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BOOKS are among the greatest and most wonderful achievements of human genius, they are also a powerful means of struggle for progress. The book accompanies man all his life; it is a creation of his brain and soul. It reflects the life of mankind and is the result of collective efforts of author and publisher, type‐setter and illustrator. But foremost a book is always and everywhere a social and political phenomenon. One of the most apt evaluations of the book was given by V. I. Lenin in 1917, when he was known to state to A. V. Lunacharsky, “The book is a great force indeed”.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman, Miss E. M. R. Ditmas, who reminded those present that the Unesco/Library of Congress Bibliographical Survey had been in progress for some considerable time. It had been hoped that the survey would have been discussed at an international conference which the International Federation of Library Associations had planned to organize in the U.S.A. during the autumn of 1950. In preparation for this conference various documents had been prepared, notably the First and Second Interim Reports, compiled by Mrs. Kathrine O. Murra, which had been discussed by an Aslib meeting on 2nd December, 1949,1 and subsequently by various other British organizations. At the same time similar discussions were being held in other countries and, as a result, a modified survey, compiled by Mr. Verner Clapp, was prepared and circulated to the national bodies co‐operating with Unesco in the spring of 1950. When it became apparent that, for economic reasons, it would not be possible to hold this conference, Unesco organized a smaller meeting, which was held in Paris during November, 1950.

To date, many mainstream ILS practitioners and educationalists have ignored fan‐produced literature due to the inherently ephemeral nature of the material and the fact that the majority of the information is outside normal bibliographic control. The advent of the Internet has provided fans with a new forum to create and exchange information, much of which is unparalleled in its richness and depth. This material can enrich library collections, while the growing sub‐cultures of electronic fan information can benefit from the skills offered by information professionals. Using case studies, the paper illustrates the range and depth of fan information on the Net and proposes a model to enable information professionals to utilise and control the wealth of fan‐based literature that is now becoming visible. The paper concludes that information professionals should re‐examine the world of fan‐based literature in order to become better informed about the information seeking activities of potential library users and to use their existing expertise to make links between the world of fan literature, and the resources of public and academic libraries.

Several bibliographical citation systems are in regular use in scholarly literature, associated with various intellectual disciplines. The aim of this paper is to document an analysis of their designs in the biosciences in order to construct a classification and to assess their comparative effectiveness for information transfer.

A historical survey of communications between scholars, including the reasons why authors cite others' works, was completed. The development of citation systems, specifically the Harvard system and various numeric systems, was traced, following which a universal classification with a new descriptive terminology was constructed.

Citation systems are defined herein as direct (with citation and reference together in the text) or indirect (with citation within the text, and reference outside the text). Direct systems may be described as implicit (the Linnaean style with abbreviated, undated, conceptual reference) or explicit (with full, dated, bibliographical reference). All indirect systems are explicit: the text citation (the referens) may be alphabetic, symbolic, numeric or alphanumeric and the reference (the referendum) may be a marginal note, footnote or end reference. A survey of citation systems in 101 bioscience journals is presented. Within indirect systems, most biomedical journals use a numeric system, but most veterinary, zoological and general biological journals use the Harvard system, which is considered herein to be the most effective for information transfer.

No philosophical analysis of citation systems appears to have been carried out before. Based upon historical, conceptual and logical aspects, a robust universal classification with a new descriptive terminology is presented to facilitate the unambiguous discussion of the principles and designs of citation systems. The classification and terminology are applicable to citation systems in any discipline.

Bibliographical materials are often produced on a low budget and against a deadline, and the design of the material often does not adequately represent the structure of the information or facilitate its use. Two studies concerned with optimizing the effectiveness of design given certain practical constraints are reported here. In the first study, ten coding systems suitable for distinguishing between entries in typewritten bibliographies were tested. Subjects were given sections of author index typed in different styles, together with lists of authors' surnames to be found in the test material within a set time. The most effective system made a clear distinction between entries, and between the first element of each entry and the rest of the entry, by indentation. In the second study, the effectiveness of six spatial and three typographic coding systems for distinguishing between entries and between elements within entries in typeset bibliographies was tested for two different search tasks. In Experiment I, subjects were given lists of authors' surnames to find in the test material; in Experiment 2 they were given lists of titles. Spatial coding was more effective than typographic coding in Experiment 1; the reverse was true for Experiment 2. The most effective spatial coding systems in both experiments were those which clearly distinguished the start of each entry by line spacing or indentation. The use of capitals for authors' surnames was the most effective typographic coding system in Experiment 1; the use of bold for titles was the most effective in Experiment 2. The best compromise for both search tasks is likely to incorporate line spacing between entries with elements within entries running on, and bold titles.

Gives an overview of the current diverse user education scene in academic libraries. Discusses why libraries carry out user education and the arguments for and against. Describes the different forms of user education covering library orientation, bibliographic instruction, information skills teaching, on‐line instruction and course‐related instruction, and instructional methods and their appropriateness to different situations. Offers guidance on how to go about setting up a programme of user education from the planning stage to the evaluation of the programme.

This paper outlines the proposals for alteration to the present proposed Standard and presents an alternative ‘Standard’ together with an example of the application of this Standard to the present British MARC record structure. The main aims of these alterations are:

As a new century approaches, the evolving global village becomes difficult to ignore. More than ever before, the United Nations will act as both universal meeting hall and clearinghouse. Consequently, information from and about the United Nations has potential instructional and research value to a wide variety of information professionals and their patrons. For many research topics, an international perspective will enhance the information‐gathering process. Reference librarians should take advantage of this perspective whenever possible, using or referring patrons to intergovernmental organization (IGO) information. This article is intended to serve as a collection development guide to sources of United Nations information and thus help librarians attempting to cope with the lack of bibliographical control over United Nations materials.

The broader context in the last twenty years awareness of the information and documentation problems of the social sciences has grown, but almost as if by stealth. During that period there have been significant developments for practice, organization and research in social science information, but knowledge of these has remained largely confined to small groups of specialists closely associated with them. In the main it has been library and information developments in science and technology that have captured the interest and attention of the majority of professionals and specialists as such: for example, the development of computer‐based citation indexes; the introduction of the computer database as a successor to the printed secondary journal; the development of online search facilities and associated software and retrieval techniques; the exploitation of telecommunications and computers to create new information technology, leading to alternative means of interpersonal communication, the possibilities of electronic journals and a vision of the paperless society. This situation is hardly surprising since science and technology provide the productive base for advanced societies.

I HAVE TRIED TO SHOW on a previous occasion (L.A.R. August, 1956) that successful book provision results from the integration of three factors which govern individual reader transactions, namely, readers, books and accessibility.