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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.

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?’

This is No. 21 of Supplements to Computers in Libraries and reprints papers on online library catalogues presented to the March 1989 Computers in Libraries Conference held in Oakland, California. There are apparently three US procurement documents, Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Quotation (RFQ) which have to be completed when buying new, large‐scale equipment from suppliers and these documents dominate the process of choice and purchase. Several of the papers in this collection deal with completing these forms when acquiring or changing systems, and would have little interest in the UK. The other papers offer more general advice on coping with the problems which arise when manual processes are replaced by high‐tech systems. Such problems are exaggerated in cases where patrons expect more of the system than it can actually deliver. However, what is being described is essentially American practice and library users in the US have a subtly different attitude from that found on this side of the Atlantic. The value of the text to UK librarians would therefore be limited to the opportunity for making comparisons with their own systems.