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THIS month is that in which librarians of public libraries are concerned with budgets. In spite of occasional croakings, it is fair to say that the worst of the crisis is over, and, if prosperity is not here, it is at least on the way. It will be interesting to learn if the cuts which some libraries had to make in their appropriations will be continued this year. Libraries have demonstrated beyond disproof that they have played a part in the depression in raising some of the gloom from the minds of the people, and can make reasonable claim to have financial consideration of the fact. Fortunately, in our worst times, the grotesque cutting which public libraries in the United States were called to endure was not suffered here.

CAMBRIDGE did not disappoint the expectations of the more than one thousand persons who attended the conference. The organization worked without a creak in its machinery, thanks to the work of Mr. W. A. Fenton, the Honorary Local Secretary, and his distinguished committee; the hospitality was liberal; the excursions well chosen and successful. As for the papers and addresses, which, after all, are the official reason for conferences, even if there was little that was epoch‐making, they were interesting, sometimes provocative, and almost invariably stimulating. Most of us returned to our libraries inspired and encouraged with the undoubted vitality of the library movement as manifested at Cambridge.

Introduction The cracking of external building walls due to differential settlement or foundation failure has traditionally been monitored using ‘tell‐tales’, placed across the cracks, which are inspected for movement at frequent intervals. This technique is satisfactory if an indication of movement at individual locations on the structure is sufficient, but it is not very satisfactory if either an overall picture of the cracking or the change in the crack pattern with time is required.

Organizations are increasingly investing in disability-specific sensitization workshops. Yet, there is limited understanding about their hoped outcomes, that is, increased knowledge about disability-related issues and behavioral changes with respect to those with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and boundaries of disability-specific sensitization training in organizations.

This is an interview-based study where 33 employees from five industries across India were interviewed over the span of a year.

The findings suggest that sensitization workshops are successful with regard to awareness generation. Paradoxically, the same awareness also reinforced group boundaries through “othering.” Further, workshops resonated more so with individuals who already had some prior experience with disability, implying that voluntary sensitization is likely attracting those who have the least need of such sensitization. The findings also suggest that non-mandated interventions may not necessarily influence organizational level outcomes, especially if workshops are conducted in isolation from a broader organizational culture of inclusion.

The present study helps outline effects of sensitization training initiatives and enhances our understanding about how negative attitudes toward persons with a disability can be overcome. The study also indicates how such training initiatives may inadvertently lead to “othering.” Finally, this study offers suggestions to human resource managers for designing impactful disability sensitization workshops.

Recent studies have shown that the contribution of small firms to employment and GDP is increasing. A large amount of work has also established the significance of social and economic variables for entrepreneurial decisions. Very little is known, however, about how government policies and programs influence entrepreneurial activity, and whether these effects are consistent across countries. Using original data from a representative sample of 10,000 individuals and from more than 300 open-ended interviews in 10 countries, this article provides some suggestive evidence that government intervention aimed at enhancing the underlying environment of entrepreneurial decisions may be more effective than intervention designed to provide safety nets.

Following on studies of the reported importance of a range of external advice and a study of the impact of marketing advice on small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) performance, this study seeks to examine the relationship between business performance (growth) and the nature and degree of a wide range of business advice used by a sample of owner/managers of SMEs in the Manchester City‐region of the UK.

The study was conducted with 140 SMEs in the Manchester City region using an administered survey instrument.

The degree of use of a range of external advice was positively related to the growth rate of the SME. In common with most previous research, the most sought‐after advisers were external accountants and network contacts. Academic advice was sought very rarely. This study extends previous research and examine the nature of the advice provided by external accountants, which was found to include business, emergency, and financial management support in addition to statutory advice. The degree of provision of this additional assistance was associated with higher growth.

The relationship of advice and growth has been examined using a survey instrument. Further research is needed to understand how advice is sought, provided and used.

