Search results

The purpose of this paper is to describe how hairdressing company, Popham, has become an Investor in People champion and the benefits that have flowed from this.

The paper explains the background to the Investor in People award and the policies that Popham has adopted to achieve this, in particular in the areas of staff consultation and employee development.

To prevent any problems from developing into major issues, the 17‐employee firm holds regular meetings with employees. Annual appraisals are used for knowledge sharing with colleagues and coaching from directors, while staff are actively encouraged to contribute ideas on a day‐to‐day basis.

Popham has a well‐developed business plan and individual targets for all members of staff, to which people have contributed and can relate. Directors and managers share a strong commitment to training and development. Reveals that the 17‐employee company, operating in a sector that traditionally has high employee turnover, has lost only one member of staff in the last ten years.

The paper provides an example of successful human‐resource management policies in a UK small business.

The development of a consultancy company specialising in executive recruitment selection is described. A computer system to handle all the jobs and applicant details is an essential requirement; and the system, its development and its advantages are described.

This book by Rod Cowley — ALS: A Guide for Librarians and System Managers — plunges me into some perplexity. For what is the object of this series of which we seem to have here the first volume? According to the back cover, it is to help librarians or system managers — a frightful term. I do hope that the “managers” are also librarians and not upper echelon bureaucrats with their eyes firmly fixed on the statistics produced by computers. However, the book seeks to help them choose an automated system by examining the different products now available. A good move, for librarians wishing to automate their systems often have great difficulty in making a choice in the face of commercial‐cum‐technical engineers well versed in the techniques of salesmanship. Often there is a risky choice — that of one system rather than another based on hazardous rule of thumb and word of mouth. This indicates the potential value of a series which should enable us to form an opinion of different systems by an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Rod Cowley is a former assistant librarian at Bromley Public Library which has an ALS system and former Secretary of the ALS Users Group. Today, he is UK Sales Manager of Automated Library Systems Ltd.

A revolutionary computer system using a system of colour coding to give information about production in a garment factory is described. Colour‐backing of items indicates: late, becoming late, on time and progress, materials not yet available. These relate to customer, product, promised delivery date, quantity ordered and completed. It is efficient in use.

I enclose a letter |published below. Ed.| written in reply to an article in your journal “Libraries and Education in Black South Africa”.

The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a substantial audience among public library patrons.

All items listed may be borrowed from the Aslib Library, except those marked, which may be consulted in the Library.