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This article features a number of reviews from A Perfect Vacuum by Stanlslaw Lem. These reviews, of non‐existent books, concern various aspects of reading, knowledge‐seeking and related epistemological issues. Through this bizarre literary device, Lem is able to raise a number of extreme, absurd and otherwise mind‐boggling ideas, somewhat in the surrealist style of Jorge Luís Borges. The reader is challenged to look afresh at traditional presuppositions and conventional wisdom. Such inspirational writing is a rare tonic.

Against a background of rapidly developing technology and changing social attitudes, there are many different ways of regarding enquiry work. This article focuses on the problem of characterising information and enquiry work, how it relates to traditional reference work, and how it is adapting to the Internet. Issues of co‐operation and government policy are briefly considered.

The role of the public reference library today is unclear. As a result there is a loss of purpose, staff are confused and collections are being weakened or broken up. Examines the history of the large urban reference libraries and the aims and motivations of their protagonists and early librarians. Concludes that many of these aims are still valid. The decline of the reference library coincides with the rise of information science, new service philosophies, and the weakening of public access to our printed heritage. Argues that there is a need to develop regional book and information centres, a need therefore for regional reference libraries.