systems often developed and tailored to their individual requirements. To facilitate the exchange of subject information between the centres, a series of concordances are constructed between each of the indexing languages and the switching language. Thus the translation of subject indexing expressed in the indexing languages of the other participating centres can then proceed automatically. Among the possible benefits are the economic saving due to the sharing by several centres in the collection and indexing of material, and the increase in coverage enjoyed by all the centres. To determine the feasibility of such devices, a switching language, the Intermediate Lexicon for Information Science, has been developed and is under test at the Polytechnic of North London School of Librarianship. The work is supported by a grant from British Library Research and Development Department.
British Gas R&D information services
Authors: Wiggins R.E.
Published: February 2008

Dramatic changes have taken place in the UK gas industry, particularly within the last decade. It is therefore helpful to briefly consider these changes and the role of research and development within the industry so as to provide a backcloth to the subsequent descriptions of R & D information services.
The availability of standards in the United Kingdom
Authors: Allott Angela M.
Published: February 2008

This is the first of three articles on the various series of standard specifications which are most often referred to by industry and government in the United Kingdom. Information officers, standards engineers and librarians are frequently asked to supply and identify standards. An account is given here of what standards have been issued, where they can be consulted, borrowed or bought. The standards will be dealt with in the following order: British Standards Institution publications; other British non‐BSI standards; and finally international and foreign standards.
Draft Definitions: information and library needs, wants, demands and uses: a comment
Authors: Roberts Norman
Published: February 2008

Information science has existed in an uneasy, suspended, state of becoming for an uncomfortable number of years. Yet, despite a stubborn refusal to be born whole, hope for the imminent emergence of a fully fledged ‘science’ remains as fresh as ever. Conferences willingly consider and reconsider the question—what is information science? While some are content to search for the essence that is information science, others are convinced that they have already found it; there is no shortage of teachers ready to assert that information science consists of a particular (usually their own) mix of subjects. It is not uncommon to meet wandering, rather bemused, physicists, chemists and engineers eager to argue that they, too, have discovered something called information science. Members of this latter group may be uncertain of the precise nature of their discovery but are willing to aver that whatever it is it is not librarianship. In this struggle to induce the registrable birth of information science comparatively little attention is paid to the distinct social science bias of this most eclectic of ‘sciences’. This comparative neglect has persisted, surprisingly, despite a shared characteristic of fundamental significance. Both areas are noted for their incredible looseness of terminology and their confused and confusing professional thought and writing.
Communication: a key library management problem
Authors: Blagden John
Published: February 2008

I recently gave a talk on audio visual aids and rather foolishly decided to have my talk accompanied by slides. I spent most of the time on the platform either making statements such as you should at this juncture be looking at a shot of Ronan point collapsing rather than a blank screen or watching rather helplessly as twenty or so slides hurtled through the projector into oblivion.
The European Information Network for Science and Technology: the first stages
Authors: Giles C.G. , Gray J.C.
Published: February 2008

The following two papers on the first stages of the European Information Network for Science and Technology were given by Mr C. G. Giles, Chairman of the Communities' Committee for Information and Documentation in Science and Technology, and Mr J. C. Gray, UK representative to CIDST.
Business information in the library schools
Authors: Offor Colin
Published: February 2008

The purpose of this short paper is to describe a programme of seminars organized by the Aslib Economics and Business Information Group (AEBIG) and held at various library schools over the last term. The specific objective of the programme was:
Education in the use of information in university and academic environments
Authors: Stevenson M.B.
Published: February 2008

In discussing this topic at an Aslib Annual Conference one is very conscious of the role past annual conferences have played in the development of this subject field. The first paper of note in this country on the theme was delivered by H. E. Potts at the 1926 conference. At the seventh annual conference in 1930 a resolution of the general session recognized the vital need for training students in the efficient use of libraries and urged university and other education authorities to consider the organization of systematic instruction in this subject in all faculties. More significant was Hutton's paper in 1942 which listed the objectives of such instruction—no one had done this previously and very few have since. One is also conscious of the fact that no action was taken as a result of these three initiatives—so it is with no great hope for change that I speak today.
Information and local government
Authors: Kennington D.
Published: February 2008

The theme of this conference is information in a changing world. I think I was asked to contribute because, for the last six years or so, I have been fortunate to be placed in a very important sector of this changing world—local government. Both in this country and abroad the changes taking place, particularly in urban areas, have created vast new problems for urban managers and, as a result, they and their professional advisers from a wide range of disciplines are demanding better access to information.
Consumer advisory services
Authors: Tilleard Michael , Clegg Gillian
Published: February 2008

