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All seventeen had graciously agreed to my proposal to gather for a small conference to seek consensus. A generous grant from the Pierian Press Foundation would cover all of our expenses for a long weekend at a resort hotel; the only condition of the grant was that we offer our results to Reference Services Review for first publication. Over the past five years each of the seventeen had in turn accepted my challenge to answer the following question:

A mouse hiding in the reference desk at Penn State's library nearly four years ago would have had an earful: “I can't STAND having those patrons crowded all over the reference desk!” “What do you mean, ‘re‐boot’? What the heck is that?” “I don't know how to change paper and ink jets—that's not our job!” While these quotes are approximations, the irritation library staff felt with what they saw as the invasion of unfamiliar technology was very real—and is still remembered.

Historical Background and Purpose of the Article Our civilization has always had a fascination with the lives of important people. Individuals who inspire us through their cultural, artistic or religious works, who lead our nations, armies or institutions, or who reach high levels of accomplishment in virtually any field seem to exemplify for us the highest ideals of our culture.

“If you were stranded on a desert island and had to create a reference/information service with only ten sources, which ten would you choose?” The question posed by an editor of this journal provokes a cartoon vision of a tiny islet, one palm tree, and a sinking ship in the distance. A much more pleasant image to build upon would be a large, well‐equiped island, with a home ready for occupancy by our family—my wife and me plus our two sons, who still live with us. The house would have all the appropriate amenities, shelving for a couple thousand volumes, and of course, room for the ten reference sources that we would be bringing ashore.

Peaceful societies, groups of people described by social scientists as experiencing little if any internal or external violence, embrace the need for peacefulness, in contrast to most of the contemporary world, which accepts violence as normal and inevitable. The purpose of this article is to examine the ways that people in those societies view peacefulness, and to compare those ways with more “normal” violent societies.

The approach taken is a literature review of salient trends about anti‐violence among some of the more highly peaceful societies, and comparable trends in two state‐level societies—Norway, a relatively peaceful state, and the USA, a relatively more violent one.

The findings show that some of the peaceful societies avoid violence through nonresistance—not resisting aggression. In addition, many base their commitments to peacefulness on religious and mythological beliefs, though for others, peacefulness is based on cultural values or is seen as a practical, reasonable way to order their lives. The societies that appear to have very firm commitments to nonviolence are the ones where structures of peacefulness thrive.

The practical value of this research is that it points out how the peaceful societies can be contrasted with modern nation states, and it may suggest ways to challenge general patterns of violence.

Library services have been tremendously influenced by rapid technological innovations over the years particularly in the area of reference and information services. The adoption of CD‐ROM technology has revolutionised the retrieval and delivery mechanism of information.

Looks at contrasting views of the future of the British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC); that it will become obsolete or, conversely, grow in importance. Explores the problems of co‐operative collection development, its economics, politics and terminology in both theory and practice. Examines methods for evaluating the costs of interlending, and demonstrates the limitations of a single price structure. Shows how reciprocal borrowing is becoming an increasingly popular solution to collection development.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of adult male prisoners presenting with personality difficulties in an open (Category D) prison in the UK and their experience of a pilot offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway Psychologically Enhanced Resettlement Service (PERS) in the prison.

Thirteen participants who had engaged with PERS were interviewed about their experiences of open conditions and the service. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.

Two superordinate themes were identified relating to participants’ experience of open conditions, highlighting the challenges they faced. These were “the impact of institutionalization” and “relational barriers”. Two superordinate themes were identified relating to participants’ experiences of PERS; these were “relationships with staff” and “service structure”. Each superordinate theme had subordinate themes.

Analysis is based on a small number of interviews in one male prison, and only qualitative data were collected. A mixed-methods approach would enable the triangulation of results.

Clinical importance for the pilot service is established, and there should be consideration for the rollout of PERS to other open establishments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the experiences of Category D prisoners within the open estate engaging with a pilot OPD pathway service. Findings illustrate the difficulties OPD service users encounter managing the transition into open prison conditions and highlight elements of the PERS model that can support this process. Clinical and research implications are identified.