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In South Australia, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) was the first health library to commit itself to e‐journals in a significant way. The experience of becoming an electronic library has been closely intertwined with the growth of the South Australian Human Services Libraries Consortium and the trend towards electronic library resources. Between 1999 and 2000 TQEH cancelled all print journals where electronic access was readily available. This paper examines the experiences, benefits, pitfalls, lessons learned and outcomes of committing to electronic resources in TQEH over the last four years and looks at where the future lies for electronic delivery in TQEH.

LIBRARIANS in Britain stand at the threshold of great possibilities. Having passed through the ages of the ecclesiastical library, the rich collector's private library, the academic institutional library, and the rate‐supported public library—all general libraries —they have reached the age of the special library. The next will be that of the co‐ordinated, co‐operative library service.

Information and communication in times of war is an area that has been much written about, but one which has not often been treated as a topic in its own right from an information science perspective. The national liberation struggles of the second half of the 20th century offer possibilities for the development of an information and communication model, incorporating data on a range of covert and overt information and communication activities by both sides in the conflict. The model takes account of such activities as scouting, secret communication, propaganda, misinformation campaigns, censorship, intelligence gathering and collating, and other aspects of information‐related activity. It offers a capacity to structure this knowledge, indicates gaps and concentrations in activity, and permits audit and assessment of information‐related activity in the struggle. It is intended to be capable of providing perspectives on information warfare in other contexts, although this aspect is not explored here.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a nuanced interpretative frame that can help global managers with recommendations to avoid misapplied power with group and organizational situations.

Embodied metaphor is applied in analysis of the theory-praxis nexus to reconceive the bases, processes and resources associated with group and organizational power. Identified are patterns of relations in organizational bases and circuits of power, as expressed through literal and symbolic aspects of human hands and fingers. The paper does not revolve around gesticulations; instead focusing upon a novel, meta-cultural development of touchlines of the human hand, revealing conceptual relationships with the implementation of influence.

A differentiated understanding of the touchline powers of technology, information, self-awareness, relation to others and access to money can respectively improve decisions and actions. Insights are provided in the areas of controlling people to achieve objectives, demeaning others, managing change and resistance for personal gain, negotiating contracts, advancing personal interests and coordinating reward or punishment.

Choosing one metaphor may contribute to the exclusion of other perspectives, however, the embodied nature of the hand and touchlines tends to cross cultures and may assist further research to address the embedded nature of abuses of organizational power.

The contribution is in the theory-praxis nexus to assist global managers in addressing the risk of potential misuse of power and influence in organizations and to respond to calls for ancient indigenous epistemological systems to assume a role in contemporary management studies.