As the theme of this conference implies, librarianship itself is inherently an act of co‐operation. We are communications specialists bridging the gap between information and…
Abstract
As the theme of this conference implies, librarianship itself is inherently an act of co‐operation. We are communications specialists bridging the gap between information and ignorance, by organizing information so that we can use it, and by organizing ignorance so that we can find information to match it. A part of this effort is the exploitation of the total resource of recorded knowledge, and the catalogue is one of the most valuable tools that we use in this exploitation, provided that, as with all tools, we keep it in good order, and know how and when to use it. In recent years and even in recent weeks, much has happened both directly and indirectly to promote co‐operation in the field of cataloguing; sometimes these developments have occurred because cataloguers have recognized a need and they sometimes form part of a larger movement for professional co‐operation. In this paper I should like to concentrate on an important aspect of the whole problem of co‐operation in cataloguing, and that is the nature of the relationship between the problem itself and its practical solution. I intend to offer a summary of the way in which the problem has developed and the way in which different kinds of solutions have been proposed, since perhaps one of the most important things we can do as librarians to ensure effective co‐operation in the future is to examine the very peculiar nature of the situation that faces us. We may then confirm the developments that are now taking place, or we may begin to wonder if some of them are not likely to suffer the same fate that has overtaken attempts at co‐operation in the past.
Many early programs were designed to teach either routine operations that could be broken down into easily learned, consecutive steps, or elementary levels of academic subjects…
Abstract
Many early programs were designed to teach either routine operations that could be broken down into easily learned, consecutive steps, or elementary levels of academic subjects like mathematics, basic science or foreign languages. For a long time programmed instruction was not thought suitable for conceptual subjects at a more advanced level, but the appearance of programs to teach subjects like advanced mathematics or computer programming suggested that it was not so much a matter of suitable subjects as of methodology. This is not the place for an examination of conventional attitudes towards academic disciplines and their teaching, but it might be observed that programmed instruction offers yet another confirmation of the growing realization that difficult subjects can be explained in a simple and even enjoyable manner without in any way lowering the level or dignity of those subjects.
‘To me there appear to be only three principles of connexion among ideas, namely, resemblance, contiguity in time or place, and cause or effect.’
This progress report attempts to chart the main trends in professional education during the 1970s and to identify the major problems facing curriculum planners for the rest of…
Abstract
This progress report attempts to chart the main trends in professional education during the 1970s and to identify the major problems facing curriculum planners for the rest of this decade—and beyond. Although the work is based on United Kingdom educational practice, developments in other countries are noted whenever it is felt that a helpful comparison may be made. The citations do not represent a bibliography of professional education: such a compilation has already been accomplished in the researches of Burrell, and to a lesser extent in Clough. Writings on professional education in librarianship and information science tend to date rather quickly; especially if they deal with information technology or technical services. Theoretical problems remain more durable and usually reappear in different guises. Both information science and librarianship are bracketed together whenever they interrelate or overlap, or whenever logic and common sense dictate. In no way is it implied that they are both one and the same thing; the terms denote different areas of professional application and activity.
The first and second Reports on the automated circulation system at Southampton were primarily drafted as internal memoranda, and their wider dissemination in PROGRAM, Nos. 1 and…
Abstract
The first and second Reports on the automated circulation system at Southampton were primarily drafted as internal memoranda, and their wider dissemination in PROGRAM, Nos. 1 and 3, was not originally planned. However, Report No. 2 is dated 9th September, 1966, a month before any part of the system came into operation, and although there are brief references in PROGRAM 4 and 6, no further report in this series has been published. An account of the first months of work has been published in “Libraries and Machines Today”, edited by C.D. Batty (Scunthorpe, North Midland Branch of the Library Association, 1967). B.A.J. McDowell, the University Data Processing Officer, prepared a full description of the system, but only in a limited edition. A revised edition is in preparation and will be available for sale. This report therefore deals with the operation of the system up to the satisfactory establishment of automatic recording (referred to in Report No. 2 as Stage II). Stage I, manual recording with machine updating of the files, was introduced as planned in October 1966. Various difficulties were encountered during the first term, but after Christmas these were largely overcome and by the end of the academic year issues exceeded 80,000, Much of our success must be attributed to the work of the Counter Supervisor at that time, Miss M.I. Cooper, who devoted many hours to checking errors and devising improvements.
