EVERY librarian in his inmost heart dislikes newspapers. He regards them as bad literature; attractors of undesirable readers; a drain upon the limited resources of the library;…
Abstract
EVERY librarian in his inmost heart dislikes newspapers. He regards them as bad literature; attractors of undesirable readers; a drain upon the limited resources of the library; and a target against which the detractors of public libraries are constantly battering. From the standpoint of the librarian, newspapers are the most expensive and least productive articles stocked by a library, and their lavish provision is, perhaps, the most costly method of purchasing waste‐paper ever devised. Pressure of circumstances and local conditions combine, however, to muzzle the average librarian, and the consequence is that a perfectly honest and outspoken discussion of the newspaper question is very rarely seen. In these circumstances, an attempt to marshal the arguments for and against the newspaper, together with some account of a successful practical experiment at limitation, may prove interesting to readers of this magazine.
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Michael Schwartz and Debra R. Comer
This article considers what has happened in the 20 years since REIO was founded. The article argues that in sub-Saharan Africa many of those self-same issues currently continue to…
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This article considers what has happened in the 20 years since REIO was founded. The article argues that in sub-Saharan Africa many of those self-same issues currently continue to plague Africans, and that these issues urgently need to be addressed if we are going to improve morality in Africa. In exploring these issues, we considered the circumstances which the Victorian novelist, Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), experienced when he lived in Ireland during the Irish famine. Our article argues as to the very similar circumstances which led to the Irish famine and, currently, lead to the recurrent famines in sub-Saharan Africa. Trollope explored both the causes and the ramifications of the Irish famine in his novel Castle Richmond. According to Trollope, many of the effects of the Irish famine could have been averted if those in the community able to help had had the necessary moral willpower to do so. Trollope was an extremely keen fox-hunter and argued as to the communal benefits of fox-hunting. The article also considers a current devotee of fox-hunting, the Oxford philosopher Roger Scruton, and we explore Scruton’s arguments as to the benefits of local communities. We argue that Scruton’s conservative arguments have much in common with that of the renowned communitarian, Michael Sandel. And that if their arguments were seriously considered much of what the Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo fears for her fellow sub-Saharan Africans might be avoided.
To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books ; an…
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To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books ; an aid to exact classification and annotation ; and a select list of new books proposed to be purchased. Novels, school books, ordinary reprints and strictly official publications will not be included in the meantime.
MIDSUMMER sees the general settling down of thoughtful librarians to a contemplation of their Winter programmes. This seems a cruel suggestion since (if we are fortunate) the…
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MIDSUMMER sees the general settling down of thoughtful librarians to a contemplation of their Winter programmes. This seems a cruel suggestion since (if we are fortunate) the skies are still blue above us, the trees green, and—well, holidays are just ahead. One duty, however, belongs to midsummer and that is the annual election of the Library Association Council. There is growing evidence that in this matter we are no longer prepared to leave our representation in the most important council that exists for us to chance. By the time these words appear the question, so far as 1928 is concerned, will have been settled. We hope a well‐balanced Council will be the result, and that, after an interval of several years, Ireland will be represented.
This column inaugurates a new facet of the coverage of reference materials contained in RSR: the inclusion of sections devoted to reviews of useful reference books published…
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This column inaugurates a new facet of the coverage of reference materials contained in RSR: the inclusion of sections devoted to reviews of useful reference books published around the world. Inasmuch as RSR's emphasis is on American reference sources and American libraries, the titles selected for evaluation were chosen on the basis of their appeal and relevance to libraries both in the U.S. and in other countries.
WHY did I ever become a County Librarian, and in Barsetshire of all places, when I might have been a rond‐de‐cuir sitting on something nice and cushy in the Civil Service? Oh…
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WHY did I ever become a County Librarian, and in Barsetshire of all places, when I might have been a rond‐de‐cuir sitting on something nice and cushy in the Civil Service? Oh, well, it's too late to think of that now. Too late.
WHERE is that tiresome tram? I'm late already, and yet I've been kept waiting for five minutes for the cursed conveyance. The crowd gathers, so there'll be a rush for it when it…
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WHERE is that tiresome tram? I'm late already, and yet I've been kept waiting for five minutes for the cursed conveyance. The crowd gathers, so there'll be a rush for it when it does come; and it will play with us that game so poignantly exhibited in Noel Coward's This Year of Grace, and pull up fifteen yards beyond the post. Ah! here it comes…
ABRAHAM SILENCE, NORMAN TOMLINSON, KA DOUGHTY, CAVAN McCARTHY, FAZLUL ALAM, I LE MESURIER, ALAN DAY, BRIAN GRIFFIN and ALAN DAY
THE ARTICLE by Simon Francis in the last issue of NLW (and the letter from Anthony Croghan in the Record for December) are clear indications that the honeymoon between the library…
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THE ARTICLE by Simon Francis in the last issue of NLW (and the letter from Anthony Croghan in the Record for December) are clear indications that the honeymoon between the library profession and the British Library is drawing to a close. To change the metaphor, we have done our share of cheering and clapping, and are beginning to ask interesting questions about the new package deal. Surprisingly we are finding a dearth of hard facts within the mass of publicity which is being poured out. There are those who see this as a gigantic public relations exercise—what has the British Library to hide?
Whether or not it is true that Keats let himself ‘be snuffed out by an article’, the literary notoriety of the attacks on him in Blackwood's Magazine and the Quarterly Review a…
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Whether or not it is true that Keats let himself ‘be snuffed out by an article’, the literary notoriety of the attacks on him in Blackwood's Magazine and the Quarterly Review a hundred and thirty years ago has ever since left editors and reviewers with a feeling of discomfort. The critics were anonymous. In some vigorous correspondence in the British Medical Journal two years ago on the question of signing book reviews a medical man once more asked the question ‘who killed John Keats?’ There was for medical men a two‐fold interest in this, because Keats studied medicine for six years, as an apprentice to a surgeon and as a student at Guy's and Thomas's. And the reviews in the two principal weekly medical journals in this country, the British Medical Journal and the Lancet, have always appeared as anonymous contributions. This, too, has long been the custom of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the principal weekly medical periodical in the United States. Last year, in the British Medical Journal, we broke the custom and the names of reviewers now appear at the foot of the notices they write.