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Reports on research by the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals and TARP Europe Ltd into the effectiveness of customer service as a marketing tool and whether companies are really as customer focused as they maintain. Classifies UK companies into three classes: those who deliver effective customer service; those who do not have any department or individual responsible for customer service and deal with it in an ad hoc manner; and those who fit between these two. Concludes that in the UK there is some way to go before companies actually achieve the levels of customer service which they maintain they have already reached. Proposes that when this is attained, companies will be in a better competitive position.

IF we count the University of Strathclyde School of Librarianship as a “new” school—rather than simply an old school transferred from a College of Commerce to a university—then four “new” schools were established between 1963 and 1964, three of the four in universities and the other closely linked with a university, though remaining independent. All four schools have their special features but I consider the more significant of Belfast's features to be its right, from the outset, to conduct all its own examinations for graduates and non‐graduates. Queen's was also the first British university to provide non‐graduates with courses in librarianship. (Strathclyde is the second.) All successful students are eligible for admission to the Register of Chartered Librarians (ALA) after they have completed the prescribed period of practical experience.

On 13 July 1974, President Nixon signed a proclamation declaring the week of 20 July National Space Week, in honor of man's landing on the moon on 20 July 1969. Although the lunar landing was certainly the emotional high point for the American space program, interest in space remains quite high, as evidenced by the tremendous popularity of films and books on the subject. The intention of this article is to provide readers with a guide to materials that serve to focus attention on space exploration, not only during Space Week, but throughout the year.

Perinatal drug users are a marginalized group at risk of depression and parenting stress. This study aims to inform service development by determining key components needed to reduce depression among this population by triangulating data from qualitative interviews with service users and their care providers.

Pre and post natal in‐depth qualitative interviews with drug users attending a specialist antenatal clinic in Melbourne, Australia, and their care providers were conducted; and an email survey of experts was undertaken. Twenty‐eight interviews were conducted and the views of ten experts were received. Data from these sources were triangulated to determine the key components of an intervention to reduce depression among perinatal drug users.

There was high concordance among data sources. Key service components identified were: case management; extended postnatal care; access to mental health services and drug treatment including relapse prevention; parenting support, and housing support. Judgmental attitudes from healthcare staff and the fear of child protection may be barriers to accessing services.

The study findings are limited by the small sample size.

Services should be enhanced in pregnancy and the early parenting years to build a service model that incorporates the key components identified in this study and supported in the literature.

The originality and value of this study is that it determines the key service components needed to reduce depression among perinatal drug users by triangulating their experiences and views, that of their care providers and expert opinion.

COVID-19 has affected families across the globe with far-reaching consequences, particularly in regard to children's education. The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities for families of students with disabilities in particular. This chapter explores families' perspectives on how COVID-19 affected partnerships between families of students with disabilities and their schools in Ontario, Canada.

We interviewed 18 parents of students with disabilities in K-12 Ontario schools. Using a reflexive thematic analysis approach, we analyzed interviews to develop themes inductively.

Participants shared varied experiences of partnerships with their schools both before and during the pandemic. However, all participants described additional challenges as a result of COVID-19. Frequent, open, and personalized communication was emphasized as essential for effective partnerships; however, this was often lacking. Participants shared various ways they were involved in schools, including advocating for their child, and needing to balance multiple roles during COVID-19. Overwhelmingly, participants expressed an inadequacy of support during the pandemic related to online learning and a lack of human resources (e.g., Educational Assistants, therapists), negatively affecting partnerships. However, they also described positive experiences of family-school partnerships, as well as hope for effective future partnerships.

This research gives voice to families of students with disabilities to deepen our understanding of barriers and facilitators to positive family-school partnerships. Findings help to direct appropriate policies and practices that can improve partnerships during COVID-19 and beyond, and ultimately enhance education and quality of life for students with disabilities and their families.

Despite the exponential spread of the British Empire by the late nineteenth century, there remained in England a continued indifference to “the Empire”. In 1883, J.R. Seeley, Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, had expressed concern because ‘we think of Great Britain too much and of Greater Britain too little’. People had to rethink their understandings of nation and empire, he suggested, and steps had to be taken to modify what he saw as a ‘defective constitution’. Seeley’s lecture series had prompted debate about ‘the imperial question’, but the ‘anomalous political arrangements’ and the reluctance of the people to think imperially persisted. Insularity was not exclusive to the people in Britain, however. Because of their preoccupation with their own local affairs, it was suggested, there had been little opportunity for people from other parts of the empire to devote much time to the larger questions of imperial and common citizenship.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.