Any historical survey of the way in which consumers have organized themselves into associations for their own mutual benefit and protection should really begin with the role played by the consumer co‐operative movement. But, as Jeremy Mitchell (former Head of Information at Consumers' Association and now Director of the Consumer Affairs Division at the Office of Fair Trading) has pointed out, the co‐operative movement was not really a consumer association at all: ‘The fact that the consumer, in a co‐operative society, is the formal owner of the means of distribution seems to have little significance in practical terms. By analogy, it can be compared with the consumer's formal ownership of the means of production in a nationalized industry, or the individual shareholder's formal ownership of a joint‐stock company.’
Financial and economic news
Authors: Lamb Richard
Published: February 2008

I was editor of the City Press weekly newspaper from 1966 to 1975. From 1970 I also produced for BBC sound radio a daily report on the city. For 5 years I did daily pieces for BBC Radio London; and for two years in addition I did a spot on the Stock Exchange and the financial news of the day for the ‘P.M.’ programme at 5.50. On top of this, at City Press we briefed both BBC Radio London and ‘The World at One’ on any exciting City events which took place in the morning, and often broadcast about them.
Science at the hinge of history
Authors: Pyke Magnus
Published: February 2008

How happy we are to be able to live a comfortable, warm, wealthy life in the modern age of today. Grateful to science we may not be but just the same we know, if we ever stop to think—which we seldom do—that we ought to be. Spinsters no longer have to spend hour after hour spinning to make the thread to weave the sheets we sleep between. As a matter of fact, no one has to labour in the boggy fields to grow flax any more to produce the linen which, once upon a time, had to be grown before even those few rich people who could afford linen sheets could have them. As it happens, making linen is a disagreeable smelly business. The flax has to be cut down and left to rot in the fields so that the fibres can be beaten out of it. This rotting process—so called, wretting—is probably the second most disgusting process of the pre‐scientific age, exceeded in disagreeability only by the tanning of leather in which the hides have to be soaked for weeks in a slush of dog manure which, strangely, is the richest source of the particular enzyme which most effectively softens the skins. Those whose fortune it once was to live down‐wind of a tannery can confirm the primacy of its potent effect on what once was called the atmosphere, now known as environment.
Designing a system: objectives, aims and factors
Authors: Vickers Veter
Published: February 2008

Faced with the challenge of presenting the opening paper to this Aslib Conference, it was my wish to offer something rather impressive—a milestone, perhaps, in the literature of systems design. To be perfectly frank, it has not quite worked out that way. My thoughts on the subject changed direction several times during the paper's long gestation. Experiences in the course of its preparation brought new ideas. As a result, what you are about to receive is not so much a Conference paper as an account of my attempts to prepare one.
Management tools: their use in the design, development and operation of information services
Authors: Kemp S.D.
Published: February 2008

Even a casual glance at any work on management techniques, such as the Glossary prepared by Argenti and Rope for the BIM, discloses a bewildering array of tools available to tackle almost any management problem. I could not hope to discuss many of these without quickly producing mental indigestion through names not remembered and jargon not understood. My hope is instead to give you an awareness of the role which some of these techniques can play and an appreciation of a disciplined approach to solving problems and making decisions.
The demand for business information in an academic library: an analysis of the library enquiry service of the City University Business School
Authors: Smith Gerry M.
Published: February 2008

Enquiries for information put to library staff during a six‐month period in 1976 are analysed according to subject, originator, channel, source and frequency. Results are discussed, along with the implications for library policy.
YADLOGIS:
Authors: Duckett R.J.
Published: February 2008

Eight libraries in the north‐east of England co‐operate to produce data which each can use in their own local government current awareness services. This scheme originated in the wish by members to reduce duplication of effort and to enhance local services in the field of local government information. In attempting to reduce delay and increase coverage, but yet to retain local control and responsiveness, a unique system has been established which exhibits a high degree of flexibility and currency—one which could be used as a model for similar services. The planning and operation of this scheme are described, together with the comments of the participants concerning their use of the data. Some overall observations are made of issues and problems in the general area of co‐operative current awareness services and of how YADLOGIS (the co‐operative scheme discussed) copes with them. In conclusion, some thoughts are voiced on possible inter‐regional and national developments.
The value of measurement in decision‐making in an Information Unit—a cost benefit analysis
Authors: Blick A.R.
Published: February 2008

