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Winston Churchill once wrote: ‘It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.’ An educated man would, no doubt, remember that passage from his reading of Churchill's My early life. I culled it from a dictionary of quotations.

THIS is the time of the year when, with the strong opening of the Spring publishing season, librarians take a review of matters which definitely concern books. There is a cant saying amongst certain eager librarians that their colleagues are too concerned with technical matters and too little, if at all, concerned with books. There may have been isolated cases of this kind, but it is merely untrue to say that the average librarian is not concerned, deeply and continuously, with the literary activity of his day. It is well that men should live in their own time and be thoroughly interested in the work of new writers. There is danger that exclusive occupation with them may lead to an unbalanced view of the book world. If one judged from the criticisms that occasionally appear in our contemporaries, one would suppose that the only books that mattered were the authentic fiction of the day, and by authentic is meant the books which go beyond average contemporary thought and conventions. Librarianship, however, is concerned with all books of all subjects and of all time. This note is merely a prelude to a number of THE LIBRARY WORLD which deals mainly with literature and with reading. Here we return again to the perennial fiction question.

Where do all the management theories and fads come from? Why are they so different and constantly changing. This paper develops a comprehensive and dynamic cognitive formwork from an understanding of the formulations of Aquinas, Lonergan, Jung, Weber and the Enneagram. The synthesis is new and goes beyond each of the sources to present a more systematic and useable JEWAL synthesis formwork. First, the neo‐platonic hierarchical structure of triadic unity is identified as a particularly pertinent and effective differentiation of reality. Second, whereas the neo‐platonists developed their hierarchical construction of reality from a meta‐physical viewpoint as emanations from the ultimate unity, later philosophers explained the differentiation of consciousness principally by working in the reverse direction. Third, the paper explains the process of learning in terms of the cognitive procession through the layered levels of differentiated consciousness. Fourth, an explanation follows as to how this cognitive formwork can be used to explain a character typology based on the differentiation of consciousness – one that finds expression in a typology commonly known as the Enneagram. Fifth, the JEWAL synthesis formwork is presented as a comprehensive framework in which to understand human governance and social action. More broadly, the paper discusses the significance for the social sciences of achieving such a synthesis of ideas within this new formwork – a synthesis between the Western developed philosophy, which runs through the work of Aquinas, Lonergan, Weber and Jung, and the Eastern physio‐psychological wisdom encapsulated in the Enneagram typology. In conclusion, the paper attempts to bring it all together in an answer to the questions underpinning the paper; namely, what does it mean to know and how do we make sense of those voices that speak out of that knowing.

The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible alternatives. We need the vision and the courage to aim for the highest level of technology attainable for the widest possible use in both industry and services. We need financial arrangements that will encourage people to invent themselves out of work. Our goal, the article argues, must be the reduction of human labour to the greatest extent possible, to free people for more enjoyable, creative, human activities.

IT WAS in the mid‐1970s when, having been in the habit for a year or so previously of commenting on public library authorities' annual reports in a partially analytical manner, I observed a decline in the arrival of the same in my post. A decline which has been maintained, I may add, and which has led me to the conclusion that, while it is OK on the sender's part if I remark how splendid has his service been, he would nevertheless be happier if the ammunition was withheld for me to observe that his annual loans cost x‐pence more each than those of such‐and‐such an authority!

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether China's exports can effectively improve the global competitiveness of other BRICS countries' exports from the perspective of intra-BRICS export trade.

This paper extends the multinational trade model and analyzes the mechanism of the technological upgrading effect from the perspective of dynamic general equilibrium theory. In addition, this paper uses the export panel data of 217 products with three-digit SITC codes from China to other BRICS member countries from 2000 to 2016 and constructs a dynamic empirical model for parameter estimation.

The results show that China's exports to other BRICS member countries can effectively promote the technological improvement of other BRICS member countries' export products. In particular, the formal establishment of the BRICS organization in 2010 has significantly improved the efficiency of China's export technology optimization.

In the background of the prevalence of anti-globalization and the proliferation of protectionism, this paper proves that the deepening of trade cooperation between other BRICS members with China can help optimize their own international trade competitiveness and allow China's development dividend to benefit more countries and people.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical analysis of the commonly projected visions on the future of built environment, focusing on transformative research. The primary question is will the construction sector be able to make the projected transformative leap even if the history of technology adoption in construction suggests otherwise? And, what role can academic research play?

This paper is based on a reflective research and qualitative review of academic articles, white papers and reported projections for the future of construction. The reflections are based on discussions with colleagues and students, including thought experiments.

There is a general agreement across various sources about the key technical and social drivers for the future of construction. However, these projections seem to be emanating from industry insiders, and more diversity and creativity is needed in exploring alternative possibilities.

The paper should be useful for researchers in assessing their research strategy, especially those aiming to focus on the future of construction and transformative research. The findings of this paper suggest the need for collaboration and explorations with diverse disciplines, including those that may not appear immediately connected to digital construction.

The paper should be useful for individuals and organizations, especially start-ups that are seeking novel opportunities to disrupt the future of construction.

The originality and value of this research lies in a timely critique of the commonly projected trends in the future of digital construction. The use of reflective research and thought experiments emphasizes the need for divergent thinking and creative research methods in construction research.