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VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by Tony McSean, Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription to VINE is £17 per annum and the period runs from January to December.

The purpose of this paper is to trace debates between state and federal governments, and community stakeholders, leading to the establishment and abolition of the first attempt at a university for Western Sydney, established as Chifley University Interim Council.

The historical analysis draws from published papers, oral history accounts, and original documents in archives of the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney.

Higher education reform in the 1980s in Australia was fought out as an extension of broader issues such as “States rights”, the rising political power of peri‐urban regions, long‐standing tensions between state and Commonwealth bureaucracies, and the vested interests of existing tertiary education and community groups.

This is the only existing study of attempts to found Chifley University, and one of the few available studies which take a social and contextual approach to understanding the critical reforms of the 1980s leading up to the Dawkins Reforms of 1988‐1990.

THE Annual Conference of the Library Association will soon be upon us, and we understand that the Council of the L.A. is well advanced in the matter of its arrangements. We sincerely hope, however, that it is not too late for us to emphasize the importance of a less crowded programme. There was a multitude of matters dealt with at Cardiff, but the “ time ” bogey was ever en evidence. There can be no practical use for points to be raised obviously inviting discussion, and then for those interested to have no opportunity either to commend, correct or condemn certain statements made. There were many brilliant orations unspoken at Cardiff! Pleasant platitudes are soothing, but we have a recollection of one librarian—and a lady at that—commenting on one address as “offal,” or word to that effect. We want practical papers instead of pleasantries: fewer papers and more opportunity for an exchange of views. Let the Conference be a conference!

NO ONE WOULD BE SURPRISED by the assertion that John Bunyan made a deep impression among the devout Welsh for a century or more after his unique career. The standard evidence for such a statement is of course the number of editions of the author, and for Bunyan a special compilation of all his works printed in Wales alone between 1677 and 1931 shows the impressive total of 188 titles (no fewer than 58 of Pilgrim's Progress) in various languages. For a land with only a little over a half million inhabitants and with only two cities with over five thousand population in 1800, this is a record hard to equal, demonstrating an extraordinary devotion to a single author. Yet beyond such eloquent numerical summary another particular witness emerges from an unsuspected quarter. In the 1767 Welsh translation of The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded is dutifully included the ‘Names of the Subscribers’ underwriting the publication. This particular list is so unusual as to merit perpetuation in its entirety:

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.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 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.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.

The Librarians of Glasgow University since 1641 are identified, and their periods of office summarised and assessed as far as information allows. The terms of appointment in early years and pattern of town and university alternating nominations are outlined, and the gradual development of the post into that of a professional librarian in the twentieth century is illustrated.