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The Milk Marketing Boards were established in 1933 in order to ensure a regular collection of milk from farmers and a reliable delivery of milk to customers. They perfected a distribution system which proved its worth in the Second World War by ensuring an essential supply of milk under difficult circumstances. In 1993, the Government proposed that the English Milk Marketing Board should become a voluntary co‐operative with the title Milk Marque. This would make its own arrangements for the collection of milk from farmers and would compete with dairy companies such as Nestle and Northern Foods as farmers would be able to make their own arrangements over milk collection and milk products. The new system was to be in place by 1 April. Because of objections, any decisions have been postponed until 1 October or beyond.

Mallorca, one of the islands in the Balearics, Spain, has undergone a revitalization in the last few years with a programme to update its tourist facilities. One result has been a determined revival of traditional customs and food. This has provided visitors with a wider choice of food as well as encouraging more restaurants to serve Mallorcan dishes. Many of these are suitable for vegetarians or are being adapted to vegetarian taste. Describes and comments on these dishes and notes the influence of earlier cultures, in particular that of the Moors, on them. The result is that discerning visitors can eat a far more nutritional diet than they expected.

The government has recently published a National Food Guide poster, The Balance of Good Health and a published programme The Health of the Nation. These have aroused controversy, mainly because of the way in which they were published and the detail given. British newspaper reports were hostile and the public displayed scepticism. The public would welcome advice on eating habits but are against coercion which restricts freedom of choice. Advice needs to be given on how to eat well and in a healthy manner by enjoying food, not by prescription.

Using the Internet for electronic business has become an area of action for the Australian government. This paper presents research results from two regional areas, which indicate that while most manufacturing SMEs use e‐mail, very few are involved in electronic commerce activities. Major barriers are concern about security and privacy of transactions, cost of consultants, and lack of IT expertise of staff. Employing people with appropriate knowledge has been added to current training methods such as on‐the‐job training. Results from the two regional areas are found to be consistent. Comparisons between small and medium organisations highlight some differences.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

A WEEK or two ago The Municipal Journal, in chronicling the opening of new libraries at Barrow and Bethnal Green, expressed the opinion that libraries “were having a new lease of life.” The phrase is a curious one, as we were not aware that libraries were in a state of senility, although we were vividly aware of their imperfections. It is, nevertheless, true that there has been unwonted library activity of late, and library matters now receive some real attention in the public press. The latter may be due in some measure to the recent publicity campaign of the Library Association. Still, that does not account for the fact that many places, hitherto not quite awake to the value of libraries, are now asking about them, as Sutton, Weymouth, Marylebone, Coulsoon and Purley, while others are pressing for development, especially in the direction of Children's Libraries.