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Focuses on the research outcomes of a longitudinal, in‐depth investigation of the electronic information resource use of 16 young people. Aims to provide a flexible, qualitative framework that can be applied within local contexts to enable context‐specific understanding of electronic information resource use. Concludes that, although the groups may remain consistent, personal constructions and notions of value within those groups is more likely to be context‐specific.

If information professionals are to measure the value of their services, they must talk directly to users and listen to what they have to say about their lives, as well as measuring the service in terms of value for money. Whilst acknowledging the necessity of data concerned with processes and procedures, the concept of value can only be fully explored by going to the individual user directly, within a specific context. Researchers must make the anecdotal believable, trustworthy, worthy of being considered alongside other types of hard data, and a constructivist approach to collecting, analysing and presenting qualitative data can be used effectively to achieve this. The UK government has pledged to deliver public services to meet the needs of citizens, not the convenience of service providers, by involving and meeting the needs of all different groups in society. Its Best Value review represents one of the most far reaching challenges facing those responsible for local services. Can its framework provide the flexibility to support all those who have a stake in measuring value of library and information services?

The paper discusses which factors influence the adoption and use of quality measurement tools in libraries. With very different practices and implementation strategies in different countries, compares the situation in Denmark and the UK. The basis for the comparison is a comprehensive survey of managers in the library sector.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a flavour of the content of International Round Table at the Conference on Competencies and Curriculum for IL held in Milan, Italy in March 2007.

A description of the issues, content and speakers of the Round Table is presented in this report.

Various international perspectives were reported at this round table, covering the themes of IL courses, the curriculum, professional competencies, learning by doing, and who is the right teacher for IL, which ended with a lively discussion and thoughts for the future.

This paper provides a conference report of value to library and information professionals on the role of libraries for education, IL, learning styles, and the new challenges for information professionals working in the learning society.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the trends for digital library education in Europe. It addresses two questions: what are the roles for digital librarians? How should they be educated?

The analysis is based on the results of the project “European Curriculum Reflections on Library and Information Science Education” and the proceedings of the Workshops on Digital Library Education, held in Italy in 2005 and in Croatia in 2006.

Three approaches to education for digital library are described: the emergence of the concept of “memory institutions”; the library‐based approach to knowledge management; and the isolation of IT from library and information science (LIS) schools.

The roles of the digital librarian are suggested, and the structure of a course for digital library education is proposed, but further research is needed on the definition of the digital library concept.

A digital librarian should have a combination of technological and librarianship competences.

The paper addresses the issue of education needed for digital librarians in Europe.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

The Center for Women’s Business Research estimates women are now the majority owners in 6.7 million privately held businesses in the United States and equal owners in another 4.0 million firms. When part owners in multiple businesses are included the female ownership total climbs to an estimated 15.6 million businesses. Women majority owners account for nearly half (48 per cent) of the privately‐held firms in the United States. Their businesses generate $2.46 trillion in sales. They employ 19.1 million people and spend an estimated $492 billion on salaries and $54 billion on employee benefits. The number of women‐owned firms increases at twice the rate of all new firms (14 per cent versus 7 per cent) and the number of employees nearly as fast (30 per cent versus 18 per cent). Women owners are rapidly moving into all industries, with the fastest growth percentages in the fields of construction (30 per cent), transportation, communications and public utilities (28 per cent) and agricultural services (24 per cent). Worldwide, with women entrepreneurs in under developed countries leading the way, women‐owned firms now comprise between one‐fourth and one‐third of all businesses. Given the numbers, it would be almost impossible to overestimate the impact of women owned businesses in today’s global economy.

Principal-agent theory (PAT) has been used to understand relationships among different professional groups and explain performance management between organisations, but is rarely used for research within primary care. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether PAT can be used to attain a better understanding of performance management in primary care.

Purposive sampling was used to identify a range of general practices in the North-west of England. Interviews were carried out with directors, managers and clinicians in commissioning and regional performance management organisations and within general practices, and the data analysed using matrix analysis techniques to produce a case study of performance management.

There are various elements of the principal-agent framework that can be applied in primary care. Goal alignment is relevant, but can only be achieved through clear, strategic direction and consistent interpretation of objectives at all levels. There is confusion between performance measurement and performance management and a tendency to focus on things that are easy to measure whilst omitting aspects of care that are more difficult to capture. Appropriate use of incentives, good communication, clinical engagement, ownership and trust affect the degree to which information asymmetry is overcome and goal alignment achieved. Achieving the right balance between accountability and clinical autonomy is important to ensure governance and financial balance without stifling innovation.

The principal-agent theoretical framework can be used to attain a better understanding of performance management in primary care; although it is likely that only partial goal alignment will be achieved, dependent on the extent and level of alignment of a range of factors.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.