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Long-term care (LTC) homes are highly regulated settings that provide care to people living with complex health conditions who are often at the end of their lives. Mental health and quality of life are important concepts in LTC given the inherent poor health and diminished autonomy of residents living in this setting. The COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to further compound these issues through lockdowns limiting movement within and outside of LTC homes, increased fear of severe COVID-19 infections, staff shortages, and impaired communication through personal protective equipment. However, the evidence describing the effect of the pandemic on mental health and quality of life is mixed, with some studies describing increased rates of mental health concerns and others presenting modest increases or decreases. Creative strategies to mitigate negative mental health consequences of lockdown included technology supported and window or outdoor visits, increased access to volunteers, and supports for families. However, the evidence in this area continues to evolve as subsequent waves of the pandemic progress. Future research may present new evidence about other strategies that became important in different stages of the pandemic.

The Feldberg (business studies) Library at Dartmouth College has, since January 1986, been subscribing to Datext, a CD‐ROM database containing bibliographic, textual, and numeric information on over 10,000 American public companies. The data is derived from six commercial online databases and held on four optical discs, new versions of which arrive monthly. The ‘ondisc’ database is searched using software supplied by Datext, Inc. and running on an IBM PC. Searching is menu‐based and designed with end‐users in mind. Datext menus, screen displays, and facilities for further processing of retrieved data (e.g. on spreadsheets) are described and illustrated. CD‐ROM ondisc searching is compared with traditional online searching, and the currency of information on Datext is discussed. It is concluded that while straightforward repackaging onto CD‐ROM of single online databases may not be attractive, ‘value‐added’ products such as Datext, which collate information from several sources and provide facilities for manipulation of the retrieved data, will be greatly valued in particular library situations.

The selection and evaluation of CD‐ROM disks are important steps in the planning of a CD‐ROM facility. The choice of databases depends upon, among other factors, the objectives of the library, the projected use of each disk, and financial considerations. In this article we review the literature that deals with these matters. We begin with what is available on disk selection, via both printed directories and in the journals. We next discuss reported methods of disk evaluation. Finally, we cover existing reviews of various CD‐ROM products.

Provides a bibliography of CD‐ROM for librarians, covering case studies, costs, product evaluation guidelines, databases, CDI, downloading/copyright and CD vs. online, for use when making decisions about the adoption of CD‐ROM.

The very large number of books at present being issued relating to, or connected with the War, conclusively shows to what a great extent the intellectual as well as the material strength of the nation is engrossed by the terrible struggle in which we are engaged. But without abating any of our own interest in the supreme events now taking place, we may well pause to remember that things will not always be thus, and consider carefully before we crowd our shelves with works that are in many cases of very ephemeral value.

The five principal management objectives of database management systems are discussed, as are the four basic criteria for comparing systems. Database management systems organized along hierarchies and networks are illustrated and compared to relational database systems, which are also illustrated. Backend processors, emphasizing database machines, are described as important means of improving database management system performance and of exploiting the potential of relational databases in particular.

The wastage that occurs owing to defective knowledge of the conditions affecting the quality of fruit carried in refrigerating chambers on board ship, and the attempts which are being made to solve the problems involved, formed the subject of a joint contribution to the Section of Engineering by Dr. Ezer Griffiths and Mr. Edgar A. Griffiths.

A visit last July to the American Library Association's annual conference in New York City proved both rewarding and frustrating. There was not enough time for the editor of this column to thoroughly inspect all the reference serials which were displayed—a mind‐numbing assortment of new and changing titles. In booth after booth, there were abstracts, indexes and bibliographic books and services worthy of consideration: Encyclopedia of Governmental Advisory Organizations (Gale Research), Principal International Businesses: 1974 (Dun & Bradstreet), Artbibliographies Modern (ABC‐Clio), Media Review Digest: 1973/74 (Pierian Press), Bulletin of Reprints (Verlag Dokumentation), International African Bibliography (Mansell), OTC Industrial Manual (Moody's), and International Bibliography, Information, Documentation (Bowker). H. W. Wilson distributed a brochure, “The Cataloging and Indexing Services of H. W. Wilson,” which had not been revised to reflect the creation of two services—Social Science Index and Humanities Index—form the Social Sciences & Humanities Index; but the first issue of each (June 1974) was displayed.