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THE end of October saw the return of most of our overseas visitors, continental and otherwise, to their homes, leaving with us pleasant memories of a mutually successful visit. The Englishman's proverbial difficulties with foreign tongues, even of neighbouring France, did not complicate matters unduly or reduce too much those interchanges which conference and school afforded. We can repeat our frequently‐expressed hope that there will be an ever increasing series of visits, both of the foreigner to England and of ourselves as foreigners to other countries. We would welcome longer stays in both cases. Nothing but good can come from them.

FIRST THINGS FIRST AUTUMN may be a time for a new review of our work which is additional to our supreme task of providing and exploiting books. There is no single thing that we have done for the past fifty years that may not be made the better for examination, so long as that examination is cautious. Our publicity for example; is it direct, dignified, appealing; or, is it flabby, sometimes actually silly and sometimes a vain competing with that of great stores or newspapers with their relatively enormous resources? If the truth is accepted that the best expenditure we can make is on books and that the light that radiates from our shelves is from them we shall do well. Open shelves, well‐filled with modern editions of the new and old, are our best exhibition and the only permanently valuable one; our best publicity agents are our satisfied readers. The public will always pass on to others news of things it has proved to be good. If we came without previous knowledge to examine library literature today we might easily infer that books are now a negligible part of the thought of librarians. So much indeed that even librarians themselves have been heard to plead for some knowledge of the greater books of the world amongst themselves. Other writers in these pages and writers elsewhere have done this occasionally. The explanation lies in the fact that the “frills” we add to the real fabric of libraries are just attracting additions made to draw further attention to the existing excellent book‐services we now give. It is probable that the concern for information services, gramophone records and so many other now familiar extras is shown most by librarians whose bookstock is already excellent and is being kept so. Such an explanation we should like to believe.

In October 1991, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) introduced FirstSearch, an online reference product designed for the end‐user. Through a menu interface, which features extensive online help, more than thirty databases, covering a range of subject areas, are currently available. Among these are three unique to OCLC: WorldCat (the OCLC online union catalog), Article1st, and Contents1st. The latter two offer bibliographic citations to articles in more than 11,000 journals, primarily in the English language, in the areas of science, technology, medicine, social science, business, the humanities, and popular culture. Several authors have described the searching, printing, and pricing options available for the system.

The purpose of this paper is to extend current conceptualizations of multicultural individuals by mapping the underlying elements of knowledge, identification, commitment and internalization as components of multicultural identity. It aims to extend discussions of how multicultural individuals manage their multiculturality.

The paper draws primarily on extant works on multicultural individuals and identity. The paper reviews a number of concepts relevant to multicultural identity to introduce the existence of a population called n-Culturals who represent a complex type that exists on one extreme of a continuum of multicultural identity. The paper derives a theory of n-Culturalism which represents a more nuanced theory of the multicultural identity.

n-Culturals recognizes that elements of multicultural identity exist within individuals to a greater or lesser extent and that their combination results in a comprehensive understanding of the entire range of multicultural identities. n-Culturalism extends current views that multicultural individuals maintain multiple saliences of their identities rather than switching modes to manage their multiculturality.

The conceptual nature of the paper implies that there are no existing empirical data apart from anecdotal examples; at the same time this fact provides ample opportunities to test the theory.

First, the findings provides an understanding of multiple cultural influences on acculturative stress and on performance across a range of domains as well as measuring multicultural identity. Second, by understanding the way in which n-Culturals develop the authors may gain valuable insights in modeling this process.

The paper develops a new theory of approaching the challenges faced by multicultural individuals, that is, how to manage their multiculturality. The theory goes beyond current views of switching modes or suppression, and suggests maintaining and balancing multiple identities.

Healthcare projects face multiple obstacles in achieving sustainability. This paper aims to provide information regarding the energy consumption of healthcare facilities, to identify barriers to sustainability and to suggest methods to improve the effectiveness of these buildings.

This study investigates sustainability in healthcare buildings by examining national databases about energy use and energy savings. The authors then initiate a dialogue on this topic by interviewing experts in healthcare planning and design regarding the implications of this data, challenges to sustainability and potential solutions to these challenges.

An analysis of data from the Energy Information Administration revealed that healthcare facilities rank second among building types in the USA in energy use per square foot and rank fourth in total energy use. Data from the US Green Building Council showed that only 1 per cent of healthcare buildings are registered with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, and 0.4 per cent have achieved certification, which is low compared with other building types.

Research and discussion must continue engaging all stakeholders to interpret the data and identify transformative solutions to facilitate sustainable healthcare design construction and operation.

It is important to approach sustainability in healthcare from social, economic, environmental and health-related perspectives. The authors identify five major barriers to sustainable healthcare design and construction and discuss 12 practical solutions.

Given the energy demands of healthcare buildings, facilitating their sustainability has the potential to make a significant difference in national energy use. Empirical research and evidence-based design can potentially help to accelerate sustainability by clarifying impacts and documenting the economic and operational returns on investment.