P HAVARD‐WILLIAMS, RJ PRYTHERCH, ERIC STEVENS, TED GOODLIFFE, DORIS PALMER, MONICA HUMPHRIES and RL DAVIS
THE MIXED reaction to the proposal for a diploma of higher education appears to be based not on the qualities or defects of the curriculum for the diploma—for no‐one yet really…
Abstract
THE MIXED reaction to the proposal for a diploma of higher education appears to be based not on the qualities or defects of the curriculum for the diploma—for no‐one yet really knows what it is going to be—but on attitudes which relate not to educational problems, but to social or political assumptions. The great British public has never wanted to spend more than it must on education. Expenditure on universities was never questioned when it was a fraction of the budget: since it has been a significant figure, the government of the day, whatever its complexion, has sought to economise. The polytechnics were supposed to be cheaper than universities; four term years cheaper than three term years. Now it is two‐year diplomas that are cheaper than three or four year degrees. No‐one with experience of the various changes in educational policy made by successive governments can, it seems to me, be other than cynical about the educational motives of politicians in making changes in the educational system. The case for the introduction of a two‐year course for a diploma in higher education is that many students would prefer to undertake a shorter course, with the possibility of topping it up later to degree standard if they wish to do so. This is presumably one example of the current fashionable phrase ‘continuous education’. Bodies such as the AUT and some members of professional associations fear that the introduction of the diploma will lead to a reduction in standards in the education students receive. The AUT also thinks it will affect the salaries of teaching staff.
A READER kindly sent me a recent patent in which Xerox Corp claim a dramatic break through to prevent unauthorized photocopying. JANET SHAW of the Hertis industrial unit at…
Abstract
A READER kindly sent me a recent patent in which Xerox Corp claim a dramatic break through to prevent unauthorized photocopying. JANET SHAW of the Hertis industrial unit at Hatfield has summarized it for NLW:
THE new chief in our parish, the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in succession to S C Holliday is to be Melvyn Barnes, Chief Librarian of Ipswich in East Anglia for the…
Abstract
THE new chief in our parish, the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in succession to S C Holliday is to be Melvyn Barnes, Chief Librarian of Ipswich in East Anglia for the last couple of years. The Kensington post offers a spacious central library of recent vintage, with particularly good reference services, though an over‐preponderance of student pre‐emption of table space. There is a strong local history interest in the borough, keenly fostered by Chief Assistant Brian Curle. We use central ref a good deal and have always found them very helpful, though some of the branches are a shade parochial. We look to the youthful Mr Barnes to blow a little fresh air into the system, and hope his salary covers the difference between the cost of houses in London and Ipswich.
IN THE LIGHT of their subsequent close harmony, it is strange to recall that it was an impending royalty dispute between authors and publishers that provoked John Brophy's…
Abstract
IN THE LIGHT of their subsequent close harmony, it is strange to recall that it was an impending royalty dispute between authors and publishers that provoked John Brophy's article, ‘A proposal to increase authors' incomes through the libraries’ in the summer 1951 issue of The author. His premise was simple: the book trade, supporting printers, binders, publishers, book‐sellers and librarians, was conspicuously failing to support more than a small minority of authors upon whom all the others depended.
JOAN BUTLER, Organiser of Library Work with Young People at Hertfordshire County Library, spent a fortnight in April on a British Council‐sponsored visit to Jordan, lecturing and…
Abstract
JOAN BUTLER, Organiser of Library Work with Young People at Hertfordshire County Library, spent a fortnight in April on a British Council‐sponsored visit to Jordan, lecturing and advising on the development of school libraries and the training of teacher librarians.
CHAPLIN'S Modern Times depicted a harassed little worker who spent his days making a simple movement with a spanner on an assembly line. In any reshowing we laugh at him as the…
Abstract
CHAPLIN'S Modern Times depicted a harassed little worker who spent his days making a simple movement with a spanner on an assembly line. In any reshowing we laugh at him as the archetype of an outmoded era because many sections of industry know him no more. His descendants have escaped such drudgery and in the process ushered in a quiet revolution.