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Since 1960, and especially during the past three years, many papers have appeared about particular manifestations and applications of a certain class of empirical laws to a field that may be labelled conveniently ‘Bibliometrics’. This term, resuscitated by Alan Pritchard (see page 348), denotes, in my paraphrase, quantitative treatment of the properties of recorded discourse and behaviour appertaining to it.

The intention of this paper is to present an assessment, strictly from my own standpoint, of the material given in Leo Jolley's book The Fabric of Knowledge. It will be concerned mainly with two aspects: first, certain points about the mathematical structure of the classification of knowledge which he called the ‘holotheme’, which in my opinion calls for comment and secondly, sundry criticisms of the system of ‘integrative levels’ which form the backbone of the whole scheme. To summarize my conclusions in one sentence, Jolley's work contains a challenge—or alternatively a temptation—to extend and improve it; but the attraction lies more in the structure than in the content, and past experience warns us that this may be illusory.

Aims to build on the work of Buckland and Hindle regarding statistical distribution as applied to the field of bibliometrics, particularly the use of empirical laws.

Gives examples of hyperbolic distributions that have a bearing on the bibliometric application, and discusses the characteristics of hyperbolic distributions and the Bradford distribution.

Hyperbolic distributions are the inevitable result of combinatorial necessity and a tendency to short‐term rational behaviour.

Supports Bradford's conclusion from his law, i.e. that to know about one's speciality, one must go outside it.

‘To me there appear to be only three principles of connexion among ideas, namely, resemblance, contiguity in time or place, and cause or effect.’

1962 September THUR.13. Furniture Group meeting. See paragraph below.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday 6th June at the Connaught Rooms, Great Queen Street, London WC2. The meeting will be preceded by luncheon, 12.30 for 1 p.m., price 21S.

All items listed may be borrowed from the Aslib Library, except those marked, which may be consulted in the Library.

About two years ago I got an invitation to spend some time with the Center for Communication and Documentation Research, which is a part of the School of Library Science in the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio. I was very pleased about this, not only because I happened to know the people personally but also because it was a place which had been getting on with its job, yet quite prepared to change what it was doing, for a considerable time. So by going there I would find out what really were the real difficulties in this line of work, particularly in what I consider to be the fundamentals of information. This is better than thinking it up in an armchair. We are still at the alchemical stage of this business, and the first thing one can do is to find out what is really happening, rather than build an enormous mathematical edifice on nothing at all—rather like a large elephant balancing on a small ball‐bearing—which is not unknown in computing circles.

Mathematics, in one form or another, has been used in classification from an early period, e.g. Bayes's formula, Boolean algebra, Cartesian co‐ordinates. There has been renewed interest in this field lately because of the availability of electronic computers. First, however, one must have a clear idea of the questions one wishes to have answered, and for this reason I shall discuss the sorts of ideas that one can handle mathematically.

From book challenges to anti–critical race theory and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning legislation, US English teachers have been on the receiving end of a considerable amount of far-right conservative pushback. This study aims to explore the effects of conservative pushback on individual English teachers and their classroom practice. What pushbacks have individual English teachers faced? How has pushback impacted their teaching? What strategies have they developed for navigating pushback?

This qualitative study explores secondary English teachers’ reported experiences with conservative backlash as reported in 15 semi-structured interviews conducted between May 2022 and August 2023.

Participants reported feeling the pressure of increased levels of pushback, and many reported censoring their book selections to avoid additional public scrutiny. At the same time, they also described a range of strategies they have developed for protecting themselves and their practice, such as codifying curriculum, increasing transparency, formalizing review processes for challenging books and strengthening their resolve to resist.

This study offers a timely window on a pressing problem affecting the daily practice of English teachers in the USA.