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Describes the process used by the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast in 1992‐1994 to achieve high quality care (Seamless Service), and motivate staff to deliver and measure performance. Aims of the project include focusing the organization on the customer, improving teamwork and motivation at all levels. After comprehensive data collection from GPs, patients and staff forums developed a full TQM strategy to gain support and maintain momentum including innovative staff events (every staff member was given the opportunity to attend) where multilevel, multidisciplinary workshops enabled staff to design customer care standards, develop teams and lead customer‐driven change.

Describes the process used by the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast in 1992‐1994 to achieve high quality care (Seamless Service), motivate staff to deliver and measure performance. Aims of the project include focusing the organization on the customer, improving teamwork and motivation at all levels. After comprehensive data collection from GPs, patients and staff management forums developed a full TQM strategy to gain support and maintain momentum including innovative staff events (every staff member was given the opportunity to attend) where multilevel, multidisciplinary workshops enabled staff to design customer care standards, develop teams and lead customer‐driven change.

Describes the process used by the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast in 1992 to achieve high quality care (seamless service), motivate staff to deliver and measure performance. Aims of the project included focusing the organization on the customer, improving teamwork and motivation. Opinions of staff, patients and GPs were examined and key issues for improvements were identified. Interface from every single interaction between Mater and customers was measured, taking into account customer perception of service, and staff perceptions of service. Data collection methods included taped interviews, video vox pops and questionnaires. Concludes that a mismatch was found between service offered and service required. Workshops launched ongoing activities and a small steering group designed a series of management forums to gain future support.

The British Architectural Library at the Royal Institute of British Architects has been awarded a grant of £3,500 from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, to help in the preservation of the Library's manuscripts and archives collection. The grant will be used to treat important 18th and 19th century papers, including the correspondence of eminent architects. The first item to receive treatment will be the fragile “Goodchild Album”, a valuable record of the work of the Cockerell practice compiled by his assistant, John Eastly Goodchild. The album was purchased by the British Architectural Library at a Christie's sale in 1983 with the aid of a grant from the National Art Collections Fund.

Since the early 70's, library authorities have been keen to make their services more accessible to non‐traditional users. The list of target groups for attention appears endless but roughly follows most authorities' equal opportunity statements which inlcude: black/ethnic minorities; gay men and lesbians; and the disabled. As this feature is concerned with the race dimension, I'd like to focus on service provision for black/ethnic minorities.

Web searching breakthroughs. Breakthroughs in the ability to search and retrieve up‐to‐date documents on the World Wide Web are promised with upgrades to two major search engines. WebCrawler is using Personal Librarian to offer more precise searching, while InfoSeek is claiming near real time indexing of the Web.

The cultivation of the vine, and the making and drinking of wine date back into unrecorded past history of the human race, occurring in many parts of the world; as soon as the Flood was subsided, the Scriptures tell us, Noah planted a vineyard, and the Psalmist refers to wine making glad the heart of man. But this country of ours is not a place where the vine can grow, at least with any degree of comfort; as a consequence the drinking of wine has never been a typically British habit, and up to comparatively recent times it was mainly confined to the “ upper ” classes. It used to be customary, however, among some of less elevated rank and station, particularly when it was desired to show some signs of aspiration toward, or pretence of, gentility, to keep the odd decanter of wine on or in the sideboard, for production on particular occasions and for special visitors. There had been much hard drinking in the “ good old days ”, both of spirits and malted liquors by the lower orders, and of wine by their betters, and one of the early manifestations of the Victorian conscience was a reaction against this lamentable tendency of our forebears, leading to the formation of a strong temperance movement, which has remained with us to this day, labouring with varied success. That “ wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging ”, was accepted as an awful truth in certain circles, and in them the use of wine was proscribed. But the word “ wine ” still retained a sort of cachet, having been so long associated with high life and social eminence, and the blue ribbon hostess still felt the need to remain fashionable, and to be able to offer to the occasional caller the customary glass of something genteel and comme il faut. Here was a commercial opportunity which led to the appearance on the market of “ non‐alcoholic” wines, and the Non‐conformist madam could now still say her polite “ A glass of wine?” with no qualms of conscience or straining of her temperance principles.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

In England and Wales, the construction industry produces 53.5 Mt of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) annually, of which 51 percent goes to landfill, 40 percent is used for land reclamation and only 9 percent is crushed for future use or directly recovered. C&D waste may be contaminated, either through spillage from industrial processes or contact with contaminated land. There are no guidelines on how to classify C&D waste as contaminated or on risk management for contaminated C&D waste. Research at the UK Building Research Establishment and the University of Manchester has shown that new taxes are making disposal of C&D waste to landfill uneconomic, that low grade “land‐modelling” recycling is increasing, and that disposal on‐site is preferred. Sampling spatially of structures before demolition and temporally of processed C&D waste emerging from crushers is enabling sources of contamination and exceedance of guideline values to be compared with natural background levels. Improved sampling procedures and recommendations for risk assessment for the re‐use of C&D waste are being prepared.