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A survey is presented of the use of unobtrusive testing techniques to measure reference enquiry answering performance, emphasising research carried out in Britain. British studies reveal similar performance figures to those obtained by American studies; the average succes rate here also being only about 55 per cent. Possible developments in the use of the techniques to aid user service research and management are suggested, and the limitations of unobtrusive testing methods are considered. The improvement of enquiry answering performance would seem to lie in better training of library staff in communication skills.

Developments in education for library and information studies at Manchester Polytechnic over the last eleven years are reviewed. Outside influences have included the impact of information technology, a growing awareness of the need to provide wider access to courses and the need to prepare new graduates for both the traditional library and information profession and posts in information management. Resources have been enhanced to support these developments. The Learning Resources Unit and Information Technology Unit came into being about ten years ago and have been developed so that they now represent an unrivalled facility. Developments in the department′s main courses are also reviewed.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on corporate communication issues that arise when a company offshores language-sensitive services to a country which does not have a workforce with the required language skills. It explores the consequences of adopting a total immersion policy and annual testing regime to build and maintain linguistic competence among the workforce, with regard to motivation, challenges and coping strategies.

The approach adopted was semi-structured interviews with management and employee representatives, interviewed separately. The interviews were transcribed and submitted to content analysis, supported by relevant company information.

The company’s language policy has generated a user environment where language proficiency is developed in corporate interaction, and where the workforce is motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Strategic decisions relating to language policy need to take the workforce’s input into account to discuss the testing regime with a view to test content and relevance.

The findings relate to a limited material of 6 interviews with 14 interviewees in total.

The paper focusses on how to strike a balance between developing the skills needed to perform job tasks and preparing for new more complex tasks without demotivating the workforce. The conclusion sets out managerial implications.

The paper contributes to understanding the dynamics of working in a multilingual context.

To the authors’ knowledge the specificities of offshoring of language-sensitive services with regard to motivation and coping strategies have not been explored previously. The fact that the services in question have to be carried out in a minor language and that a total immersion strategy has been adopted also represents something new.

Despite an increasing policy focus, routine outcome monitoring (ROM) is not common practice in UK children's services. This paper aims to examine whether it is feasible and valid to use measures from ROM of evidence-based parenting programmes (EBPPs) to assess the impact of services and to drive service improvements through feedback mechanisms.

This is a secondary analysis of ROM measures collected from a London clinic offering EBPPs over five years. Demographic information from referrals was compared for attendees and non-attendees. Changes in parent reported child behaviour were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

No significant differences were found in socio-demographic characteristics of attendees and non-attendees. Statistically significant differences were found between pre- and post-scores on parent reported SDQ scores and VAS concerns, as well as the SDQ Added Value Score. The data collected did not allow for investigation of a dose-response relationship between the level of attendance and any improvement made.

This study illustrates that ROM can provide useful information about the impact of EBPPs in a particular clinical context. Demographic data could support service managers to evaluate reach and uptake while evidence of improvements can be communicated back to parents and support future funding bids. Incomplete data limited the inferences that could be drawn, and collaborations between research centres and clinics may be a way to optimise the use of ROM to drive service improvement and innovation.

This paper explores the practice experience and dilemmas of being a social worker in a case management role. It draws on a case study taken from actual practice to highlight how social workers' training places them in an ideal position to smoothly manage the transitions that individuals and their families face. Permission of those involved has been sought and given, although names have been changed to protect confidentiality.The paper highlights how the fact that brain injury can be a ‘hidden disability’ can mean that its effects on both survivor and carers may be understated, with a consequent inadequate allocation of service provision and support.Support for those with brain injuries often comes from more than one statutory organisation and the challenges of managing and co‐ordinating this across organisational boundaries are discussed.

The role of the public reference library today is unclear. As a result there is a loss of purpose, staff are confused and collections are being weakened or broken up. Examines the history of the large urban reference libraries and the aims and motivations of their protagonists and early librarians. Concludes that many of these aims are still valid. The decline of the reference library coincides with the rise of information science, new service philosophies, and the weakening of public access to our printed heritage. Argues that there is a need to develop regional book and information centres, a need therefore for regional reference libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to review the current evidence base on barriers to inclusion and successful engagement of parents in mainstream preventive services.

Evidence was generated using a narrative review which uses different primary studies from which conclusions are produced into holistic interpretations. It provides an interpretative synthesis of findings based upon an exhaustive inclusion and exclusion criteria and systematic selection of literature.

The paper identifies barriers to successful engagement as: structural; social and cultural; and suspicion and stigma. In terms of successful engagement, it identifies personal relations between staff and service users, practical issues, service culture, consultation, information and targeting, service delivery, and community development and co-production approaches.

The paper demonstrates that the evidence base is limited and not adequately theoretically grounded. It argues for more research based within a pragmatic approach, which is more theoretically and epistemologically informed.

The paper demonstrates that more theoretically and epistemologically informed research needs to be addressed in order to design mainstream services on behalf of service practitioners and researchers.

Such an approach would assist policy makers and practitioners to develop interventions to reduce potential barriers and facilitate successful engagement and is grounded within users’ experiences. It would also reflect the complexity of working within a late modern environment, attend to the multiple needs of users, and address the complex layers intrinsic to the construction and reproduction of services, as well as widening the current evidence base.

The trend towards linking psychological research to problems of the librarian‐client interface is discussed. A more vigorous, scientific approach to these problems is recommended, using the methodology of the experimental psychologist. This methodology is explained; an example experiment then demonstrates the effect of ‘busyness’ of library staff on the frequency of approach by users. Librarians may be disillusioned by the inability of psychological research to produce simple and final answers to complex questions, but the experimental approach demonstrated should be adopted as a method of establishing a scientifically valid literature of librarian‐client behaviour.

Excellence at reference and enquiry work is not just a matter of staff training, but of selecting the right staff. One quality needed is general knowledge. The nature of this quality is considered and moves are outlined to build general knowledge testing into the selection procedures for reference library staff at Bradford.