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The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:

The application of a variable to fixed‐length compression coding technique to two bibliographic data bases (MARC and INSPEC) is described. By appropriate transformation of characters or digrams into bit patterns reflecting more accurately the distributions of characters in the data bases, and application of the encoding process, varying degrees of compression can be obtained.

Information is presented on the uses of microcomputers in libraries in Australia. Word processing is the most popular use according to the respondents to a request for information put out by the author. The dBase II database management system is predictably popular, but information retrieval systems are also in use. Library housekeeping packages developed both in Australia and overseas are available. Microcomputers are connected to mainframes for library and information retrieval applications and there is activity in school libraries. The Australian Microcomputer Industry Clearing House (AMIC) is described.

Interactive video projects where a laser disc is linked to a microcomputer are a new trend in research on information transfer and library development. The high cost of these projects presents a drawback. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how libraries and information centres can increase utilisation of non‐book reference materials by using inexpensive microcomputer equipment for image storage. Collections of pictures, archival materials and maps can be stored by capturing the images on video and transferring the frames to a database on a microcomputer. The description and the image can be viewed together when searching the materials. The research project described here considers the quality of the pictures in the image database, as well as time calculations for image database production. The project aims at proposing a low‐cost solution to image information storage on microcomputers in libraries and information centres.

The British Library Research and Development Department (BLR &DD) has long been interested in the developing technologies in the fields of imaging and multimedia, and in 1988 published An overview of image processing and image management systems and their application. This report reviewed several fields where these technologies were already being used and also highlighted the future trends for the industry and standards. Since then imaging and multi‐media projects with relevance to the library and information world have featured as a priority area in the allocation of the Department's funds. It is therefore not surprising that this year's Anglo‐French seminar (24–26 June), the eighth in a series of annual seminars aimed at bringing researchers together to discuss ongoing work on topics of common interest, had image handling in museums and libraries as its theme.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the impact of persistent racial bias, discrimination and racial violence is facilitated by otherwise well-intentioned individuals who fail to act or intercede. Utilizing the aversive racism framework, the need to move beyond awareness raising to facilitate behavioral changes is discussed. Examining the unique lens provided by the aversive racism framework and existing research, the bystander effect provides important insights on recent acts of racial violence such as the murder of Mr. George Floyd. Some promise is shown by the work on effective bystander behavior training and highlights the need for shared responsibility in preventing the outcomes of racial violence and discrimination to create meaningful and long-lasting social change.

This paper uses literature based on the aversive racism framework together with the literature on the bystander effect to understand the factors, conditions and consequences for lack of intervention when the victim is African American. This paper also provides evidence and theory-based recommendations for strategies to change passive bystanders into active allies.

The use of the aversive racism framework provides a powerful lens to help explain the inconsistencies in the bystander effect based on the race of the victim. The implications for intervention models point to the need for behavioral and competency-based approaches that have been shown to provide meaningful change.

Several different approaches to address incidents of racial aggression and violence have been developed in the past. However, given the principles of aversive racism, a unique approach that considers the inconsistencies between self-perceptions and actions is needed. This sets a new agenda for future research and meaningful behavioral intervention programs that seek to equip bystanders to intercede in the future.

The need to address and provide effective strategies to reduce the incidence of racial aggression and violence have wide-ranging benefits for individuals, communities and society.

By connecting the aversive racism framework to the bystander effect, the need for different models for developing responsive and active bystanders can be more effectively outlined.

In light of contemporary critiques of New Zealand comprehensive schooling published mainly in the popular press, it is timely to re‐examine the origins of and the rationale for the widespread adoption of this model of education. The comprehensive schooling philosophy, it was recently alleged, has produced a situation in which ‘as many as one in five pupils in the system is failing’ and where ‘there is a large group at the bottom who are not succeeding’. This group was estimated to include some 153,000 students out of the total current New Zealand student population of 765,000. In this context, however, Chris Saunders and Mike Williams, principals of Onehunga High School and Aorere College in Auckland respectively, have noted that having underachieving students in secondary schools in particular is not a recent phenomenon. A large ‘tail’ of poor performing high school students has long been a cause of concern, Williams suggests.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

ELSEWHERE in this number we list libraries which have Esent us copies of their annual reports which we are glad to have. Now and again we are able to elaborate on these, but in the present issue that has not been possible. We would say, however, that these reports are deserving of the attention of librarians generally, and of students at the library schools. They are records of work in progress, and they do suggest the development of library policy. The best of them are of textbook value.

THERE is a danger in reviewing developments in the reprographic field that one will merely degenerate into giving a catalogue of the recent hardware. Yet the hardware is important. One is reminded of Verner W. Clapp's remark regarding the effectiveness of the American Council on Library Resources that at the end of 11 years, $10 million and 413 grants, contracts and projects, the work of the Council on Library Resources had brought about a great many improvements but that, on the whole, the state of the art was just about where it was when they started!.