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I suppose that most noticeable of all the changes in our profession since I came into it has been the multiplicity of the methods by which one can become a librarian. A. E. Standley says in a recent article in the L.A.R., in 1970: “The term librarian includes the Library Association chartered librarian, the graduate with a degree in librarianship, the scholar librarian, the information and intelligence officer, the translator, the abstracter, the non‐library‐qualified subject expert”.

The remit for this, the last session of the Conference, was to consider the papers on specific issues given by the other speakers, to comment thereon, and to try to take a look into the future on the basis of what has been said. The views presented here are those of a librarian/information officer concerned almost solely with practical, day‐to‐day work and not directly with research activity. They therefore represent an overview as seen by one who is the recipient of the output of research workers and who must consider the applicability of research findings to systems and procedures at the point of use.

Computer‐aided systems for all four of the conventional divisions of the field of library housekeeping are now operational in libraries. In Great Britain the only activity not yet operational is that of periodicals control, although two libraries have already used a computer to produce lists of periodicals holdings. The aim of this paper is to describe simply how computer‐aided housekeeping systems work, from the point of view of the librarian, and to mention briefly some typical applications of each type of system.

THERE is a tendency to regard the industrial problems which face us as unique to British firms. That is a blinkered outlook in days when the commerce of thought is international and no country is insulated from another.

The Aslib Aeronautical Group met, under the chairmanship of Mr. A. H. Holloway, on 5th April for its sixth annual Week‐end Conference at the College of Aeronautics. The timing was most fortunate, as the AGARD Documentation Committee, which had been meeting in London during the week, continued its deliberations at Cranfield during the week‐end.

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

The composition of the Editorial Board has recently undergone a fairly fundamental change as a consequence of the resignation, for a variety of reasons, of four of its members. Mr B. C. Brookes, a long‐serving member of the Board, and until recently its Chairman, Mr J. W. Jolliffe, Mr W. R. Maidment, and Dr R. C. Young all leave us at a time when the Journal enjoys a healthy circulation which can only be a reflection of the esteem in which the readership holds the publication and is sufficient tribute in itself to the valuable contribution which these members have made. We are all very grateful for their help.

It is indeed a pleasure to talk to you this evening about information retrieval in general and at the Center for Documentation in particular. Information retrieval, I suspect, is treated with some suspicion in Britain, and much of the outpouring of documentation literature is doubtless discounted as typical American excesses of enthusiasm and braggadocio. I hope that I can contribute something tonight towards putting our own efforts into a sensible perspective.

The pleasant surroundings at Exeter University, which is set in a very beautiful park, were a factor in the success of this year's Conference. Sessions were held in the Washington Singer Laboratories, meals served in the spacious Devonshire House Refectory, whilst residential accommodation was at the new Duryard Halls of Residence, in three ‘houses’ but served by a Central Dining Hall. The main disadvantage was the distance between residence and sessions, which had to be overcome by coach transport, but which was in some measure offset by the warm sunny weather.

April THUR.29 — SAT.1. Northern Branch conference at Ilkley.