MY reaction to being appointed Director of Library Services would be one of frank amazement, rather as if I had been a commercial traveller in a rather dubious line of trade, such…
Abstract
MY reaction to being appointed Director of Library Services would be one of frank amazement, rather as if I had been a commercial traveller in a rather dubious line of trade, such as ladies' underwear, who had suddenly been offered a bishopric. The recovery from this amazement would take about ten seconds flat and I would doubtless find myself in the thick of finding an office, a desk, a rubber plant and a regulation‐size piece of carpet appropriate to my grade. My first real task would be to bring some order to the seven sections of the D.E.S. now dealing with library matters and to initiate among librarians generally some radical thinking on the problems that face us all.
LOUGHBOROUGH was the first of the post‐war schools to be established in 1946. This resulted from negotiations of representatives of the Library Association Council with technical…
Abstract
LOUGHBOROUGH was the first of the post‐war schools to be established in 1946. This resulted from negotiations of representatives of the Library Association Council with technical and other colleges which followed their failure to secure facilities within the universities on the terms of the L.A. remaining the sole certificating body. The late Dr. Herbert Schofield accepted their terms and added a library school to already varied fields of training within his college.
Lindsay Corbett and Janice German
In his paper to the Aslib conference on Cooperation in Cataloguing David Batty mentions the development of two systems to enable a library to exploit the MARC II format for…
Abstract
In his paper to the Aslib conference on Cooperation in Cataloguing David Batty mentions the development of two systems to enable a library to exploit the MARC II format for bibliographic data, including of course the BNB and Library of Congress literature tapes. These systems were (a) at the Fondren Library, Rice University, Texas, and (b) the AMCOS (Aldermaston Mechanised Cataloguing and Ordering System at AWRE which will commence full operational tests in March 1970.
THE Report of the Committee on Libraries, which was issued by the University Grants Committee in the summer of 1967, had for long been called the Parry Report after its Chairman…
Abstract
THE Report of the Committee on Libraries, which was issued by the University Grants Committee in the summer of 1967, had for long been called the Parry Report after its Chairman, Dr. Thomas Parry, formerly Librarian of the National Library of Wales and at the time the Principal of University College of Wales in Aberystwyth. When it was first set up in June 1963 the terms of reference were as follows:
Mhairi Mackenzie, Annette Hastings, Breannon Babbel, Sarah Simpson and Graham Watt
This chapter addresses inequalities in the United Kingdom through the lens of health inequalities. Driven by inequalities in income and power, health inequalities represent a…
Abstract
This chapter addresses inequalities in the United Kingdom through the lens of health inequalities. Driven by inequalities in income and power, health inequalities represent a microcosm of wider debates on inequalities. They also play a role as the more politically unacceptable face of inequalities – where other types of inequality are more blatantly argued as collateral damage of advanced neoliberalism including ‘inevitable’ austerity measures, politicians are more squeamish about discussing health inequalities in these terms.
The chapter starts by depicting health inequalities in Scotland and summarises health policy analyses of the causes of, and solutions to, health inequalities. It then describes the concept of ‘proportionate’ universalism’ and sets this within the context of debates around universal versus targeted welfare provision in times of fiscal austerity.
It then turns to a small empirical case-study which investigates these tensions within the Scottish National Health Service. The study asks those operating at policy and practice levels: how is proportionate universalism understood; and, is it a threat or ballast to universal welfare provision?
Findings are discussed within the political context of welfare retrenchment, and in terms of meso- and micro-practices. We conclude that there are three levels at which proportionate universalism needs to be critiqued as a means of mitigating the impacts of inequalities in the social determinants of health. These are within the political arenas, at a policy and planning level and at the practice level where individual practitioners are enabled or not to practice in ways that might mitigate existing inequalities.