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During a period which has witnessed considerable growth in the number of organisations which offer banking and associated services, one of the more notable developments has been the identification of the “personal” sector as an entity by the Clearing Banks. From a position which largely considered personal banking as down‐the‐banking‐market, the banks have done a rapid about‐turn by recognising the importance of this sector. To this end they have designed ranges of services which meet the needs of this sector and have developed specific marketing strategies.

People After acting as a section head in BLR&DD since the summer of 1984 John Burchell has been officially promoted to this post. His particular responsibilities include dissemination, user education and professional education. Sue Howley, BLR&DD project officer responsible for information policy, has been promoted to the post of Head of Central Services, Science Reference and Information Service (formerly Science Reference Library). Dr Richard Snelling, the project officer responsible for social science information, has transferred to Western Manuscripts in the British Library's Special Collections directorate.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

Spawton (1991) discusses consumer expectations and risk‐reduction strategies in the purchase of wines. Spawton (1991) refers to a four‐segment model of the market. These segments include Connoisseurs, Aspirational Drinkers, Beverage Wine Consumers and New Wine Drinkers. These segments were developed from the results of an exploratory qualitative study conducted by McKinna (1987). This study aims to empirically test and confirm the segments that the wine industry has taken for granted. There are four hypotheses relating to the confirmation of Spawton's (1991) segments.

There has been a sustained interest over the past couple of decades in developing sophisticated leak detection techniques (LDTs) that are economical and reliable. Majority of current commercial LDTs are acoustics based and they are not equally suitable to all pipe materials and sizes. There is also limited knowledge on the comparative merits of such acoustics-based leak detection techniques (ALDTs). The purpose of this paper is to review six commercial ALDTs based on four decisive criteria and subsequently develop guidance for the optimal selection of an ALDT.

Numerous publications and field demonstration reports are reviewed for evaluating the performance of various ALDTs in this study to inform their optimal selection using an integrated multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. The findings are validated using interviews of water utility experts.

The study approach and the findings will have a broad impact on the water utility industry by identifying a suite of suitable ALDTs for a range of typical application scenarios. The evaluated ALDTs include listening devices, noise loggers, leak-noise correlators, free-swimming acoustic, tethered acoustic, and acoustic emissions. The evaluation criteria include cost, reliability, access requirements, and the ability to quantify leakage severity. The guidance presented in this paper will support efficient decision making in water utility management to minimize pipeline leakage.

This study attempts to address the problem of severe dearth of performance data for pipeline inspection techniques. Performance data reported in the published literature on various ALDTs are appropriately aggregated and compared using a MCDA, while the uncertainty in performance data is addressed using the Monte Carlo simulation approach.

THE following list of contracts placed by the Air Ministry during December, 1937, is extracted from the January issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette :—

The British countryman is a well‐known figure; his rugged, obstinate nature, unyielding and tough; his part in the development of the nation, its history, not confined to the valley meadows and pastures and uplands, but nobly played in battles and campaigns of long ago. His “better half”—a term as true of yeoman stock as of any other—is less well known. She is as important a part of country life as her spouse; in some fields, her contribution has been even greater. He may grow the food, but she is the provider of meals, dishes, specialties, the innovating genius to whom most if not all British food products, mostly with regional names and now well‐placed in the advertising armentarium of massive food manufacturers, are due. A few of them are centuries old. Nor does she lack the business acumen of her man; hens, ducks, geese, their eggs, cut flowers, the produce of the kitchen garden, she may do a brisk trade in these at the gate or back door. The recent astronomical price of potatoes brought her a handsome bonus. If the basic needs of the French national dietary are due to the genius of the chef de cuisine, much of the British diet is due to that of the countrywoman.

THE most important personal news of the month is the appointment of Mr. J. D. Cowley M.A., the County Librarian of Lancashire, as Director of the University of London School of Librarianship. This had been expected for some considerable time, but we were unable to comment until it had been confirmed in the middle of May by the Senate of the University. Mr. Cowley will bring to the office the culture which we know him to possess, experience in the library of a learned society, and the much wider public experience which he has gained in Lancashire. A quiet enthusiast, with a sympathetic and friendly manner, his achievements in librarianship have already been such as to make our hopes for his future most sanguine. We all like him, which is one of the best foundations for his success. The Library Association Record has expressed the general hope that he will be able to make such arrangements in the School that its students may be more acceptable than they have been hitherto in public libraries. One of the methods by which this can be accomplished is extremely simple in statement, although it may be somewhat difficult of realisation. The larger libraries should be induced to recruit their assistants in the ordinary manner, to retain them on the staff for two years with ample opportunities for gaining practical experience in more than merely mechanical operations, and should then send the best of them for two years to the School of Librarianship. During their absence the libraries would of course recruit other assistants to supply their place, who in turn, if satisfactory, should be sent to the School of Librarian‐ship, and those who have been at the School should return in their places. There would, of course, have to be two vacancies to start from, but in a large system that is a very small matter. In the way suggested the libraries would be acquiring staffs which were practically trained in the first place and would understand everything that was being taught at the School, and who, in addition, would have university training and the status which undoubtedly belongs to that. If it could only be made clear to the assistant librarians of the present day that university school pupils would not displace them, we think one of the objections to the School would have passed. At present, of course, the objection is deeper; it is the chief librarian who seems to avoid the school diplomate. On the other hand, there is the suggestion that anyone who has passed through the School is ipso facto a librarian and should have a high position; that, of course, is not so. Ultimately he may have, but school training is only preliminary to library experience, and more is required before a librarian can have a responsible post in a library of any consequence. We hope the point we have raised will have the consideration which we believe it deserves.

E‐Business channels are presenting novel opportunities for small vineyards to target new online market segments, to communicate directly with the customer and side‐step the main wine distributors who have traditionally blocked access to substantially wider markets. In the UK, where the majority of wine producers is heavily reliant on direct sales, understanding the role that eBusiness channels can play in the buyer behaviour process could be critical for building effective customer relationships and sales. This paper investigates how competitive advantage can be achieved through B2C channels.

FOR many years the LIBRARY REVIEW has provided a service of Irish news in the form of letters sent by Irish librarians. The correspondence has proved interesting, not only to our Irish colleagues themselves, but also to librarians in Britain and overseas. It served to supplement the news published in the official Irish magazine, An Leabharlann, in virtue of the fact that it usually covered the library field in the North as well as in the South. The letters have mainly been amiable, but in our Autumn number our correspondent made the following statement: “In your Summer number I read your notice of As I Was Going Down Sackville Street by Dr. Gogarty. This book has been well read in Ireland, but an injunction has been taken out against it, greatly to the regret of most people of liberal mind, but much to the satisfaction of the perfervid Gaels who, as followers of Mr. De Valera, are leading the nation up the garden path to a waste land in which we will croon our ancient songs and hymns of hate in bad Gaelic. There are those of my friends—few enough in number I may say—in favour of Irish language studies, but the majority of average Irishmen are simply being driven into the movement. In their heart of hearts they loathe the Gallicization of the country, but they remember a period when to criticise would possibly have meant a stab in the back, tarring and feathering, or some other sadistic pubishment …” It is not necessary to quote the remainder of the letter, and those particularly interested may read it for themselves in the number in which it appeared. Naturally enough, some of our Irish colleagues do not see eye to eye with our correspondent, and have protested to us, and, in terms of our general policy, we are pleased to publish their protests, along with the detached observations of two other colleagues.