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At the beginning of the 1970s it became apparent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that the use of computers for information work merited serious consideration. We had taken part in investigations which indicated that the technology was well developed and reliable. We knew that large scale commercial services were available. What we did not know was the real value of these external services to the Ministry. All the databases concerned were derived from very familiar printed secondary journals. Did mechanized operation offer substantial advantages? Was the cost justified? How could mechanized operations fit into the present library activities? If the use of computers did offer improved facilities, what administrative arrangements were necessary? It was decided, therefore, to attempt to answer these questions by the evaluation of external computer‐based bibliographic information services under practical conditions.

To investigate the value of externally available computer‐based bibliographic retrieval services in agriculture, 100 retrospective searches in response to real requests for information were carried out by computer. Seventy‐five of these were paralleled using conventional manual methods and the results were analysed and compared for efficiency, cost and staff time required. The databases most frequently used were CAIN (now AGRICOLA), BIOSIS and Chemical Abstracts Condensates (searched online using Lockheed Dialog), and Medline. Online searches took one‐sixth of the staff time required for manual searching and cost much the same. Online searches tended to have higher relative recall and lower precision than manual searches of the same database. The differences in performance are due to the different entry points available in the printed and machine‐readable forms of a database. Detailed knowledge of these will enable a choice to be made of the more efficient method of searching when both manual and online searching of a database is possible. Online searches were well received by users and their use could increase the output of library and information staff engaged in retrospective searching.

During the beginning of the 1970s it became apparent to the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's library service that the mechanized information revolution was upon us. We had taken part in a number of investigations which indicated that the technology was well developed and reliable. We knew, in addition, that large‐scale commercial services were available. What we did not know was what the real value of these external services was to the Ministry. They were all derived from very familiar printed secondary journals. Did mechanized operation offer substantial advantages? Was the cost justified? How could mechanized operations fit into the present library activities? If mechanized services did offer improved facilities, what administrative arrangements were necessary? It was decided, therefore, to attempt to answer these questions by the evaluation of external computer‐based bibliographic information services under practical conditions.

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

Bibliography of Agriculture with Subject Index. Vol. 1‐ ; 1942‐ . Monthly. Annual subscription rate: $245.00 for 12 issues, plus postage ($12.00 U.S., all others $14.50); individual issue, $20.00, plus $ 1.25 for postage and handling. Data provided by National Agricultural Library; Published by Oryx Press, 3930 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, Arizona 85018. LC 63–24851. Coden: BAGRA. ISSN 0006–1530.

This paper aims to highlight recent resources on information literacy (IL) and library instruction, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and IL published in 2015.

This paper provides information about each source, describes the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain either unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and IL.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The aim was to prove the efficacy of the five cooperative learning elements applied in English classrooms and to demonstrate how effective they were to develop social skills in students.

The qualitative approach allowed to analyse the data in order to determine the benefits of using these elements which help students to create a good rapport among them and do more productive activities to retain the knowledge. The instruments were Cooperative Learning Activity Planning Template that included 20 major steps in designing and assessing a cooperative learning activity designed by Susan Johnston. Additionally, rubrics that included the cooperative learning elements: face-to-face (promotive) interaction, positive interdependence, individual accountability, group processing and collaborative skills were necessary to assess students' accomplished tasks.

Furthermore, when students played different roles, they attained their goal and did cooperative tasks more productively. All mentioned above enables Ecuadorian educational institutions to include better teaching methods and provokes consciousness of students' accomplishment towards their goals.

In the beginning, some constraints were presented; students did not have a clear idea about the main difference between group work and cooperative work. However, once they were aware of cooperative learning elements, they did incorporate them appropriately in each assigned activity which allowed them to obtain better results. Another limitation referred to master students who did not always provide learners with constant monitoring when they were working on cooperative activities; they simply believed that strong students could help the rest in the group if there was any inconvenience with the task, taking this situation for granted.

The originality of this study is reflected in the results obtained in the final product students presented since they used the elements in a more effective way to build social skills and achieve higher grades.

Organisations are facing enormous changes in the demographic composition of the workforce. Racial groups that have traditionally been professionally isolated from one another are working together as more minorities are assimilated into the workforce (Lewan, 1990). The Hudson Institute's Workforce 2000 statistics project that women, minorities, and immigrants will soon make up the majority of new entrants into the American workforce (Johnston & Packer, 1987). This diversity brings numerous racial and cultural differences into corporations. As a result, managing diversity increasingly appears on the agendas of organisational leaders (Cox & Blake, 1991).

The purpose of this paper is to identify research themes in service operations that have great potential for exciting and innovative conceptual and empirical work. To frame these research themes, the paper provides a systematic literature review of operations articles published in the Journal of Service Management (JOSM). The thorough review of published work in JOSM and proposed research themes are presented in hopes that they will inspire impactful research on service operations. These themes are further developed in a companion paper, “Service operations: what’s next?” (Field et al., 2018).

The JOSM Service Operations Expert Research Panel conducted a Delphi study to generate research themes where leading-edge research on service operations is being done or has yet to be done. Nearly 700 articles published in JOSM from its inception through 2016 were reviewed and classified by discipline focus. The subset of service operations articles was then further categorized according to the eight identified research themes plus an additional category that primarily represented traditional manufacturing approaches applied in service settings.

From the Delphi study, the following key themes emerged: service supply networks, evaluating and measuring service operations performance, understanding customer and employee behavior in service operations, managing servitization, managing knowledge-based service contexts, managing participation roles and responsibilities in service operations, addressing society’s challenges through service operations, and the operational implications of the sharing economy. Based on the literature review, approximately 20 percent of the published work in JOSM is operations focused, with earlier articles predominantly applying traditional manufacturing approaches in service settings. However, the percentage of these traditional types of articles has been steadily decreasing, suggesting a trend toward dedicated research frameworks and themes that are unique to the design and management of services operations.

The paper presents key research themes for advancing conceptual and empirical research on service operations. Additionally, a review of the past and current landscape of operations articles published in JOSM offers an understanding of the scholarly conversation so far and sets a foundation from which to build future research.