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THE Correspondence columns of The Times always make interesting reading, but never so much as in the last four weeks, for librarians anyway. We understand that there are people who do not read The Times (bottom people ?) and it is a regrettable fact that many libraries do not take The Times. For them and for recapitulation and comment we summarise the letters arising from the editorial comment on the Report of the Roberts Committee.

This article describes the background to the What Works initiative launched by Barnardo's in the early 1990s, with a focus on the What Works for Children series of reports published from 1995 onwards. The author describes the intellectual and social context of the initiative, the approach taken, and some of the barriers to and levers for the adoption of research in practice are identified. The article describes more briefly the ways in which those in the Research and Development (R&D) team at Barnardo's worked towards knowledge transfer, both inside and outside the organisation. The article concludes with reflections on the impact of Barnardo's initiatives, the journey still to be travelled to strengthen the knowledge base of those providing services to children in education, health and social work, and the need for further work both to strengthen the evidence base and to increase synergies between research, policy and practice.

Given the pace of industry change and the rapid diffusion of high reliability organization (HRO) approaches, lags and divergences have arisen between research and practice in healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to explore several of these theory-practice gaps and propose implications for research and practice.

Classic and cutting-edge HRO literature is applied to analyze two industry trends: delivery system integration, and the confluence of patient-as-consumer and patient-centered care.

Highly reliable integrated delivery systems will likely function very differently from classic HRO organizations. Both practitioners and researchers should address conditions such as how a system is bounded, how reliable the system should be and how interdependencies are handled. Additionally, systems should evaluate the added uncertainty and variability introduced by enhanced agency on the part of patients/families in decision making and in processes of care.

Dramatic changes in the sociotechnical environment are influencing the coupling and interactivity of system elements in healthcare. Researchers must address the maintenance of reliability across organizations and the migration of decision-making power toward patients and families.

As healthcare systems integrate, managers attempting to apply HRO principles must recognize how these systems present new and different reliability-related challenges and opportunities.

This paper provides a starting point for the advancement of research and practice in high-reliability healthcare by providing an in-depth exploration of the implications of two major industry trends.

IN recognition of his services to the library movement in India, H. H. the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda, G.C.S.I., was the guest of honour at a dinner given at Claridge's, London, on 30th May, by the transitive circle called THE LIBRARY REVIEW AND FRIENDS. Those present included Mr. E. Salter Davies, C.B.E., President of the Library Association, Mr. L. R. McColvin, F.L.A., Hon. Secretary of the Library Association, Mr. P. S. J. Welsford, F.I.S.A., Secretary of the Library Association, Mr. W. C. Berwick Sayers, F.L.A., Chief Librarian, Croydon Public Libraries, Mr. J. H. Roberts of the New Statesman and Nation, Dr. Modak, the A.D.C. to H. H. the Maharaja Gaekwar, Mr. Newton M. Dutt, F.L.A., formerly Reader to His Highness and State Librarian of Baroda, and Mr. R. D. Macleod, F.L.A. (who presided). Apologies for absence were received from Colonel J. M. Mitchell, C.B.E., Professor C. N. Seddon, sometime Dewan of Baroda, Mr. S. K. Ratcliffe, Mr. M. H. Spielmann, F.S.A., Mr. William Will, Captain L. Cranmer‐Byng, and one on behalf of Mr. Arundell Esdaile, Secretary to the British Museum, who was at Madrid.

With regard to the output of canned food in European Russia, it is stated by Rubinstein that the statistics are not altogether reliable. We conclude therefore that they must be accepted with caution. If the accuracy of statistics in relation to the output of European Russia is questioned, then, we submit, those relating to Asiatic Russia and the Far East will be still more open to challenge. These figures refer to things done! What value in these circumstances must be assigned to estimates of what it is hoped will be done?

BOURNEMOUTH lies in one of the most beautiful parts of South‐west England; and all the world knows how this region has been immortalised by Thomas Hardy, who by his romances and poems has introduced to the public of England and America the ancient land of Wessex.

WE write on the eve of an Annual Meeting of the Library Association. We expect many interesting things from it, for although it is not the first meeting under the new constitution, it is the first in which all the sections will be actively engaged. From a membership of eight hundred in 1927 we are, in 1930, within measurable distance of a membership of three thousand; and, although we have not reached that figure by a few hundreds—and those few will be the most difficult to obtain quickly—this is a really memorable achievement. There are certain necessary results of the Association's expansion. In the former days it was possible for every member, if he desired, to attend all the meetings; today parallel meetings are necessary in order to represent all interests, and members must make a selection amongst the good things offered. Large meetings are not entirely desirable; discussion of any effective sort is impossible in them; and the speakers are usually those who always speak, and who possess more nerve than the rest of us. This does not mean that they are not worth a hearing. Nevertheless, seeing that at least 1,000 will be at Cambridge, small sectional meetings in which no one who has anything to say need be afraid of saying it, are an ideal to which we are forced by the growth of our numbers.