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The National Library Service (NLS) produces about 2,000 talking books and 50 magazines per year on specially formatted cassette tape for free distribution to a readership of about 764,000. Cassettes and special players are delivered by US Postal Service from a network of 138 participating libraries. To control the cost of technical obsolescence and to meet patron and sponsor expectations, NLS will replace this analog system with a digital system over the next ten years.

The functionality, compatibility, and longevity planned for future digital talking books require clear, exact definitions of component format and content. NLS will achieve this by working with a diverse team of experts to establish an applicable standard. This article outlines the plan, describes progress, and indicates what further work is necessary to complete the standard.

From a one‐man outfit producing tanks for local domestic heating firms, Cookson and Zinn have capitalised on the offshore oil boom, specialising in storage tanks which major manufacturers were treating as a side line. Apart from some aggressive marketing, this Suffolk‐based company is convinced that its success stems mainly from a quality which is sadly lacking in much of industry — reliable delivery.

… Strange but true facts, number 7: Wandsworth is famous for more than its blue halo.

A brief history of image (page) processing is provided, followed by an explanation of certain basic parameters such as resolution, halftones and colour, the quantity of data in high quality pages, and the costs of storing and transmitting it. The article concludes with a note about the increasing power of microcomputers—now widely used for image processing. Although the article is about technology, it is not assumed that readers will be technologists. Certain terms which are often ‘taken as read’ are explained in some detail.

CONSCIOUS OF the problem and convinced of the case for public library involvement the Public Library Research Group decided in May of last year to set up a working party on adult illiteracy. They were encouraged in this by a growing concern about the implications for public librarians of the plans of various national bodies and the evidence of the profession's response to a number of short courses.

Power without authority is fragile; to be effective, leaders must appear to deserve their positions. This sense of legitimacy is the most important end product of going through Prep school. This sense of legitimacy is magnified by the sense of collective identity that Prep schools generate among their students, and much of the bonding process essential to upper‐class solidarity begins in this institution. This is the social glove that holds together the privileged classes, often at the expense of individuality but to the long‐term gain of upper‐class hegemony.