I have been involved in information work now for some 16 years and during this time the question that I have found the most difficult to answer for other people and in my own mind, is ‘what is the economic justification of an Information Service’? I do not think I am alone in this. Many people in our profession are trying to find ways of performing cost benefit analysis of information work but so far with little success. However, information budgets are growing all the time and in the pharmaceutical industry information budgets of over £1m per annum are known.
Library and technical information services: ICI Pharmaceuticals Division
Authors: Haygarth Jackson A.R.
Published: February 2008

The ICI Pharmaceuticals Division is responsible for the discovery, development, production and marketing of drugs for human and veterinary medicine. The Division is highly research‐orientated with nearly 40 per cent of the employees engaged in research and development. The Division's total payroll is just over 4,000. Of these, 800 are graduates, nearly a third of whom have a doctorate.
Illuminative evaluation of user education programmes
Authors: Harris Colin
Published: February 2008

This paper describes the adoption of an evaluation strategy—‘illuminative evaluation’—by a major user education research project, the Travelling Workshops Experiment. It is argued that this project is distinctive in its similarity to curriculum innovation and dissemination projects, and it is suggested that innovative programmes cannot be subjected to preordinate evaluation. The components of illuminative evaluation are examined, and a checklist for the systematization of evaluation is offered.
The Research Associations—their contribution to the nation's information store
Authors: Davey A.B. , MacLachlan J.
Published: February 2008

In recent years the British Research Associations have come of age commercially. There are a number of reasons for this including changes in Government grant policies, but, by way of introduction, let us simply say that they are now in business. They are in business just as much as any of their Members are in business in their fields. Part of that business, and a very important part, is the supply of information services; and the fact that the Research Associations are now operating in a commercial way should significantly increase their contribution to the nation's information store and reputation.
Toward a national program for library and information services: progress and problems
Authors: Trezza Alphonse F.
Published: February 2008

Interest and support for a National Commission on Libraries developed in the early 1960s. The idea was supported by such diverse and important groups as the American Library Association, the US Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget), the Office of Science and Technology, and the US Office of Education.
Post‐coordinate indexing and the prescribed classification and cataloguing curriculum in ALA‐accredited library schools: a national case study together with proposals of general applicability
Authors: Thomas Alan R.
Published: February 2008

The introduction of post‐coordinate indexing within the mandatory education in subject headings, classification and cataloguing at ALA‐accredited library schools was slow to follow the adoption of the technique in the library and information field. Surveys conducted in 1956, 1961 and 1966 produced no positive evidence of the teaching of the method. A recent study has found that rather less than half the schools were teaching coordinate indexing and most of these granted it only slight attention. Those schools that covered coordinate indexing were far more likely than the average school to include UDC in the classification part of the curriculum. Schools which featured modern integrated courses of wide scope nearly all taught coordinate indexing. There are strong vocational and academic arguments to warrant the incorporation of the model in all required instruction in concept and term analysis and special librarians can work towards this end through curricular consultation with the schools.
Pruning periodical subscriptions at Glasgow University Library
Authors: Rodger Elizabeth
Published: February 2008

Faced with the prospect of a swingeing 15 per cent cut in their periodicals budget, Glasgow University Library carried out during 1977 several exercises to determine which titles would be missed least and whose absence would damage the integrity of the research collections least. The exercises — Use Survey and Departmental Grading — are described, together with the problems encountered, the benefits derived, and the lessons to be learned.
Outline of Leo Jolley's holotheme
Authors: Fairthorne Robert A.
Published: February 2008

Most of us knew Leo Jolley at Aslib or through his writings only, so we are grateful to Kevin Jones for telling us of his career. We are not surprised, because Jolley's own presentations made it clear that they arose from long experience and deep thinking. Here lies my difficulty. It is my task to outline his theory the of holotheme, but no one could do it better than he nor, indeed, as well. So I will recommend to you his contribution in absentia to the Ottawa Conference of 1971. Admittedly his writings are concentrated. He had what is sometimes called the mathematician's approach to prose. The writing is coherent, but every sentence is meant to mean something and something different. This leads to clarity, but it does demand attention and thought. His style certainly sharpens his arguments and the impact of his apt and often witty examples. I will indicate in what field of endeavour his work lies, and then go over the salient features of his grand design.
The theory of integrative levels and its relevance to the design of information systems
Authors: Foskett D.J.
Published: February 2008

