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Throughout the first half of the 1990s business process re‐engineering (BPR) was one of the most eagerly embraced management techniques, although often with results that were far from satisfactory. This tended to reinforce people’s suspicions of information technology since IT is a key enabling agent, if not the driver, for BPR. The aim of this study was to provide literary evidence and reasons for the current widespread dissatisfaction with BPR. Using the keyword business process re‐engineering/re‐engineering, a total of 2,019 article abstracts were collected that spanned the period from January 1990 to December 1995, inclusive. The literature was analysed for 18 themes, six article types and 32 business areas, in addition to geographical origin, author origin, date, etc. The analysis showed that 97.8 per cent of the BPR literature has been written since the beginning of 1993, since which time there has been an explosive growth in the number of publications. However, a recent sharp downturn in the number of articles may be a sign that BPR is maturing, if not reaching the end of it useful life‐cycle. The almost complete absence of research articles to underpin BPR is a distinctive feature of the literature. Thus, opportunities for researchers, as well as hitherto untapped opportunities for consulting practitioners, are clearly identified. Concludes that, while BPR may not have suffered a sudden fatality, it is the victim of neglect in some critical areas of life support.

By the time these pages appear Christmas will have become but a memory; even the indigestion provoked in many of us by our zealous participation in the Christmas spirit will, it is hoped, have become a thing of the past. But as we write this spirit is abroad, and presents are still depleting our surplus finances. Every year more and more of these seasonable gifts take the form of books, and a very large percentage of children, particularly, will surely receive some reading matter from one or other of their friends or relations. Not so many years ago in most instances this Christmas book would be the only volume those children would see that year! Fortunately, we librarians can say, with Sganarelle, that “we have changed all that.” Our children's libraries throughout the country are sufficiently adequate to ensure that no child in a library area is unable to read to his or her heart's content—the days when three or four books must needs satisfy a child's thirst for reading have now been put definitely behind us.