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Since the beginning of human existence, humankind has sought, organized and used information as it evolved patterns and practices of human information behaviors. However, the field of human information behavior (HIB) has not heretofore pursued an evolutionary understanding of information behavior. The goal of this exploratory study is to provide insight about the information behavior of various individuals from the past to begin the development of an evolutionary perspective for our understanding of HIB.

This paper presents findings from a qualitative analysis of the autobiographies and personal writings of several historical figures, including Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Darwin, Giacomo Casanova and others.

Analysis of their writings shows that these persons of the past articulated aspects of their HIB's, including information seeking, information organization and information use, providing tangible insights into their information‐related thoughts and actions.

This paper has implications for expanding the nature of our evolutionary understanding of information behavior and provides a broader context for the HIB research field.

This the first paper in the information science field of HIB to study the information behavior of historical figures and begin to develop an evolutionary framework for HIB research.

Thanks to the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act, CEOs of U.S. companies that have annual revenues exceeding $1.2 billion must personally certify their firm's books, it seems like every third company has restated earnings. Household International earned $386 million less than previously reported; Qwest lost $1.1 billion; AOL Time Warner missed $49 million; Interpublic Group found $68.5 million in expenses that had not been properly accounted for. No longer can a CEO hide behind the auditors or plead ignorance.

Family reunions are a tradition almost as old as the human species. They may be as small as the reunion of members of an immediate family, or as large as the gathering of an extended family. The family reunion renews old bonds, reclaims lost ties, and recognizes new branches of the family tree. Keeping track of all the branches of the family is the central purpose of a family reunion. Accordingly, attempts at genealogical research may begin or end at a family reunion. A person's interest in investigating her family's history might be aroused when she hears old family stories; a researcher might obtain at a reunion the information he has been seeking in libraries. Completed research is often discussed at the reunions of families whose members have been studying the families' histories over a period of years. Many such families join into family associations or organizations of some kind, occasionally even becoming incorporated.

The prevalence of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in higher education is well documented and has been promoted in the UK by government funded projects, but there has been little empirical research on the level of involvement of subject librarians with VLEs. A survey was designed to investigate how VLEs are affecting the work of subject librarians and to examine factors influencing their use in providing electronic information resources and developing information skills. The aim of this paper is to document the results

A questionnaire was distributed electronically to a purposive sample of 132 subject librarians at seven UK universities. The instrument contained mainly closed specified response questions with a few open questions and a response rate of 43 per cent (n=57) was achieved.

Use of VLEs by subject librarians varies both between and within institutions. Factors affecting this include the subject area, co‐operation of academic staff and attitudes of librarians towards technology‐based teaching. JISC‐funded projects have enabled better use of VLEs through the creation of re‐usable learning objects and development of pedagogical understanding and skills. Recognition by academic staff of the teaching role of subject librarians has a critical impact on their involvement with VLEs.

The timeframe limited the scale of the study and size of the sample. The mainly quantitative approach limited the detail and depth of responses, but sufficient data were collected to establish broad trends, illuminate important factors and identify key issues.

The paper provides empirical evidence of how VLEs are affecting the day‐to‐day activities of subject librarians and suggests areas where further research would be valuable.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic and technological factors that determine the quality of European telecommunications services. The paper test whether the privatisation, the efficiency and the labour factor of telecommunications operators are determinants of service quality and whether competition, technology and infrastructure investment in the telecommunications sector influence that quality.

The paper use the panel data methodology to analyse the factors that determine the quality of service of telecommunications.

The results indicate that the more efficient the company is, the more quality it will deliver. However, the paper finds no evidence that the privatisation and the restructuring of the labour force of the main telecommunications operators, or the competition, technology and investments in the sector, lead to greater quality.

In order to foster higher quality, effective market competitiveness has to be established to avoid benefitting the incumbent company and to make the development of competition possible in the long run.

Although previous literature assumes a positive relationship between the performance of privatised companies and quality, this study shows that the privatisation and liberalisation processes do not bring about quality improvements by themselves. The research finds that the efficiency of privatised companies is the primary source of quality.

This paper seeks to investigate and report on the status of identity management systems and e‐learning standards across Europe for promoting mobility, collaboration and the sharing of contents and services in higher education institutions.

The present research work examines existing e‐learning standards and the tools and processes applied to managing the identity of learners registered for programmes of study in higher education. The paper draws on recent developments and argues that the creation of identity management federations is mandatory to provide the mobility of users and to permit the exchange of contents and services between institutions.

It is revealed that it is crucial to create identity management federation to provide for ease of mobility and facilitate collaboration and sharing information amongst staff and students in higher education.

The challenges arising from language, culture and differences in systems for the regions require consideration. Future work intends to incorporate some of these issues, to examine and report on them from the diverse perspectives, taking into account, the impact of globalisation.

This paper presents the main features of e‐learning standards and how they can be used in conjunction with identity management systems to create collaborative learning objects repositories to promote a more effective learning experience and a more competitive European space for higher education, with respect to the requirements of knowledge‐based societies.

In the early 1840s Edward Gibbon Wakefield's New Zealand Company recruited “emigrants of the labouring classes” promising: “every one of them who is industrious and thrifty, may be sure to become not merely an owner of land, but also in his turn an employer of hired labourers, a master of servants.” Letters sent “Home” to Ham (a village in Surrey, UK) from Wellington between 1841‐1844, by a group of labouring families, project textual personae consistent with this liberal image. The purpose of this paper is to explore educational processes involved in the production of these colonial identities.

The letters are read in relation to archival resources: the curriculum of the National School and alternative educational models in Ham, records of schools provided in Wellington, and pedagogical intentions signalled in the records of the New Zealand Company.

Arguing that migration resulted in a radical change in the subjectivity of these labouring class families, this paper contrasts the curricula of the “National School” attended by these children in Ham with the more secular offerings in Wellington. Their “National School” taught Ham's lower orders to accept their God‐given “stations” in life. Radical critique was suppressed. In Wellington the first schools, such as the Mechanics’ Institute, were non‐denominational, prioritising practical knowledge. Foundations for a secular society based on liberal values were laid.

There is little educational research on how participation in the Wakefield scheme transformed those who, in rural England, were required to remain subservient members of the power orders, into the enterprising independent subjects required in the new colony.

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.

THE operating economics, basic design philosophy, power plants, and systems, structural and aerodynamic design of the British Aircraft Corporation One‐Eleven short‐range airliner have been dealt with in considerable detail in the preceding five articles. This final article is intended as ‘back‐up’ information—primarily to the systems description by Mr Carline—but whereas the earlier descriptions have concentrated upon general philosophies and the complete systems, it is intended here to describe specific pieces of equipment and the contributions of a number of Companies in support of the BAC One‐Eleven programme.