The Classification Research Group was founded early in the 1950s and Leo Jolley joined a few years later. He was not able to attend every meeting, but when he did, he usually came armed with a very substantial contribution, and between meetings he regularly wrote in to comment on the minutes which he had received. He was a valued friend, and from conversations with him I know that he found the CRG meetings stimulating, and I believe that it was particularly in this area of the theory of integrative levels that he derived a good deal of value himself from our meetings.
Library and technical information services: the Water Research Centre
Authors: Newman L.E.
Published: February 2008

The Water Research Centre (WRC) provides the major part of the research needs of the British water industry. The history, present structure, source of finance and scope of research of the Centre are presented. The Member Services Division communicates the results of research work to the members of the Centre through library and information services, technical liaison, publications and by organizing conferences and other events. The Technical Information Section staff are located in two laboratories and the Section produces the weekly abstracts journal WRC Information, in addition to providing library services, technical enquiry services and computerized SDI and literature‐searching facilities. The WRC is using ASSASSIN to carry out these functions and to create a specialized water data base, and emphasis is given in the paper to the importance of exchange agreements with equivalent organizations overseas. The Centre complements its own data base by using the commercial on‐line searching services. Staffing, financial budgeting and performance monitoring are considered.
Library and information services of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Authors: Varley Allen
Published: February 2008

Readers of the current professional literature could be forgiven if they assumed that most library and information operations and services were computerized, and that only mechanized systems were able to cope with present‐day requirements. Perhaps it is right that the literature should concentrate on this rapidly changing and developing subject, but most of the library and information services of scientific research institutions known to the author—which include centres of excellence with worldwide reputations—are non‐mechanized. There are no reliable guidelines as to when it is economic, practical or opportune to switch to mechanized systems, and there are many variable factors to consider. However ‘non‐mechanized’ does not equate with ‘old‐fashioned’, and the present economic climate, with its limits on expenditure and ceilings on staff numbers, makes it likely that manual methods will be employed for many years to come. The following is a description of a non‐mechanized service, catering for the needs of a relatively small local user population, and also providing and offering a variety of services to outside users.
A basic guide to conference organizing
Authors: Lowry‐Corry Elizabeth
Published: February 2008

Almost anyone can organize a conference but to do it well is difficult because of the intractable material involved.
Forthcoming events bulletin
Authors: Forward Muriel E. , Selby Margaret A.
Published: February 2008

Beecham Pharmaceuticals Research Division employs about 1,000 people engaged on pharmaceutical research and development. These are at present distributed over five major and several minor research sites. Each major site has an Information Unit and a Library: these work in co‐ordination and certain tasks are undertaken by one unit on behalf of all the others. Walton Oaks is responsible for disseminating information on forthcoming events. An account of the system used in this organization for selective dissemination of technical information by means of an information bulletin has been published. The system in use for the dissemination of details of forthcoming events such as conferences, lectures, exhibitions and courses of interest to the Research Division is somewhat similar. As little seems to have been published on such systems it seems worth while to describe the methods currently used here.
Evaluation of abstract journals and other sources consulted for 75 literature searches on food science and food technology
Authors: van der Veer O. , Kooger J.P.
Published: February 2008

For seventy‐five literature searches on food science recorded, in forty or more sources consulted (primarily abstract journals and documentation centres) the references were found. The searches were done between 1969 and 1975 and comprised 10,764 references. A breakdown was made for six arbitrarily chosen areas of food science: agriculture, microbiology, chemistry, engineering, processing and products. With the aid of discrimination analysis we determined which of the sources need to be consulted in each area if a reasonable degree of exhaustiveness of coverage is to be achieved (∼ 95 per cent of that achieved in our searches). Precious studies indicate the inadequacy of individual sources in food science. Our quantitative study confirms these findings. Of the 10,764 references, as many as 8,737 (81 per cent) were unique to one source. Non‐unique references were seldom cited in more than two or three sources. In all, thirty of the forty‐odd sources are ‘indispensable’ for at least one of the six areas. Although the results are influenced to some extent by the field of interest of our laboratory, it was concluded that reliance on just one or two key sources in the food area is unjustified, irrespective of the search topic. The results may help in the development of future search strategies and in the choice of abstract journals for special libraries.
Government attitudes to information
Authors: Buchanan Richard
Published: February 2008

Britain except in time of war has never had a Minister of Information. Each Minister is responsible not only for the policy of his Department but also for the publicity of that policy. During my thirty years in Local Authority and Parliament, I can honestly say that I have never been conscious of any Minister or Official withholding information from me. That may be because my specialties were not prominent in the field of controversy and—significantly—the furore arising from the publication of the Government White Paper CMD 7285, Reform of Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act, was generated by somewhat biased neutrals with an interest in controversial fields. I propose to return to the question of the White Paper toward the end of this paper.
Agricultural information services in ICI
Authors: Silk J.A.
Published: February 2008

