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The purpose of this paper is to understand what sales management practices (SMPs) are being used by managers in the current market place, changes over time, insights that can be gained and future research needs.

Data for this paper were collected via a cross-sectional internet-based survey using a sampling frame provided by a professional sales publication. ANOVA was used to analyze 159 sales manager respondents.

Empirical results indicate that several differences are evident across the 68 SMPs items gathered, especially in terms of the size of the sales force and establish some data on using technology in sales management. However, in spite of significant changes in the sales environment, many SMPs have had limited change.

The limitations of this paper include a sample frame drawn from a single source and via the internet and, thus, may have excluded some possible respondents from participation and somewhat limit generalizability.

The results of this paper raise a number of important issues for sales managers to consider. First, which SMPs should they be using? Managers need to give serious thought as to which practices they choose to use. Second, why are so many of them not making more extensive use of sales force technology? Third, is it wise for sales managers to be relying on executive opinion as their most extensively used forecasting method or should they be emphasizing another approach? A fourth issue is the continued heavy emphasis on generating sales volume as opposed to profits.

The data provide a rare and updated understanding of the use of SMPs by sales managers.

This article seeks to provide an update of two papers presented to the VDX Users Group of Australia and New Zealand during 2006. It aims to explore the issues associated with the implementation of Trans Tasman Interlending and its subsequent success, and is written primarily from a technical perspective.

The first part describes the issues addressed, processes used and resolutions adopted in the period leading up to the go‐live of Trans Tasman Interlending. The second part provides a review of the first six months of operation.

Trans Tasman Interlending has produced interesting results and is clearly more significant for interlending in New Zealand than it is Australia. This article looks at a variety of result areas and delves into the issues the linked service has highlighted.

While both countries have based their analysis on readily available report data, it is only in the Australian context that a formalised user survey was used. New Zealand reporting relies more on anecdotal evidence.

In highlighting the issues involved in linking two utilities this article potentially provides a checklist for others to follow and a yardstick against which to measure success.

Trans Tasman Interlending is a first for the linking of two national interlending utilities.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the interlending environment in New Zealand. It aims to consider a number of changes that have occurred since research was published in 2004 and the significance of these for interlending operations.

The methodology adopted in this paper is one of description and interpretation.

Included is a statistical analysis based on 20 years' worth of data and comparative analysis of key service indicators. The scene is best described as one of continual change and in a state of flux.

As the operational model of interlending changes consideration is given to various operational issues and the impact of these for ongoing support and service provision. Also included is an initial analysis of how natural events can also impact on patterns of use and delivery.

Just as there have been personnel changes, so has occurred a loss of corporate knowledge. This leads into a discussion of a model for “better practice” and how this could be delivered.

IN LESS than sixteen years time—on June 30 1997 to be precise—the lease on Kowloon beyond Boundary Street, and on the New Territories, will, according to British Law, expire. Naturally Hong Kong is concerned as the Peking Lease nears its end. Writing in the Daily telegraph on September 28 1981 Graham Earnshaw commented that China ‘obviously wants to keep Hong Kong as it is for at least the immediate future because of its immense economic value, and that is the main thread of hope that Hong Kong people keep returning to when discussing the future’. Kevin Rafferty concluded a lead article ‘The first city in Asia’ in the Financial times special supplement on Hong Kong (June 15 1981)—‘China and Hong Kong are two different worlds and it will take a lot of effort and patience to bring them together’. David Bonavia writing in the Times on October 3 1981 sees in China's recent ‘seemingly generous offer to Taiwan of easy terms for a political reunion’, ‘the true way to a possible solution for the eventual re‐absorption of Hong Kong into the People's Republic’.

This paper, an update of that presented at the 9th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply Conference, describes the implementation of the ISO‐ILL protocol between the University of Auckland and Te Puna Interloan, and the University of Auckland and Kinetica Document Delivery (now Libraries Australia Document Delivery). It backgrounds the context and traverses a number of issues central to the ISO‐ILL implementations.

The article combines narrative and analysis of the projects from the perspective of each of the implementing libraries.

The authors report on various aspects of their work, including business models, anticipated and actual benefits from the implementations, testing, lessons learned and a brief look into the future. They conclude that planning and rigorous testing are significant ingredients to success and that communication to the user body is also a vital factor.

The work undertaken may provide other libraries with a model for similar implementations.

The implementation between Te Puna Interloan and the University of Auckland is the first implementation of the ISO‐ILL protocol in New Zealand and represents a major breakthrough in interlending in New Zealand. The integration of two national utilities into the one interloan management system, the University of Auckland VDX system, is believed to be the first of its kind.

This paper is based on Interlibrary Loan Services in New Zealand: An Environmental Scan and National Survey, a research report produced by the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The paper aims to summarise these recent research findings that identify trends in interloan in New Zealand. Additional information is offered to confirm trends or as evidence of divergence from the research results.

This article measures the current state of interloan and considers how it may develop in the future.

The paper concentrates on five major themes. They are: a state of change; user‐initiated interloans; satisfaction levels; co‐operative resource sharing; and the advantages of the New Zealand model of interloan.

The research report is a beginning. Ongoing data gathering is underway to help identify interloan trends and determine future service directions.

The traditional model of interloan is changing and affected by several factors. Its ongoing health is underpinned by three significant characteristics: a national interloan system (Te Puna Interloan), a strong National Bibliographic Database and National Union Catalogue, and the key role of the National Library of New Zealand.

The research report provides a building block for an ongoing longitudinal study of interloan in New Zealand, plus a base for ongoing discussion and debate.

Using New Zealand as example, the purpose of this paper is to consider why Sun wants to establish centres of excellence and what the benefits are for the contributors.

This article combines narrative and analysis.

Concludes that each party in a centre of excellence gains benefits from its association.

Provides an example of a new way of working in the library sphere.

This paper seeks to describe a decade's worth of ISO‐ILL implementation in Australia and New Zealand. It aims to background key historical decisions and the drivers for respective implementations. The paper also aims to consider a number of key issues with interoperable systems and propose some avenues of development for the future.

The methodology adopted in this paper is one of description and interpretation.

Findings highlighted in this discussion emphasise the interconnectedness of operations, the need for synchronisation of data and the influence this has over transactions. While it is important to get the basics right, the ISO‐ILL protocol does take time to master. What we have seen develop is a user community understanding a common language and a growth in customer satisfaction.

This paper discusses a number of issues pertinent to the interoperability of systems and describes the solutions arrived at. They could act as a blueprint for others considering similar implementations.

The originality of this paper lies in the adoption of local solutions to resolve local problems. Underlying this are the concepts of best operating principles and better operating practices.

AS A RESULT of present economic problems in Britain and attendant cuts in spending, there is a need to achieve maximum cost‐effectiveness in all sectors of public spending including libraries. This article examines a simple method by which economies could be made in buying multiple copies of books. It is assumed that unless librarians have freedom to buy a single copy of any book they choose, they will not achieve the breadth and depth required of first‐class libraries, be they in the public sector or in academic institutions. Perhaps second copies need cause little concern, but a pilot survey of a polytechnic library revealed cases where as many as four, six or even eight copies of the same edition had been bought on one occasion before the effectiveness of a lesser purchase could have been evaluated.

Discusses the implementation of computer‐aided facilities management at US Bancorp, with particular emphasis on how this was justified by the facilities department to senior management. Examines system configuration and the productivity claims made by consultants and computer‐aided design database (CADD) vendors. Considers project management and asset management with CADD at the organisation.