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With the recent publication of the UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) results, the issue of an institution’s scholarly reputation looks set to play an increasingly important role in the fortunes of many higher education institutions. While the conditions of the early 1990s benefited many of the former polytechnics, the future environment would seem less favourable. Inter alia there is the issue of the concomitant increase/decrease in research funding following the RAE. Many of the new UK universities have performed less well on the RAE which has a number of financial implications. This paper presents some exploratory work into sixth‐formers’ perceptions regarding the former polytechnics’ change in status. Although more able students are still opting for traditional universities, young people generally support the practice of a unitary system and are ignorant of the research differences. The paper concludes by presenting some ideas as to how the new universities might seek to position themselves in order to attract successive generations of students.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.