There are two aspects I should like to cover: Firstly, the general extent of ICI'S interests in agricultural information, and secondly, the details of the range and relationships of the information services in Plant Protection Division.
Using APPARAT: Cataloguing film and sound recordings at the Imperial War Museum
Authors: Smither Roger
Published: February 2008

The article provides a progress report on APPARAT, the Imperial War Museum's off‐line computer system used in the documentation of its archival collections of film and sound recordings. After opening with a reminder of APPARAT's vital role in the Museum's film preservation programme, the report concentrates on the system as a device for cataloguing the holdings. The catalogues and indexes generated by the system are illustrated and explained and the facilities for ad hoc enquiries outlined. Consideration is also given to areas in the system where room for improvement remains, including the resolution of a debate on subject indexing, and the provision of computer typesetting. The latter part of the article considers the system from the cataloguer's, rather than user's, viewpoint, in particular with reference to the conventional assumption that working on a computer cataloguing system is more demanding than operating a conventional system.
Developments in patent documentation
Authors: Dodd Vincent S.
Published: February 2008

To begin with I should explain my relatively short acquaintance with documentation matters. Until three and a half years ago my experience was entirely on the examining side of the Patent Office and my acquaintance with the documentation side (or classification section as it is more familiarly known in the Patent Office) was limited to reorganizing several of my search files. Due to a series of retirements at the office I suddenly found myself translated to the Classification Section with the need to catch up very rapidly on classification theory and practice as it applied to patent documents, and in particular to become acquainted with the international organizations operative in this field.
Saudi Arabia: indigenous sources of information
Authors: Sardar Ziauddin
Published: February 2008

Saudi Arabia is one of the most rapidly developing members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The rapidly growing economy of Saudi Arabia has a number of important features which make it quite different from any other major economy. With a growth rate of over 60 per cent, the Saudi economy is dominated by the petroleum sector. However, the growth rate of the non‐oil sector, the diversification of which is the main objective of Saudi development policies, is no less spectacular: currently it is registering a growth rate of over 10 per cent. Agriculture accounts for about 3 per cent of the GDP, and manufacturing activities slightly less than 2 per cent. Net factor income payments to the rest of the world are negative and hence the gross national product is smaller than the gross domestic product.
Why educate the library user?
Authors: Lester Ray
Published: February 2008

My aim in this paper is to try to engage you in a critical evaluation of some present practice in ‘library user education’. The discussion is in three parts:
Science literature—how faulty a mirror of science?
Authors: Griffith Belver C.
Published: February 2008

I feel compelled to present this lecture by some of the strongest of intellectual needs, namely to establish the relationship of my own work and interests to those of other disciplines. Some terrors lie in the revealing of the character of that work, however, particularly the fact that it combines extremes of nitpicking and speculativeness. Special terrors lie in the realization that formidable intellectual disciplines are on a collision path with that work.
Company correspondence: an important information resource
Authors: Haines Michael
Published: February 2008

The paper ‘Information Mining’ (Aslib Proceedings, 29(1), January 1977, pp. 12–16) made reference to the company‐wide correspondence filing scheme being set up in Charter Consolidated Ltd. On page 14 is the statement—‘To go into details of the scheme would provide sufficient material for another paper’. This is the other paper.
A technical information service on coal
Authors: MacCafferty Maxine
Published: February 2008

The IEA is an autonomous body established in November 1974 within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Twenty of the twenty‐four member countries of the OECD participate in the IEA, and the Commission of the European Communities takes part by special arrangement.
Local current awareness services in industrial libraries
Authors: Rowley J.E.
Published: February 2008

The clientele of industrial libraries have long enjoyed the library's assistance in keeping abreast of their subject field. Effective current awareness services minimize the time users spend in keeping up‐to‐date. In recent years remaining adequately informed has become increasingly more arduous. There have been increases in the total amount of information, together with an expansion of the number of documents with which an information user needs to be conversant. Wider scattering of information on any one subject over several sources aggravates the situation further. Such trends not only make comprehensive current awareness programmes more vital, but also make them more difficult to maintain. What has been the impact of such pressures on current awareness activities in industrial libraries?
Dictionaries and reference books for the translator
Authors: Alvey John
Published: February 2008

