Through a combination of human skills and computer support systems the Research Library of the Greater London Council (GLC) provides the politician and the professional officer…
Abstract
Through a combination of human skills and computer support systems the Research Library of the Greater London Council (GLC) provides the politician and the professional officer with a highly responsive service. Development has been achieved through constant attention to the changing needs of the customer within the GLC and throughout the London Boroughs. Its stock resources are unique and it now has the ability through the use of new technology to introduce new services, e.g. a third database and new services for London Borough finance officers are being seriously considered. This is despite the threat to its existence arising from the abolition of the GLC. Services currently provided such as ACOMPLINE and URBALINE and other activities of the Research Library are outlined.
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Planer Products has just concluded a distribution agreement with Fuji Electric of Japan covering the company's image processing products.
Speech data entry for computers offers many advantages — this article considers the vocabulary and training needed for its potential to be reached.
“Corporate planning” is the term which, perhaps more than any other, epitomises the adoption of business management techniques by the public sector. In Britain, with massive local…
Abstract
“Corporate planning” is the term which, perhaps more than any other, epitomises the adoption of business management techniques by the public sector. In Britain, with massive local government reorganisation in 1974, many librarians were forced to come to terms with such techniques whether they liked it or not. Of course, in its purest sense corporate planning applies to the combined operation of an entire organisation be it local authority, university, government department or industrial firm. However, in this paper I do not intend discussing “the grand design” whereby the library is merely a component part of a greater body. Rather, it is my intention to view the library as the corporate body. It is a perfectly possible and very useful exercise to apply the principles of corporate planning, and the management techniques involved, to the running of a library or group of libraries. Indeed, many librarians have already done this either independently or as their part in the corporate plan of their parent organisation.
Sandra Vogel, Mike Cornford, Edwin Fleming and Allan Bunch
Question: When is a Librarian not a Librarian?
A recent Aslib Research Department Project which investigated problems relating to the construction of thesauri for indexing and retrieval ended with two publications, to be…
Abstract
A recent Aslib Research Department Project which investigated problems relating to the construction of thesauri for indexing and retrieval ended with two publications, to be published shortly by Aslib. During the project, extensive use was made of the thesauri held in the Aslib Library, and information about them was tabulated. Information concerning openly available thesauri is displayed below.
Wilfred Ashworth, Edward Dudley and JPE Francis
WITH A PICKET LINE on the front door of Islington Town Hall where the meeting of June 12 was being held, Council might have been denuded of its NALGO members, but there did not…
Abstract
WITH A PICKET LINE on the front door of Islington Town Hall where the meeting of June 12 was being held, Council might have been denuded of its NALGO members, but there did not seem any numerical difference made to the attendance and the President assured everyone present that they were not really blacklegs!
I first met punched feature cards in 1956. I was working as an assistant to E. G. Brisch, whose company classified the materials and components used in industry. His method…
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I first met punched feature cards in 1956. I was working as an assistant to E. G. Brisch, whose company classified the materials and components used in industry. His method brought similar articles together, both notionally in classified codebooks and practically when the classified items were stored in their code number order. The result was an excellent aid to variety reduction, standardization, and stock control. E. G. gave me a good grounding in analytical classification; but his office held other secrets too. One of these was a sort of punched card representing a property or quality, not an object or event as with all other punched cards I had met. On these other cards, notched or slotted for hand‐sorting with needles, or punched and verified in thousands for reading by machine, the holes stood for characteristics possessed by the item concerned. The new cards were different. Since they represented properties, the items possessing these had to be shown by the holes, and so they were. E. G. named them ‘Brisch‐a‐boo’: this I found was his special variant of ‘peek‐a‐boo’, a title by which they are still occasionally known. To stack some of them in exact register with each other is to find, as a set of through holes in numbered positions, the reference numbers of all the items recorded on them which have the qualities concerned.
Allan Bunch, Edwin Fleming, Edward Dudley and Wilfred Ashworth
I RECEIVED a most unusual publication through the post the other day which may not strictly come within the scope of this column, since it won't answer any particular problem…
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I RECEIVED a most unusual publication through the post the other day which may not strictly come within the scope of this column, since it won't answer any particular problem except that of where to go for your holidays. It's called The North: a feminist local history and holiday guide by Susan Evasdaughter and is one of a series of similar booklets that includes London, Home Counties, West Country, Wales, and Central England. The books are not intended to be comprehensive holiday guides listing the best places to stay, the most interesting walks etc, but rather set out by area some of the most important things of specific interest to women. Information ranges from ‘pre‐historic matriarchal times’ to present day feminist activities. There is information on women castle builders, famous lesbians, local women heroes, artists, queens and witches, suffragettes, politicians, discoverers etc. Where possible information is given about places for women to stay although there aren't many specifically for women. The quality of printing is fairly basic; I expect the booklets were produced on a shoestring, so don't expect tourist board glossies. However, a lot of work has obviously gone into them, each has a name index, and they would be useful additions not only for local studies collections but also for any libraries who have a community information section on women's studies. The booklets cost £1.00 from 47 Ladysmith Avenue, Newbury Park, Ilford, Essex.
A group of laser techniques developed at the AERE is proving a powerful aid to design of diesel and petrol engines and shows promise for other industries in measurement of gas…
Abstract
A group of laser techniques developed at the AERE is proving a powerful aid to design of diesel and petrol engines and shows promise for other industries in measurement of gas flow, particulate motion and size, temperature and chemical composition. This article is based on a presentation by the author at the Lasers in Manufacturing conference last November.