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The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn assunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors,” and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self‐interest, than callous “cash payment.” It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation (Marx, 1848: 475).

MALTBY, ARTHUR. U.K. catalogue use survey. London: Library Association, 1973. 35 p. Library Association research publication, no. 12. £1.25 (£1 to members). This report on the use and non‐use of the catalogue by readers describes the findings of a project carried out largely by the various schools of librarianship in April/May 1971. Two previous pilot studies had been carried out to refine the questionnaire to make it applicable throughout the United Kingdom. Special libraries were reluctantly excluded, but all other types of library were included. The method chosen was that of briefed interviewers and a structured interview, largely because it seemed desirable to catch not only those who use the catalogue, but also those who do not. Of the total of 3,252 interviewed, 1914 (59 per cent) actually used the catalogue; of the 41 per cent who never used the catalogue, the vast majority stated that they could manage without it, while 281 preferred to ask the staff. Probably most of this group went straight to the shelves. From the break‐down by type of library, it would seem that municipal and county libraries hardly need a catalogue at all. There is also the point that if more people had been shown how to use the catalogue, more would use it.

Programmes offering support for individuals with mental health problems to run their own businesses are still rare, yet self‐employment could be an ideal approach for many people. In this issue we offer profiles of two pan‐disability agencies providing support for individuals to move towards self‐employment and entrepreneurship. Business Ability is a multi‐agency project operating in the south east, offering comprehensive packages of support tailored to each individual's need. East Lancs Into Employment, a charity based in Burnley, also offers a range of support for self‐employment, but with different components. Both agencies are working successfully with individuals with mental health problems and business survival rates are good. Usefully, these agencies have been able to identify critical success factors for working with this group, which may be of particular interest to A Life in the Day readers. We conclude with a book review.

The emergence of new manufacturing technologies, spurred by intense competition, will lead to dramatically new products and processes. New management systems, organizational structures, and decision‐making methods will also emerge as complements to new products and processes. This paper attempts to investigate technologies, systems and paradigms for the effective management of networked enterprise (supply chain networks), especially long supply chains. In doing so, the paper presents not only an exhaustive literature review to identify the complexities, gaps and challenges associated with long supply chains but also the emerging enabling technologies to support these gaps and challenges.

The approach takes the form of an interview of industrials, researchers and a literature review.

“Competition in the future will not be between individual enterprises but between competing supply chains.” Business opportunities are captured by groups of enterprises in the same enterprise network. This is due to the global competition that forces enterprises to focus on their core competences.

The paper presents a vision of the future technical issues relating to long supply chains and an insight into the future scientific and industrial advances required to meet future market and public demands.

This research work highlights the research issues and discusses the key enabling features, which will need to evolve and be perfected in industry in the future manufacturing networked enterprises and especially long manufacturing supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of combining process mapping and system dynamics (SD) in an organization’s ongoing business process improvement projects.

Norfield Industries, designer and manufacturer of prehung door machinery, used process mapping and SD in a project targeting the improvement of its design document control process. The project team first used process mapping to document its current process and identify potential improvements. The team then developed an SD model to investigate the potential impacts of proposed process changes.

The case study supports the communication and transparency benefits of process mapping reported in earlier studies. Consistent with other case studies using simulation, SD provided useful insights into possible results of proposed process changes.

The findings have limitations with respect to generalizability consistent with the use of a case study methodology.

Organizational managers desiring to include simulation modeling in process improvement efforts have a choice between discrete event simulation and SD. SD may prove able to consume less organizational resources than discrete-event simulation and provide similar benefits related to reducing the risks associated with process changes.

The current case study adds to the existing literature documenting the use of process mapping combined with simulation modeling in process improvement efforts. The case study supports existing literature regarding the value of process mapping in making system processes more transparent. The results also support previous findings regarding the value of SD for simulating the possible results associated with scenarios under consideration for process improvements.

In a full blaze of comings and goings, it is unnecessary to remind ourselves that the holiday season is upon us; mass travel to faraway places. The media have for months, all through the winter, been extolling a surfeit of romantic areas of the world, exspecially on television; of colourful scenes, exotic beauties, brilliant sunshine everywhere; travel mostly by air as so‐called package tours — holidays for the masses! The most popular areas are countries of the Mediterranean littoral, from Israel to Spain, North Africa, the Adriatic, but of recent years, much farhter afield, India, South‐east Asia and increasingly to the USA.

All items listed may be borrowed from the Aslib Library, except those marked *, which may be consulted in the library.

ANOTHER Annual Meeting has come and gone. It was scarcely to be expected that the meeting at Bradford would be a record in the number of members attending, seeing that it is only three years ago since the Association met in the neighbouring city of Leeds, and that Bradford cannot boast either the historical associations or the architectural and scenic setting of many other towns. For the most part therefore the members who did attend, attended because they were interested in the serious rather than the entertainment or excursion side of the gathering, which was so far perhaps to the advantage of the meetings and discussions. Nevertheless, the actual number of those present—about two hundred—was quite satisfactory, and none, we are assured, even if the local functions were the main or an equal element of attraction, could possibly have regretted their visit to the metropolis of the worsted trade. Fortunately the weather was all that could be desired, and under the bright sunshine Bradford looked its best, many members, who expected doubtless to find a grey, depressing city of factories, being pleasingly disappointed with the fine views and width of open and green country quite close at hand.

The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This will sometimes happen after a long period of indecision or when things are extremely difficult, as they have long been for the country, in most homes and among ordinary individuals. Watching one's life savings dwindle away, the nest‐egg laid down for security in an uncertain world, is a frightening process. This has happened to the nation, once the richest in the world, and ot its elderly people, most of them taught the habit of saving in early youth. We are also taught that what has been is past changing; the clock cannot be put back, and the largesse—much of it going to unprincipled spongers—distributed by a spendthrift Government as token relief is no answer, not even to present difficulties. The response can only come by a change of heart in those whose brutal selfishness have caused it all; and this may be a long time in coming. In the meantime, it is a useful exercise to consider our assets, to recognize those which must be protected at all costs and upon which, when sanity returns, the future depends.