Only the best translator working in a narrow specialist field and in only one or perhaps two foreign languages can do without dictionaries. For most of us dictionaries and other works of reference are essential tools. It is often thought that translators can get by on two or three dictionaries—more than once a client has asked me, when I told him that I was unable to find a word: ‘Why don't you look it up in the dictionary?’ And it is not only non‐translators who think in this way. I have come across freelance translators who work with a general Cassell's dictionary and an out‐of‐date multilingual technical dictionary. One freelance translator told me he used Patterson's (not very good and not very comprehensive) French‐English Dictionary for Chemists for all his French work!
Services provided by Aslib relating to translations
Authors: Glover Wendy
Published: February 2008

This article gives a brief summary of the services relating to translations available to corporate members of Aslib. It describes the purpose and development of the Aslib Index of Unpublished Translations, and then describes the contents and format of the Index. The article goes on to advise members how the Index operates and how best to approach it. The article then describes the relationship between the Index and the British Library Lending Division and asks members to notify Aslib of their translations on a regular basis. There follows a brief description of the Aslib Register of Specialist Translators with information on the method of selection of the translators included in the Register, and on the way in which the Register is utilized to recommend translators to corporate members of Aslib. The article finishes with a description of the Aslib Dictionary Index.
Are you getting in the way? (on person‐dependence in information systems)
Authors: Collins Judith , Finer Ruth
Published: February 2008

After a discussion of what we mean by ‘person‐dependence’ and how we have come to recognize it, we present some examples of this phenomenon, based on observations we have made during the course of our work as consultants and thus taken from real life, but let us assure our past and present clients that the names have been changed to protect the guilty! The case histories are presented in a fairly light‐hearted way, but when we encounter a case of person‐dependence in a client organization we certainly do not treat it lightly. After the examples we draw some tentative conclusions about the factors within organizations which can lead to person‐dependence.
Chemical Abstracts material on‐line
Authors: Barker Frances H.
Published: February 2008

Chemical Abstracts Issues and Indexes have been available in printed form since 1907. Microform versions are also available now. In the near future Chemical Abstracts material will be accessible by computer in the UK via six on‐line systems and one batch current awareness system. This variety of modes of access is further diversified by the variety of ways in which the original Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) files have been implemented for use with the different search systems, and by the differences in the system facilities, pricing structure and technical back‐up offered by the service suppliers. This paper attempts to bring together in tabular form factors which should be considered in taking rational decisions on how to get the ‘best’ out of Chemical Abstracts material, the ‘best’ being the optimum performance/cost ratio for any given topic.
On‐demand publishing
Authors: Singleton Alan
Published: February 2008

‘It happens not infrequently, that books of great value cannot be published in the usual way, as the very circumstance which ought to recommend them, viz., their rare or peculiar learning, narrows proportionally the limits of their circulation. Works of great merit have often been published at a loss both to author and publisher; and previous to the establishment of the printing clubs, books of a peculiar kind were rarely issued, and our literary and scientific progress seemed to be unusually dull.’
Information and the academic community
Authors: Stevenson Malcolm B.
Published: February 2008

The brief given for this paper is that it should be a personal view about what is good or bad in my experience in information service provision, the quality and value of various services. I have taken these to be secondary services as they are normally understood. This has left me with a two‐fold problem. Firstly I have little constructive to say about such services, good or bad, which has not already been said far better elsewhere and secondly, though technically the customer for these services, I am not the end user of the information provided.
Can we face the information explosion?
Authors: Cliffe G.R.
Published: February 2008

‘Information management will be to the next half century what steam, coal and electricity were to the 19th century.’ This quotation, which admittedly appeared as an inducement to buy a book, carries I am sure more than a modicum of truth. We have all heard, far too often, of the so called information explosion of the post war years, although there are many who deny that there is any such explosion and who say that it is merely a natural exponential growth which has taken place over possibly hundreds of years. Whether it is a ‘big bang’ or an expansion phenomenon does not alter the fact that we are faced today with a mass of information of a size which could not be envisaged a generation ago. Until the advent of on‐line systems the size was possibly no problem to most people, in that the majority of the information was inaccessible or completely unknown, but we are now faced with a situation where the mass can be made accessible and known to all at the pressing of a switch or the lifting of a telephone. To continue the explosion analogy—up to now we have only seen the explosion, now we will feel the blast.
Agricultural and biological information—some remarks
Authors: Runcie K.V.
Published: February 2008

