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Working as a consultant really gives you the opportunity to travel. This week, the office of an oil company … the next, an office in the water industry … and the following week, still more variety—an office in the finance sector. Now capable of writing a thesis on the correlation between wallpapers and SIC codes, we turn our attention to the records held by each industry sector, and the way in which those records are managed. The practice of records management varies considerably from industry to industry and, within industry sectors, from company to company. So the oil industry tends to practice records management in a different way from the water industry or the finance industry. Certainly the oil industry faces particular problems in the range of media which it is required to handle, including well logs, seismic data, oil samples, as well as the inevitable quantities of paper and paper substitutes which all industries face. But not only does records management vary from industry to industry, it also varies from company to company—and so individual companies active within the oil industry operate a variety of records management procedures. A company's records management programme may include a number of elements—and I should like to review the most important of these before looking at the potential for standardisation in record management practices. The major elements within a records management programme may include the following:

Projects often present specific difficulties for the Records Manager. Records are created in a manner which is fast and furious — with many records being generated in a short space of time. These records are created by different organisations — by the project team, by contractors and by sub‐contractors — and are circulated between them. Different types of document are produced: drawings are often particularly important, as are parts lists. Complex computer applications are now used in many projects, and the records generated by the system should ideally be retained in native format, rather than printed on paper. Change control is important both for hard copy documents and computer based material: documents may go through many revisions, and it is essential that these revisions are managed effectively. The hand‐over of documentation from project to operator can be problematic if the views and requirements of both groups are not considered at an early stage. In this programme, the opportunity was provided to meet with both project and operations personnel: it was significant that both groups were aware of the importance of the documentation generated during the project and were concerned that important records series should be identified and retained. Project staff were aware of the importance of retaining material as a basis for new projects while operating railway personnel require items such as as‐built drawings and manuals to provide an effective ongoing railway service.

Resource sharing is an important element in the national planning of library and information services to meet the needs of information, education and culture of the whole community at all levels. An overview of resource sharing practices is presented, with particular reference to the British scene. It is also argued that, with the approach of the Single Market in 1992, resource sharing should now be considered on a European scale. In conclusion, some problems associated with the practice of resource sharing are considered.

In a truly back‐to‐the‐future scenario, given that we could relive our business lives over the past 20 years, is it not likely that, with the knowledge we currently possess in the world of information management, we would not have abdicated so much power and control to the technocrats, the technology providers and the data‐processing manager? Similarly it may be posited that 10 years from now, and partly as the legacy of the previous 20, with hindsight we should not now abdicate control of our corporate or organizational culture to the records manager. One may laugh at the comparison with the almighty powers that data‐processing has agglomerated, but we are standing perilously close to this threshold.

The UK Regional Library Systems date from the 1930s when they were set up to develop union catalogues and organize regional interlending. During 60 years of development their role has broadened and they have developed a variety of added‐value services. Their original purpose is still important although modified in the light of developments such as BLDSC and automation. They are centrally placed to play a key role in working out the effects of local government reorganization, in acting as agencies through which the proposed National Library and Information Commission could operate, and in protecting the interests of users during a period of change.

CHRISTMAS is coming, and the year is nearly done. On the whole, a good year, I think—at any rate for realism. No doubt we shall have our (by now) customary industrial fun and games during the winter, with lights going out, rubbish piling up in the streets, and the car‐workers continuing to perform their slow‐motion, ritual suicide. But it is becoming appreciated that inflationary, pay increases simply spawn unemployment.

I THOUGHT, shall I write a vigorously reproving letter to John Saunders, County Librarian of Surrey, or shall I fulminate in public instead? As you would expect, I chose the latter.

1989 was designated Museums Year to commemorate the centenary of the Museums Association, and unlike many of these PR exercises this one resulted in museums (especially national museums based in London) receiving an unusual amount of coverage in the qualities. Whether stories of protests and problems would have the desired positive effect on actual attendances has not yet been calculated. The unusually sunny weather cannot have helped much either. But the Museums Association itself produced a series of 11 regional guides which if read on the beach or in the pool would have enabled the readers almost to think that they had actually visited the collections described in considerable detail. Too many to note here but a list of all the titles is available from the MA or the Museums and Galleries Commission. Simon Olding's Exploring Museums: London (ISBN 0 11 2904653) and Arnold Wilson's Exploring Museums: The South West (ISBN 0 11 2904696) tackle their areas entertainingly, but their step‐by‐step guides to some of their subjects may soon be outdated as many existing museums are currently undergoing major rearrangements or refurbishments.

BRS Five databases on BRS are now updated weekly: Medline, the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Search and Social SciSearch, and Information Access Company's Magazine ASAP III and Magazine Index. With this enhancement, subscribers to BRS's Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) can get updates more often. SDI lets users enter a specific search strategy in a particular database. Each time the database is updated any new references are automatically mailed to the subscriber.