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Describes and discusses the origins, principles and possible best practices of the Framework for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – introduced by the Library Association for those working in Library and Information Services (LIS). The changed career of the librarian – from scholar to information specialist – has raised expectations from staff and users alike. CPD is concerned with systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills. Offering the “Framework” as a scheme, which can grow and develop, may enable the development of both personal and institutional futures.

The nature, use and limitations of performance indicators are considered and their application to library and information services reviewed.

Since feminism is a political stance which draws attention to the external factors which limit women's lives we can predict that it may be slow to make an impact in a professional group which accepts the mores of conservatism in both its practice and its educational institutions. Nevertheless, in a professional group which has a professional register of 6,890 women there are likely to be some movements or shifts in attitudes leading to changes in behaviour eventually. Library and information work in common with many other service occupations has relied heavily on a female workforce. It has frozen into many of the organisational patterns designed by and for men that are present in both bureaucratic public service and industrial/commercial work organisations.

BOOKS and resources are the staple of learning, whether in the general form of an aspect of a subject discipline—the textbook or its non‐book resource equivalent—or in the more specialised form of the learning resource ‘ … designed … with the learning needs of particular students on particular courses’. But the very development of specific learning resources, together with the development of new technologies in the more conventional areas of library work, has brought about the need for a close association between librarians and educational technologists.

Continuing professional development is one of the major attributes that defines professional status. The LA′s new Framework for CPD provides an innovative and useful tool to help those in the library and information profession to take responsibility for their own CPD. But why is the scheme only voluntary? Would making CPD compulsory improve the service we deliver to our users and improve our professional image? Uses examples from other professions to explore this important issue.

THE MOST problematic aspect of compiling this bibliography was defining the areas of librarianship covered by the term outreach. This leads one to ask whether it should be necessary to draw a line between traditional library service and outreach activities. The answer to this is already becoming apparent. Activities which were previously defined by the terms of “outreach” or “extension” are now accepted as an essential element of the library service. If the public library service is to fulfil the function which its name implies this is a trend which must continue.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

Outlines how to deal with unemployment following early retirement or redundancy. Discusses job‐search strategy, and alternative choices for a future career.

SEVERN HOUSE Publishers is the name of a new book publishing imprint set up by Edwin Buckhalter and Judy Piatkus to enter the reprint market. The first six titles are due in January, and the firm operates from 6 River Court, Redbridge Lane West, London E11, phone 01 989 1310. This is a ‘two‐man band’ enterprise, not a heavily‐capitalised new corporation, and librarians might lend a sympathetic eye to the first Severn House titles, hard times notwithstanding.

John Saunders wrote ‘Why are we campaigning against cuts?’ (NLW July 1985). Cuts columnist Terry Hanstock criticised the article in September NLW and referred to a meeting in Rotherham addressed by John Saunders.