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FROM 5th to 8th October, 1951, Aslib was fortunate in holding its Annual Conference again at Ashorne Hill, near Leamington Spa, and our thanks are due for the third time to Colonel and Mrs. J. H. Alexander and their staff for the excellence of the catering and domestic arrangements. The weather also co‐operated and sunshine displayed all the autumn beauties of the garden and countryside.

Thisissue of Aslib Proceedings is mainly devoted to papers presented at the 24th Annual Conference, held at Ashorne Hill, near Learnington Spa, Warwickshire, from 9 to 11 September, 1949. In addition, we have pleasure in printing the annual report and accounts of the British Union Catalogue of Periodicals.

This issue of Aslib Proceedings is mainly devoted to papers presented at the 24th Annual Conference, held at Ashorne Hill, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, from 9 to 11 September, 1949. In addition, we have pleasure in printing the annual report and accounts of the British Union Catalogue of Periodicals.

In his thesis entitled ‘Managing the Flow of Scientific and Technological Information’ Professor T.J. Allen of MIT was able to show that patterns of information usage could be derived by various means such as the use of questionnaires, and by observations made among the scientists and technologists during their work in R & D establishments in the USA—and by the study of parallel projects in which two or more R&D groups work on the same problem, he was able to relate these patterns to the performance of the scientific personnel engaged on that problem.

The term ‘obsolescence’ occurs frequently in the literature of librarianship and information science. In numerous papers we are told how most published literature becomes obsolete within a measurable time, and that an item receives half the uses it will ever receive (‘half‐life’) in a few years. ‘Obsolescence’ is however very rarely defined, and its validity, interest, and practical value are often assumed rather than explained. Before reviewing studies on ‘obsolescence’, therefore, it is necessary to look at the concept and to identify the reasons why it should be of interest.

The records of technical inquiries collected at Thornton over the last ten years have been surveyed with the object of deriving useful information from them.

Aslib Council 1957–58. Mr. Austen Albu, M.P. for Edmonton, and Mr. F. Willey, M.P. for Sunderland North, have both agreed to serve as co‐opted members of the Council for the current year.

A survey of inquiries addressed to the Information Office of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Harwell, is described. The objects of the survey were to collect facts about such inquiries, the work involved and methods used in answering them, and the nature of the answers obtained; to discover useful generalizations from these facts and to apply relevant generalization to the improvement of the information service at Harwell.

Thornton, the largest of the ‘Shell’ Research Centres in the United Kingdom, is about eight miles north of Chester. It occupies a forty‐five‐acre site and its purpose is research on oil products. Particular stress is laid on maintaining contact with manufacturers and consumers. In ensuring the successful development of new products, Thornton devotes considerable effort to the study of the fundamental phenomena involved in the performance of petroleum products.

Since Bernal made his pilot survey of the use of scientific literature for the 1948 Royal Society Scientific Information Conference, at least three dozen other investigations have been reported of the needs of scientists and engineers for information, of their information gathering habits, and the use to which they put information.