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THE traditional division of information services into science and technology on the one hand and the humanities on the other, does nothing to improve the provision of information in a multi‐disciplinary subject such as planning. The proposal to make separate provision, within the national framework, for the social sciences, which was put forward by J. E. Pemberton in the November issue of this journal, would only serve to further fragment the sources of information in planning.

Describes the development of a continuous quality improvement process at component manufacturer ICL Kidsgrove. Traces early innovative work with quality circles through to the effects of a company‐wide quality process. Structures, systems and staff practices have all changed considerably during the past ten years. Discusses the benefits and problems of such an approach and also examines ways in which this know‐how can be transferred to service industries such as the hospitality sector.

Looks at the shift in emphasis in Australia, from a historical perspective and examines the growing fears in the community that citizens may become disenfranchised as a result. Argues that a slavish adherence to efficiency through technological advance risks undervaluing the complementarity of information in the community. Concludes that focusing on efficiency and quantification moves away from noting the constitutional and democratic scope of telecommunications.

THE influence of wireless on libraries is marked. As a method of publicity it is unmatched. On April 20th the new secretary of the Library Association, Mr. Guy Keeling, joined the number of library broadcasters with a talk from 2 LO on “What Your Public Library can do for You.” The announcer said he regarded the talk as a fresh mark of the co‐operation between the B.B.C. and the public libraries which had been so fruitful in the past; and Mr. Keeling made his first real public appearance as Secretary with a clearly Stated account of our ordinary activities, enlivened with humour, and delivered in excellent manner. Together with all those who have any vision in the matter, he looks forward to co‐operation between all libraries.

Reports on the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Conference of April 1994. Manchester United is cited as a model for team building and CQI. The practice of teamwork, with commitment from top management, was a recurring theme. CQI means keeping fresh, investing new concepts and new methods of quality systems. It requires total commitment from the entire organization and putting trust in the workforce.

ONE of the pressing problems that faces the public librarian of to‐day is the finding of adequate protection for the property committed to his care. The open‐access library loses books; at any rate now‐a‐days. But there is no means of prosecuting borrowers who take an extra book from the library in their pockets. There are model standing orders which may be adopted, which regulate the conduct of readers in reference libraries and reading rooms, but a book‐thief may plead that he meant only to borrow a book that has been found in his possession, and his offence will be treated merely as a technical breach of the rule that a book must be “charged” before it is taken from the library. When a clear case has been made, as in the notorious Walthamstow case, a foolishly sentimental Bench will refuse to help the libraries. We would urge the Library Association to give some consideration to the drafting of model standing orders which will give legal effect to the present “rules” under which libraries work, rules which the vicious may defy almost with impunity. The safety of the books in most libraries depends, actually, on public ignorance of the fact that most of our rules have no legal authority behind them.

I WAS perturbed by a ‘kite’ flown in a national newspaper recently that in its search for economies in public expenditure, the new Conservative government might wield its axe on the British Library's proposed erection in the Euston Road. The current cost of the new building is informally judged to have climbed to a total of £300m, but as this expenditure is to be deployed over a decade and more, abandonment is hardly likely to make serious inroads into government expenditure curently running at more than £50,000m annually.

The purpose of this paper is to look again at the ideas set out in the author's 1994 anthology, The Poetry of Business Life.

This paper is based on a large sample of poems on business themes by a variety of “professional” and “practising managerial” poets. It supplies a spontaneous, empirical first taxonomy (organised as “Cantos” in the eventual 1994 anthology) of the areas of “economic life” where the domains of “poetry” and “business” seem most to intersect. Such spontaneous classification yields important but mainly unsurprising “topic cells” (Cantos) – “Money”, “Work”, “Markets”, “Corporate life”, “Politics and power”, “Technology” etc. – each requiring further research. The residue of less predictable themes, however, includes “Travel and movement” as an important but (by analysts) relatively neglected, obsessive source of metaphor and poetic focus.

Across these “vertical” structures of topic and theme the paper points towards the more generic “lateral” implications for all of them of the differences between the “language of poetry” (evocation, relational) and the conventional “language of business” (information, measurement, separation). This is the author's main area of future interest.

The paper confirms the need to pursue critical analysis of “business poetry” by the exacting criteria of poetry generally rather than merely as an esoteric, separate sub‐category.

AFTER the little flurry of dispute recently whether Sir Keith Joseph should or should not have been invited to address the LA conference in Sheffield this year, the Secretary for Industry has himself withdrawn, on the grounds that he now finds himself obliged to lead an overseas trade delegation at the same time as the conference. Thus hot air doth dissolve into the atmosphere, as Hamlet might have said (but did not).

The virtual organization is upon us, or so we are led to believe. No longer will we have to worry about finding enough space for so many workstations, as people will be sitting in cyberspace waiting either to send or receive their next communication. It will not matter where in the universe someone is, provided that they can communicate. People will be working in physical isolation, but this does not matter as they can, yes you’ve guessed it, communicate! There is no doubting that communicating is good and absolutely necessary, but it is quality of communication which is needed, not just any old garbled message. Are standards of communication deteriorating? The media by which we are sending messages are improving, of that there is little doubt, but it is the content and usefulness of this content which must be brought to question.