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Customer care panels are examined as an example of one of the ways in which enterprises can seek to monitor the perception that consumers have of the quality of service they receive. From an examination of three paradigms which structure understanding of the choices open to management in establishing current consumer concerns, the “implementation” perspective is selected as being the most pertinent for interpreting the actions of managers in setting up and operating panels. Two examples are chosen for study of the use of panels in the United Kingdom; they concern the railways and retailing. Some conclusions are drawn from this experience of the problems that arise in operating panels. The implications for consumers and managers of the development of customer care panels are reviewed.

MY THEME affects all of the community who live with or by books. This theme is that all of the book community, but most particularly librarians, have given priority to the exploitation of library materials over their conservation in use to such an extent that accumulated neglect is almost irrecoverable in economic terms. Particularly is this the case with modern books, say those published from the middle of the nineteenth century. Within them the seeds of destruction in the form of lignin and the acidic content of paper, sizing, adhesives, leather and even the ink upon the pages could condemn them to an unusable state in less that a lifetime even if kept in reasonable conditions.

We are pleased to publish in this issue an article by Mr. H. H. Bagnall, the recently retired City Analyst of Birmingham, who has for many years been a dominant figure in the world of public analysts. His annual reports have always attracted wide publicity, both for their originality in exposing “ tricks of the trade ” and for his comments, sometimes caustic, sometimes racy, on those who perpetuate such tricks. In his article, he looks backwards through the years to describe in his own inimitable style a few of the important cases he has figured in and we agree with him, that many others in the field of food administration and approaching the end of their public careers, could well emulate this example.