I am pleased and honoured to be asked to speak, but I speak with some trepidation as I have not always been the most active library user. Perhaps this is a good thing in the light of the Report of the British Library Review Panel on Agricultural Information! I am committed to the user end of the spectrum—providing information to the agricultural advisers. The information I want is biological and economic; I am also interested in its applicability and ease of use vis‐à‐vis farmers. I and the other members of the British Library Review Panel on Agricultural Information are therefore interested not just in biological information, but also in the economic context and other contexts, whereas the British Library Review Panel on Biological Information has worked within the framework of biology. I am therefore very interested in Dr Wyatt's paper.
The Toxicology, Information Working Party—an exercise in user collaboration
Authors: Bawden David
Published: February 2008

The Toxicology Information Working Party (TIWP) was set up following a joint meeting of the Association of Information Officers in the Pharmaceutical Industry (AIOPI) and the UK Online User Group (UKOLUG), held at Pfizer Central Research, Sandwich, in early 1979, to discuss problems of chemical toxicology searching. A strong feeling emerged from this meeting that some co‐operative action among users to improve information provision in this area was both possible and highly desirable. The TIWP was set up, under the auspices of AIOPI and UKOLUG, to investigate this possibility, and to initiate suitable projects. We review here the activities of TIWP during its first six months of existance.
National Poisons Information Service: Poisons Unit library provision
Authors: Campbell Janet
Published: February 2008

The Poisons Unit Library serves the Unit staff, which consists of a medical, scientific and information work force concerned with the diagnosis, management and prevention of poisoning. Over the last few years its function has extended to the provision of facilities for the staff and medical students of New Cross Hospital. This diversification has precipitated the acquisition of books and journals from a wider range of subjects, but the stock is still biased towards toxicology and pharmacology. The library staff consists, at the moment, of one qualified librarian.
Provision of poisons and safety data
Authors: Rycroft D. , Smith D.E.
Published: February 2008

It is now universally recognized that although doctors and pharmacists need accurate objective information about the drugs they prescribe and dispense, an entirely satisfactory method of supplying it has not been found. This deficiency may have resulted in the inappropriate use of drugs and an unacceptable frequency of adverse reactions.
Sources of information in radiological protection
Authors: Gaines M.J.
Published: February 2008

In the current issue of the Guinness Book of Records there is a table categorizing chemical elements by their unique property—osmium as the most dense, hydrogen as the lightest, gold as the most ductile, tungsten having the highest melting point, etc. Plutonium is listed as the most poisonous and toxicity is therefore treated as an established fact, like density or ductility. But in this comparative use ‘poisonous’ needs defining to be meaningful. It may be necessary to identify a biological end‐point and specify whether the poison is acute or chronic, whether the intake is by inhalation or ingestion and, for radioactive materials, whether the comparison should be expressed in terms of mass or activity.
Informing the citizen: a wide ranging provision to meet a wide ranging need
Authors: Peacock Alan
Published: February 2008

I start this talk with two acknowledgements; the first, to my colleagues on the recent Library Association Working Party on Community Information Services. Our report is due to be published by the LA in the new year and I have based a lot of this talk on our conclusions. Secondly I must acknowledge many discussions with Alex Wilson, Director of Libraries for Cheshire, and the freedom that he has given me to pursue ideas in this field.
Will information flow to the citizen be improved with videotex systems?
Authors: Cawkell A.E.
Published: February 2008

My first reaction to the word ‘citizen’ is an image of masses of people storming the Bastille. Apparently this image is not all that absurd since the new Collins dictionary says that the word is derived from the old French ‘Citeien’. Collins goes on to define Citizen in several ways. For the purposes of this paper I choose ‘A native or inhabitant of any place’.
Computers and information for the citizen. What is missing? Where are the gaps?
Authors: Bowen Judith
Published: February 2008

Although I rather light heartedly agreed to talk to this title early on in the year, when I came to write the paper I found it difficult to explain the ideas I wanted to put forward today using the metaphors of gaps, and presumably bridges. I finally decided that this was because the gaps and bridges analogy assumes a model of information dissemination which seems to fit increasingly ill with some of the findings that recent research and action in public libraries has come up with. It does seem as though librarians and information scientists (and I am much more familiar with the former than the latter) define the problem as one of collecting all that there is about a topic and classifying it into generally accepted categories and then finding an appropriate and, more recently, an efficient channel for disseminating it to anyone who might happen to need it. The channel may be an old‐fashioned and well tried bibliographical tool, a branch library card catalogue of local groups or societies, or a sophisticated automated interactive system like Prestel. The principle is always the same—that is to concentrate on organising the way the material is presented in order to make it intelligible to the user.
Socio‐economic implications of the new information technology
Authors: Usherwood RC
Published: February 2008

