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AMIDST OTHER preoccupations, the Library Association is again considering its internal structure. A modified version of some of the proposals of the former Branch and Group Structure working party has been produced by an Ad Hoc Sub‐Committee chaired by Alex Howson. Your groans on hearing that ‘the structure’ is being trotted out for another airing are understandable.

Biography and autobiography are among the most heavily used elements of a public library's bookstock, but their dual functions as information sources and as general reading material create problems of classification and utilisation. Libraries need to acquire the classic works in the genre. Some features are discussed which may help to define the works of genuine and lasting quality: the objectivity of the biographer; the occupation and celebrity of the subject; the extent to which the biography relates the public and private lives of the “biographee”; and the originality of treatment.

This chapter reviews the literature to contextualize the intervention in the post–cold war era characterized by the momentum of globalization dominated by informal actors beside the legal authority of the state. It indicates how these actors deviate the primary purpose of the humanitarian intervention and create an ungovernable environment of the state particularly when interventions are operated in countries endowed with natural resources. The case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) serves as a model to ascertain such phenomenon in which actors such as states involved in intervention come in collusion with shadow elites, lobbyists and multinational companies to establish clandestine networks of illegal exploitation and smuggling of natural resources. The chapter winds up by suggesting the redefinition of policies of interventions to keep humanitarian intervention in its primary mission while holding actors involved in illegal and smuggling of natural resources accountable.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 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.

A unique data set, recording a representative sample of the acquisitions of public and academic libraries in the UK between 1980 and 1998, has been analysed for evidence of trends in acquisitions. Examination of acquisition date relative to publication date revealed public libraries buying little older material, and academic libraries increasing purchases of older titles. Paperback purchase by public libraries has risen, but remained more stable in academic libraries. Public library purchasing reflects current public interest in practical and hobby subjects, but in other areas levels of purchase are at variance with statistics of use. Academic library purchase is dominated by social science material, disproportionate to student numbers. Purchase price analysis suggests a trend to reliance on interlending to satisfy demand for more expensive titles. The findings raise questions about current acquisitions practice and the influence of publishers and suppliers; some further areas for work are identified.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

‘WHAT A novel arrangement. Is any reason given?’