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This paper examines a user categorisation of documents related to a particular literary work. Fifty study participants completed an unconstrained sorting task of documents related to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas carol. After they had finished the sorting task, participants wrote descriptions of the attributes they used to create each group. Content analysis of these descriptions revealed categories of attributes used for grouping. Participants used physical format, audience, content description, pictorial elements, usage, and language most frequently for grouping. Many of the attributes participants used for grouping already exist in bibliographic records and may be used to cluster records related to works automatically in online catalogue displays. The attributes used by people in classifying or grouping documents related to a work may be used to guide the design of summary online catalogue work displays.

In light of the contemporary UK policy framework elevating neo-mutualism and communitarian ethics within social policy, the purpose of this paper is to report on the delivery of an EU project Older People for Older People that tested the proposition that older people in remote and rural communities can contribute to providing services for others in their age group through the creation of sustainable social enterprises – either in “co-production” with statutory public service providers or as new, stand-alone services.

In the context of a literature based theoretical exploration of the nature of “sustainability”, the paper reports on a series of rural community “case study” social enterprises (e.g. community transport schemes, care hubs, cafés and a radio station; “drop in” and outreach services (including alternative therapies and counselling); ITC training, helping, and friendship schemes; volunteering support and history and culture projects).

From this, the authors highlight both conducive and problematic circumstances that are intrinsic to community led social enterprise and suggest that sustainability is unlikely to be “spontaneous”. Rather, it will require a complex mix of supportive inputs that is at odds with the innate liberalism of entrepreneurship. The authors also offer a more nuanced conceptualisation of sustainability that moves beyond a simple economic or temporal notion and suggest that the “success” of social enterprises, their worth and sustainability, must be assessed in more multifaceted terms. The authors conclude by reflecting on the nature of this ground in the wider context of the “Big Society” movement in the UK and highlight the inherent tension between “Big Society” rhetoric, the support needed to establish and sustain localised social enterprises, and the expected agency of communities.

The paper is original in three respects: it develops an in-depth empirical consideration of social enterprise sustainability; it does this within a broad policy and theoretical context; and it specifically looks at social enterprise development and delivery in relation to older people and rural contexts.

SINCE THEY ARE now in possession of a modest amount of my own money each year, it was with more attention than I have devoted in the past to its predecessors that I studied the Library Association's balance‐sheet as at December 31 1979, which is printed in the June issue of the Record.

Talking Newspaper Enterprises Ltd of Unit 3, Station Road Industrial Estate, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 8DB (04352–5422) offers public libraries an important new service of potentially great advantage to visually impaired and print handicapped people. This organisation is a wholly‐owned subsidiary of the national charity Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom, which already sends out taped versions of national newspapers and magazines by post to people with impaired vision who pay a nominal annual subscription. The new scheme makes 90‐minute cassettes of recordings available to public libraries at only 75p each and these cassettes can be lent free to “readers”. Copyright clearance has been negotiated. Daniela Bayfield, the General Manager, will send a list of the very wide range of papers and magazines regularly recorded and full details of the service to any interested librarian. There is also a free information cassette but this is really not worth bothering with as it only says in words what is written on the descriptive sheets and list of journals. East Sussex County Library is currently conducting a pilot study to assess the likely demand for the service, with 19 titles, selected from the 100 or more available, supplied to 21 branches and central libraries throughout the county.