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Effective participation in the competitive bidding arena is one of the main vehicles for securing the necessary additional funds to maintain and develop UK public library services. This paper documents the extent and scale of bidding by public libraries and presents areas of good practice emerging from research into the effects that the bidding culture has had on the development of English local government archive, library and museum services. Key findings suggest that approaches to external funding should be strategy‐driven taking place within a framework of purpose and rationale; that success is often highly dependent on the leadership and networking skills of library managers; and that partnership working should be encouraged and adopted. Successful proposals should demonstrate the benefits and credibility of proposers to deliver; provide evidence of properly resourced project management including methods of monitoring and evaluation; explicitly address the relevant funding criteria and be well‐researched and carefully planned.

This paper presents some of the findings from research into the effects that the emergent bidding culture has had on the development of English local government archive, library and museum services. The project was funded by Resource and undertaken by the Information Management Research Institute at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. The research revealed that the extent of involvement by archives and record management services in competitive bidding for external funds was dependent on a number of factors including the level of existing resource bases of archive services; the geographical and cognitive locations of archives; and the focus of external funding opportunities. However, the need for archives and records management services to engage in effective bidding is not likely to disappear, and it is suggested that these organisations must adopt a dynamic approach to bidding and marketing, asserting that their needs – ‘sexy’ or otherwise – deserve appropriate funding.

Looks at how the Labour Party in the UK re‐organized and regenerated itself between 1983 and 1992 and suggests that, as a result, the party has an over‐reliance on corporate marketing and management, to the detriment of party democracy. Also believes that overcentralization of decision making took place, particularly with regard to the reporting of market research data, a central function at the heart of modern electioneering. Discusses some of the problems which this caused and the changes which have taken place since the departure of Neil Kinnock in 1992.

An eclectic view of organisational performance is presented and the ability of mass media to influence it is addressed. A number of cases are considered in the light of this including Northampton Healthcare NHS Trust and the American Electric Power system. Comments are presented in relation to a number of organisations including General Motors, The Inland Revenue and Shell UK. Concludes that communication is a core competence activity in performance management.

This register of current research in social economics has been compiled by the International Institute of Social Economics. The register does not claim to be comprehensive but is merely an aid for research workers and institutions interested in social economics. The register will be updated and made more comprehensive in the future but this is largely dependent on the inflow of information from researchers in social economics. In order to facilitate this process a standardised form is to be found on the last page of this register. Completed forms, with attached sheets as necessary, should be returned to the compiler: Dr Barrie O. Pettman, Director, International Institute of Social Economics, Enholmes Hall, Patrington, Hull, N. Humberside, England, HU12 OPR. Any other comments on the register will also be welcome.

Some libraries and information services are quite definitely user‐centred; some think they are but are not always; some seem to be designed for librarians rather than users. The purpose of this monograph is to encourage the development of libraries to meet the perceived needs of users — I hope it will be found useful by librarians and information workers as well as by students.

Describes a research project to identify, record and analyse book advertisements in eighteenth‐century English provincial books. Discusses the conduct of the research and examines examples. Describes the significance of the research for English book trade history of the period, and illustrates it with a specific example of David Senior of Sittingbourne, Kent.

Describes the academy set up by UK delivery company Target Express to develop the talents of employees who have the dedication and ambition to succeed at a higher level in the company.

Outlines how the academy originated, what it aims to achieve and how the first employees were selected to take part. Details the tailored training they undertake and presents the comments of some of the participants.

Emphasizes the key role, in the training, of personal‐development plans, each constructed using the results of the psychometric and development testing that each member completed during the selection process.

Reveals that, although the trainees are having to work hard, they consider the effort worthwhile in terms of the career benefits they anticipate it will bring.

Highlights the importance of good HR practices in a service business.

Discusses alternative methods of providing a public library service to one‐house stop clients of south Lincolnshire’s mobile libraries. A literature review revealed a lack of up‐to‐date cost information for alternative methods of service provision. Four methods were selected for further investigation: books by mail; village shop libraries; extending the housebound service; and transporting clients to the library. Annual cost and cost per issue were calculated and compared to the cost of the mobile library. Staff and users were also surveyed for their opinions of the current service and the alternative methods proposed. The results of the costing exercises showed that transporting users to the library was the most cost effective method but this was not popular with the current users of the service. Services considering replacing the one‐house stop mobile service will also need to consider issues including social inclusion, best value and the public library standards.

ELSEWHERE we deal with the inaugural meeting of the Association of Assistant Librarians. Those who were privileged to attend tell us that the meeting was quite without precedent in many ways. There is no doubt that this Association is virile, enthusiastic and alive to the best issues in literature. A better foundation for young librarians cannot be conceived. We doubt whether the Society is as strong on the technical side, but that may be because so much of library technique is now standard, and, therefore, only very inventive librarians can bring new views and methods. One of the obvious things in the assembly was the number of girls. At one time a girl at a L.A.A. meeting (to use its old and much better initials) was so rare an appearance that everybody's curiosity was aroused. Now the girls are in the majority. We hope that it will not always be a majority, but we do think that half‐and‐half would be very much better than too many girls or too many boys. In any case those who were present at the meeting are optimistic as to the future of the library profession.