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The term ‘obsolescence’ occurs frequently in the literature of librarianship and information science. In numerous papers we are told how most published literature becomes obsolete within a measurable time, and that an item receives half the uses it will ever receive (‘half‐life’) in a few years. ‘Obsolescence’ is however very rarely defined, and its validity, interest, and practical value are often assumed rather than explained. Before reviewing studies on ‘obsolescence’, therefore, it is necessary to look at the concept and to identify the reasons why it should be of interest.

In recent years, a wide range of psychosocial health interventions have been implemented among military service members and their families. However, there are questions over the evaluative rigor of these interventions. We conducted a systematic review of this literature, rating each relevant study (k = 111) on five evaluative rigor scales (type of control group, approach to participant assignment, outcome quality, number of measurement time points, and follow-up distality). The most frequently coded values on three of the five scales (control group type, participant assignment, and follow-up distality) were those indicating the lowest level of operationally defined rigor. Logistic regression results indicate that the evaluative rigor of intervention studies has largely remained consistent over time, with exceptions indicating that rigor has decreased. Analyses among seven military sub-populations indicate that interventions conducted among soldiers completing basic training, soldiers returning from combat deployment, and combat veterans have had, on average, the greatest evaluative rigor. However, variability in mean scores across evaluative rigor scales within sub-populations highlights the unique methodological hurdles common to different military settings. Recommendations for better standardizing the intervention evaluation process are discussed.

My terms of reference when asked to prepare this review of user studies were to bring Fishenden's work up to date. This was published in the Journal of Documentation in September 1965 and in his paper he looks at a limited number of British use studies and draws some broad general conclusions relating to the development of a national information service. The present paper which covers the literature back to the beginning of 1966 is somewhat more detailed. It considers a wide range of investigations into the information gathering habits of scientists, engineers, social scientists and others, and reports results which it is hoped will provide managers with information on which to develop policies regarding library and information services at all levels. Although an increasing number of studies is being carried out in Eastern Europe and in the USSR there has been no major work reported and consequently the review considers mainly British and American investigations.

WOOD AND CORROSION. Wood is one of the oldest materials used in the defence against corrosive substances—in this capacity it is an old‐timer in the chemical industry's structural materials. Corrosion occurring with wood as the medium stimulating attack is not as familiar, but it is a subject requiring increasing study by the Forest Products Research Laboratory. This centre's 1955 Report (obtainable from H.M.S.O., pp. 70, 4s. 6d. net) reveals that some 15% of the year's chemical enquiries concerned the corrosion of metal parts in wood/metal assemblies. Investigations are in progress on aluminium corrosion in wood, and a wide range of experiments covers most of the combinations of three types of aluminium sheet or plate, ten species of wood, and three classes of wood preservative. But indications of the causes of corrosion have not yet been given.

EVERY librarian in his inmost heart dislikes newspapers. He regards them as bad literature; attractors of undesirable readers; a drain upon the limited resources of the library; and a target against which the detractors of public libraries are constantly battering. From the standpoint of the librarian, newspapers are the most expensive and least productive articles stocked by a library, and their lavish provision is, perhaps, the most costly method of purchasing waste‐paper ever devised. Pressure of circumstances and local conditions combine, however, to muzzle the average librarian, and the consequence is that a perfectly honest and outspoken discussion of the newspaper question is very rarely seen. In these circumstances, an attempt to marshal the arguments for and against the newspaper, together with some account of a successful practical experiment at limitation, may prove interesting to readers of this magazine.

State environmental agencies have been organized independently with a variety of structural schemes, and are responsible for the bulk of administration of federal environmental policy, such as the Clean Air Act. Using statistical models of air quality outcomes, this research compares three competing typologies for capturing agency differences: Ringquist (1993b), Lester (1990), and Wilson (1989). The findings indicate the most commonly used measure of organization, Ringquist (1993b), may be the weakest in comparison. Additionally, both Lester (1990) and Wilson (1989) show interesting advantages in comparison to each other. The findings provide some interesting insights into the difficult task of measuring organization.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.