Search results

Over the past fifty years, public opinion polls have assumed an increasingly important role in daily life. Quite possibly every person living in America has at one time or another been affected by polls. In fact, few aspects of our lives remain untouched by polls—from the television programs we watch, to the choice of candidates for public office, to national political issues, to the products we buy. Polling has become widely known through frequent use by television and the mass market print media.

Forty‐six milks were submitted for analysis. Five of these were reported against for added water or fat deficiency. The leaky churn appeared on the scene in one case, but this did not save the vendor from fine and costs amounting to over thirteen pounds.

AS J. L. Hobbs shows so clearly in his recent book, the interest in local history is growing enormously at present. The universities, training colleges and schools, as well as the institutions of further education, are all making more use of local studies—geographical, economic, social and historical—in their regular courses, in their advanced work, and in their publications.

EARLY IN 1962 I was asked by Unesco to serve as consultant for a new library building to be erected in Kuwait, Arabia. A librarian consultant was required, who should be versed in the problems of library planning, and should draw up the programme for the building.

Since the 1970s, interest in African literature has grown considerably in English and comparative literature departments at American colleges and universities. African writings increasingly appear on multi‐disciplinary and multi‐cultural reading lists, exposing both high school and undergraduate students to such Anglophone and Francophone writers as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Ferdinand Oyono. Noticeably absent from this literary boom, however, was a female point of view. Nearly all of the writers read and discussed were male and these writers, in turn, created a picture of a male‐dominated society with women portrayed in the traditional roles of mothers and wives. In fiction, women characters were nearly always secondary to the major male protagonists. Some works, such as Elechi Amadi's novel, The Concubine, went so far as to openly disdain women. Critics also concentrated solely on male writers and examined the roles of women primarily from a male perspective. Even a dearth of female writers have added to this limited view. It was not until 1956 that Flora Nwapa published Efuru, the first African novel by a woman in English, and she was then dismissed as just another woman writing about women's issues.

ESTIMATE time, which is now, is always a time of thought for the librarian. Budgets this year show no general sign of important change, because the country is working in an atmosphere of war‐time prosperity. Economists of the orthodox school advise us that this is temporary and artificial. Possibly so, although they seem to omit the calculation that ought to be made from the fact that the sixteen daily millions go mostly into English or British pockets, thence to British traders and, finally, to British banks in the form of cash or investment. Rates have never before been paid so promptly. The best financial advice we can give is this: if there is some necessary activity to be taken or work to be done, budget for it now. Especially look to your book fund: even though books are scarce, they are expensive. And have no faith in “financial after‐war promises.”

The only comprehensive list of British medical libraries hitherto available has been that in The Aslib directory 1928, and there is an extended account of those in London in Reginald Rye, The students' guide to the libraries of London (3rd ed., 1927), pp. 362–77. The new list, here put forward, is intended to bring the information from those two books of reference up to date, after nearly twenty years. British libraries are briefly listed among ‘Medical libraries outside North America’ in the Medical Library Association's A handbook of medical library practice, ed. Janet Doe, Chicago, American library association 1943, chapter 1, appendix 2, pages 41–64. The meagre information in that list, if contrasted with the detailed documentation of American and Canadian libraries in successive issues of the American medical directory, accentuates the need for us to know ourselves better. Several, perhaps many, medical librarians have had to compile lists of kindred libraries for their own convenience. A list which I had thus prepared seemed to Aslib to offer adequate basis for a Directory of British medical libraries, and in order to complete it Aslib issued a questionnaire in the autumn of 1944 to libraries known to possess medical collections and to hospitals, medical societies, and medical institutions throughout the British Isles. The information obtained from the generous response to this questionnaire is epitomized in the list which follows. I am responsible for all omissions and errors and I hope that those who detect any will supply corrections and additions so that this preliminary list may be revised and become a definitive Directory.

The second article of the “Library Bill of Rights” proclaims: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Keeping this article in mind, have librarians always adhered to it? Cal Thomas, vice president of the Moral Majority, does not think so. In Book Burning (1982), he accuses the liberal establishment of censoring the writings of conservatives. For too long, conservatives have been branded as the arch banners when, in fact, they have faced prohibitive treatment from liberals. Thomas insists that some liberal publishing houses do not want to bring out a work espousing conservative ideals no matter how well‐written it is. Liberal extremist groups pressure publishing houses to reject their manuscripts. Liberal critics dismiss their books in a few sentences or do not review them at all. The large bookstore chains fail to stock their books, therefore depriving the reading public of exposure to them. And Thomas' final regret is that librarians turn a cold shoulder to books by conservatives, excluding them from their collections and, more importantly, from the judgment of history.

In the report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Meat Inspection of 1950, it was recommended that suitable candidates from the butchery trade should be enabled to qualify as meat inspectors and now the Authorised Officers (Meat Inspection) Regulations, 1960, give effect to this recommendation. The training and examination of candidates for these new posts will be under the auspices of the Royal Society of Health and a syllabus has been drafted comparable to that of the Meat and Other Foods Inspector's examination, but in meat only. Holders of the certificate will qualify for appointments as “authorised officers” under the Food & Drugs Act, 1955, with powers of inspection and seizure, but, again, in meat only. Appointments will be made by local authorities and the new inspectors will be integrated with the existing local authority meat inspection service and work under appropriate direction, although the circular of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food accompanying the regulations carries the suggestion that local authorities might permit individuals appointed to discharge the full duties of a meat inspector without “continuous supervision.”