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Describes a research project aiming to develop models to facilitate co‐operative initiatives and partnership arrangements which will improve the identification and collection of local publications under legal deposit and the coverage of these publications in the BNB. Underlines the importance of locally‐held collections and outlines the concept of “the national published archive”. Argues the need for a review of, and changes to, legal deposit, highlighting the need for greater co‐operation between the legal deposit libraries and others, whilst noting existing co‐operation. Maintains that the success of any distributed national published archive will depend upon a co‐operative approach, between the legal deposit libraries themselves and other information providers at local and regional levels. Above all, any new arrangements must be sustainable – able to withstand, for instance, future local or regional reorganisations of the kind recently experienced, and properly funded.

A citation study was carried out on all 217 academics who teach in UK library and information science schools. These authors between them received 622 citations in Social Scisearch for articles they had published between 1988 and the present. The results were ranked by department, and compared to the ratings awarded to the departments in the 1992 Universities Funding Council Research Assessment Exercise. Using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation coefficient, it was found that there is a statistically significant correlation between the numbers of citations received by a department in total, or the average number of citations received in the department per academic, and the Research Assessment Exercise rating. The paper concludes that this provides further independent support for the validity of citation counting, even when using just the first authors as a search tool for cited references. The paper also concludes that the cost and effort of the Research Assessment Exercise may not be justified when a simpler and cheaper alternative, namely a citation counting exercise, could be undertaken. The paper also concludes that the University of North London would probably have benefitted from being included in the 1992 Research Assessment Exercise.

Describes historical development of the School Library Services in England and Wales prior to discussing responses to the Education Reform Act 1988. In a more business‐oriented culture and concerned with the survival of their services, managers are seeking to innovate and to introduce strategic planning and marketing practices. Discusses a survey of the particular responses of a number of local authorities.

Analyses marketing strategies relevant to public library managers at a time of change in the reviewing of public library services with reference to a material questionnaire and case‐study investigation of public library and leisure services marketing. Targeting and the role of marketing in library services were of particular concern.

The development of international marketing principles and practices in UK universities is considered with specific reference to a study of two institutions. First there is an outline of how a marketing approach has emerged in relation to overseas students. Then the way in which clients′ needs are assessed; the development of an appropriate marketing mix; and the management of marketing operations are appraised.

It is proposed that university education for library and information professionals has become less autonomous in character and more systematised. A triangular model which describes a dynamic tension between professors, students and the state is developed by further analysis of the state and higher education: the public sector context, the teaching and learning environment in universities, students and the market and the impact of cognate disciplines. It is concluded that despite the pressures within the higher education system, academics have had an important role in developing the information and library studies field and will continue to be significant.

Professional education in the library and information sector has only provided for first qualification level: through undergraduate and postgraduate programmes which meet the criteria required for accreditation by professional bodies (including the Library Association, Institute of Information Scientists, British Computer Society). The management curriculum within such programmes has offered knowledge and skills relevant to earlier perceptions of the needs of first professional posts, with middle and senior managers lacking substantial information‐sector‐ specific programmes to meet their needs for advanced education and training. Two British Library sponsored short courses provided a model which stimulated the development of the Loughborough MBA (Information and Library Management) programme, offered jointly by Loughborough University's Business School and Department of Information and Library Studies. This flexible, part‐time, advanced masters degree, ‘badged’ for the LIS sector, also provides intensive short‐course opportunities for UK and overseas participants.

The article considers methodological issues which arose in undertaking a two‐year British Library funded research project – Assessment Tools for Quality Management in Public Libraries – jointly managed by the Department of Information Science, Loughborough University and the Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University and discusses the principal findings. The aim of the research was to assess the potential of and then to develop and evaluate self‐assessment techniques for the public library and information sector. The authors argue that by using an action research methodology they were best able to produce a self‐assessment toolkit which matched the needs of public library services. Using evidence drawn from three case study library authorities and the literature, the authors go on to suggest that whilst self‐assessment can have a role to play in the evaluation of library and information services, there is a real need to tailor and adapt tools to reflect specific service cultures and experience.

Quality figures large in the lexicon of today′s management. And so it should. For many, however, the use of buzzwords such as “commitment to quality” can suggest a case of all form and no content. Suggestion schemes, properly constituted and managed, offer real opportunities to achieve employee involvement and empowerment, key elements of quality management. Rewards need not be large, but the benefits in terms of motivation and increased employee morale can be considerable. Offers a model scheme for consideration, adapted from the commercial sector in both the United Kingdom and South Africa; it is suggested for use in the library and information sector.

Reports on research conducted in the UK into the impact of information use on decision making in the pharmaceuticals industry. The results help library and information service managers to better understand the information needs of their clients.