Over the past year or so I have been invited to speak on this subject by the Department of Education and Science, the Library Association, and the Community Projects Foundation. Rating the acceptance of my ideas on a ten point scale with ‘one’ as total acceptance and ‘ten’ as total rejection I would guess that I have scored 1.5 to 6; I will leave you to assign the organisations to the scores.
Recall and precision devices in interactive bibliographic search and retrieval systems
Authors: Raitt D.I.
Published: February 2008

An index language usually incorporates various methods for improving recall and/or precision when searching. Recall devices tend to increase the size of retrieved document sets, while precision devices tend to reduce them. The most common recall and precision devices are described in general terms and their usage in several thesauri is examined. The thesauri looked at relate to databases available for searching in the ESA IRS online information system at one time or another and include the NASA Thesaurus; Thesaurus of Engineering and Scientific Terms; Thesaurus of Metallurgical Terms; Subject Headings used by the USAEC; Subject Headings for Engineering; INIS Thesaurus and the INSPEC Thesaurus. The extent to and the way in which the recall and precision devices are used in the ESA IRS online system for controlled and uncontrolled subject term searching are discussed.
Problems of bibliographic control: The main bibliographic sources and publications catalogues
Authors: Jeffries John
Published: February 2008

A bibliographic essay on all the sources which one might refer to for European Communities' publications is beyond the scope of this paper, and I have also some mental reservations about how I might organise the topic in order to suggest possible search strategies. One way might be to consider the categories of documents which emerge from the Institutions of the European Communities:
Some recent developments in documentation at the European Commission
Authors: Gaskell Eric
Published: February 2008

The European Commission created a new division (IX/D/10) within the Directorate‐General for Personnel and Administration. Christened CIRCE this unit was charged with developing and integrating the Commission's automated files known as CELEX and ECDOC (now ECO1). At the moment of writing these files have not yet come together onto the same computer nor can one be sure that they will ultimately do so. This is no impediment however to their being used meanwhile by Commission officials.
Requests in biomedicine not available through interlibrary loans
Authors: Carson J.
Published: February 2008

Of a random sample of 105 requests returned by the BLLD, 50 per cent were for serials. Searches of computerized databases recovered abstracts, indexing terms, or addresses for more than one‐quarter of these serials and similar information for another quarter might be recovered by later searches. Fourteen out of fifteen scientists found this information helpful. It is suggested that librarians and information scientists could provide a helpful service on returned requests by cheap computer searches for selected items.
Acquisitions and their processing in Edinburgh University library: results of a survey
Authors: Law Derek G.
Published: February 2008

A survey of acquisitions over a three month period used the same methods as earlier unpublished surveys conducted by four neighbouring university libraries. Acquisitions are analysed by country, language and date of publication. The time taken to acquire publications is measured. The currency and coverage of centrally produced cataloguing records are discussed. Some comparisons with earlier results are made.
Assessment of an illuminative evaluation programme for information services
Authors: Streatfield D.R. , Pritchard J.H. , Wilson T.D.
Published: February 2008

In a previous article in Aslib proceedings we published an outline of our proposed evaluation programme. This account describes our experience of illuminative evaluation in assessing a series of information service innovations over the past two years.
Information users' changing expectations and needs
Authors: Moores Paul
Published: February 2008

Every organization both within and outside industry in the public and private sectors exists because it provides a service or product that is either needed or wanted.
UDC in the UK: a report on the 1979/1980 survey
Authors: Hindson Richard
Published: February 2008

I think that it would be sensible for me to begin this presentation with a declaration of my interest in the Universal Decimal Classification. I first became acquainted with the Classification over twenty‐five years ago while I was a student at the Loughborough School of Librarianship. Subsequently I utilized the Classification in various technical college libraries and libraries and information services in the engineering and steel industries. Eventually I was responsible for the conception, development and implementation of a computer based integrated information handling system for the steel industry. I described this system, as it was at the time, in a paper I presented at the Fifth Cranfield International Conference on Mechanized Information Storage and Retrieval Systems in 1975.
The plant kingdom
Authors: Heywood V.H.
Published: February 2008

One of the major roles of plant taxonomy (in common with other branches of biological taxonomy) is the production of a classification so as to allow the diversity of nature to be broken down into units which can be recognized, named and communicated about. As Stace (1980) has recently stated, ‘The need for some system of classification is absolute, for it is only by first naming organisms and then grouping them in recognizable categories, that one can begin to sort out the vast array which exists’.