Accountants, network contacts and others were significant providers of advice and, where this advice was used, then SMEs reported higher growth rates. The direction of effect is probably in favour of the value of advice, but there could be virtuous cycles of advice and growth. However, the nature and quality of advice sought, offered, understood and embedded in business practice networks and contributing to social capital require further study.

The research extends previous studies by the range of advice and the nature of advice provided by external accountants, considered in relation to firm performance.

This interventional study aims to test the effectiveness of thek training approach for higher education faculty members to facilitate students with disabilities (SwD) to promote inclusion in higher education by operationalising approaches on the basis of the social action model. It presents an evidence-based training model created on recognised theories and strategies in the field of disability.

The study follows a single-case pre/post-test intervention design in which data were analysed quantitatively, followed by a thematic analysis of participants' feedback and trainer's reflections. Training sessions were aligned to the social action model, the perspective of reasonable accommodations and introduction to technological support for teaching-learning and policy issues. Eighty faculty members from different schools of a multi-disciplinary Pakistani university participated in these sessions. Data from only 63 faculty members were available for analyses.

Teacher Perceptions of Facilitating Students with Disabilities (TP-FSD) scale served as a pre- and post-test measure. The quantitative assessment revealed knowledge and attitudinal gains after brief trainings. However, when findings were interpreted considering effect sizes and supported by qualitative findings, moderate effectiveness level was evident. Effectiveness can be interpreted by the internal and external validity checks and findings of multiple assessments.

This study can be replicated by adapting the training approach and by considering its strengths and shortcomings mentioned in detail in the discussion section.

The study tested the effectiveness of brief faculty training to support SwD in a multi-disciplinary university having faculty with varied education and training experience.

This study is a response to the paucity of research into early internationalising firms based in India. We seek to explore the internationalisation of small and new Indian firms and the decision-making process of their entrepreneurs/managers.

The study uses original, primary data gathered from in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with the managers of six such firms to explore the factors that might facilitate, motivate, or impede the efforts undertaken by young Indian firms to embark upon a process of early internationalisation.

Our findings suggest that, in line with their counterparts from other countries, the early internationalisation of small firms from India is driven primarily by the search for more favourable demand conditions overseas and is facilitated by new technologies. However, we find no evidence suggesting that the emergence of early internationalising firms from India is driven by the search for more favourable production conditions or by the direct international experience and exposure of their founders. In line with prior scholarly work, our research suggests that government support is an important facilitator of early internationalisation of small firms.

The study provides insights into the internationalisation process of INVs from India and contributes to broadening our understanding of the behaviour of firms under a set of specific institutional conditions. Based on our findings, we develop a conceptual framework which can be useful for further empirical testing. Our study is also one of the few to be conducted on a sample of INVs from India.

LIBRARIES have come impressively into the public picture in the past year or two, and seldom with more effect than when Their Majesties the King and Queen opened the new Central Reference Library at Manchester on July 17th. In a time, which is nearly the end of a great depression, that the city which probably felt the depression more than any in the Kingdom should have proceeded with the building of a vast store‐house of learning is a fact of great social significance and a happy augury for libraries as a whole. His Majesty the King has been most felicitous in providing what we may call “slogans” for libraries. It will be remembered that in connection with the opening of the National Central Library, he suggested that it was a “University which all may join and which none need ever leave” —words which should be written in imperishable letters upon that library and be printed upon its stationery for ever. As Mr. J. D. Stewart said at the annual meeting of the National Central Library, it was a slogan which every public library would like to appropriate. At Manchester, His Majesty gave us another. He said: “To our urban population open libraries are as essential to health of mind, as open spaces to health of body.” This will be at the disposal of all of us for use. It is a wonderful thing that Manchester in these times has been able to provide a building costing £450,000 embodying all that is modern and all that is attractive in the design of libraries. The architect, Mr. Vincent Harris, and the successive librarians, Mr. Jast and Mr. Nowell, are to be congratulated upon the crown of their work.