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This article reflects on the competitive strengths and weaknesses of small and large support providers, based on observations over the last few years, predicted developments in the commissioning market and the application of a few business tools. It concludes that the support market is in a poor state, that few if any providers can make a decent return and that competition between providers has not brought forth ‘winners’ with a commanding share of the market and the ability to achieve significant efficiencies. In the commercial world, support would rank as a ‘dog’ business ‐ low market share, low growth, loss making. Commercial businesses, if unable to reduce costs, would have left or repositioned this activity by now. Large housing association providers seem t10.5042/hcs.2010.0705o be doing just this, a trend that is likely to accelerate. But loss of support contracts is an existential threat to the small providers, so, unlike their large competitors who can simply walk away, they are fighting harder and making more sacrifices to stay in business. Although no organisation can afford to make continuing losses, it is possible that the determination of small providers will see them through to better times.

This paper aims to examine Socratic dialogue in asynchronous online discussions in relation to constructivism. The links between theory and practice in teaching are to be discussed whilst tracing the origins of Socratic dialogue and recent trends and use of seminar in research based institutions.

Many online degree courses employ asynchronous discussions where the teacher, acting as a moderator, is seen as the guide on the side rather than the sage on the stage. Such an approach, employing collaborative learning, is often described as constructivist. Practitioners may see the term constructivist as simply a convenient label to describe a range of effective teaching practices. Even when it is said that knowledge is constructed, this may be viewed as little more than a metaphor. There are however, behind these labels, epistemological theories such as radical constructivism and social constructivism which pose serious challenges to traditional views that perception is guided by contact with an independent reality and that science involves a search for objective truth. Many significant philosophical objections can be raised against these theories. The links between the theory and teaching practices of proven value are tenuous. There is an alternative explanation of the origins of teaching practices associated with asynchronous discussions.

Asynchronous discussion makes it possible for all students to make an initial written contribution based on both research and industry experience, as well as an extensive participation in a written debate. The relative ease of assessing contributions to a written debate helps overcome the problem of the seminar where only one person may get credit for his or her contribution. Contributions can to a great extent be made when it is convenient for both moderator and students.

The present study has considered the case of one institution; it will be useful to examine it for many.

Asynchronous online discussion is one of the highest forms of Socratic dialogue.

This is a different approach to the traditional belief and new ideas for consideration are presented. The Socratic dialogue has been developed as both an oral and written tradition from the works of authors like Plato, through to the development of the medieval university with its disputations and oral examinations, the introduction of seminars in research based universities inspired by Humboldt, the development of scholarly journals, and on to the asynchronous online discussions in the era of the Web.

The size of that section of the electronic market place known as the Internet is substantially dependent on how many people acquire and retain Internet access. This core of Internet users is the bedrock on which electronic commerce will be built. More attention has been given to the reasons why people join the Internet community than to their motivation for leaving. We therefore sought to carry out exploratory research into the thinking of some of the likely Internet defectors in order to identify intelligent questions which could form the basis for subsequent experimental hypotheses. At the same time we took the opportunity to examine possible critical mass effects in the adoption of the Internet as a piece of innovative technology, and to shed some light on the question of knowledge gaps, more recently characterised as the problem of the information rich and the information poor.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the significance and limitations of ethical shopping in Britain in the period between the 1880s and 1914 and, in particular, the use of white lists as a means of encouraging consumers only to buy goods produced in satisfactory working conditions.

A brief survey of earlier examples of ethical shopping provides the context for a discussion of the published prospectus of the “Consumers” League’. Unpublished records of the Christian Social Union (CSU), supplemented by newspaper reports, are used to examine the rationale for white lists, their creation and effectiveness.

The paper demonstrates that, contrary to what has generally been thought, consumers’ leagues originated in Britain not the USA. The CSU was not ineffective but provided an ethical and religious rationale for consumer activism. It was also responsible for the creation of white lists in several towns and cities in Britain and promoted the concept of preferential buying. CSU activity helped shape public opinion, but sustained improvements to working conditions also required effective trade unions and government intervention.

Relatively few CSU branch records survive and this precludes a comprehensive survey of its role in ethical shopping.

The British consumer movement in this period has been little studied and often dismissed. By making use of archives, particularly CSU branch records, that have generally been ignored, the paper demonstrates that ethical shopping mattered and deserves more attention. It also highlights the importance of setting this in a wider context, particularly trade unionism and co-operation.

THE FUNCTION OF THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN is to conduct requests for knowledge to known or to possible sources. He can sometimes do this by turning with arm‐length familiarity to a bay full of familiar friends —B.N.B., Besterman, Walford, Britannica, Willings ‐ and an increasing number and variety of bibliographical aids to specialized fields in current literature, but a request for wide, intensive and retrospective book coverage of a subject can set him dancing for a whole afternoon.

On the only rainy day of a week in early March, a yellow Rolls Royce pulled up outside a substantial house in North London, the home of Dr Paul Eisler, the inventor of the foil method of printed circuit manufacture. The occasion was the presentation to him of the Graphic Electronics Achievement Award in recognition of his work on the printed circuit.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns, stay at home or work from home, many have argued that the westernised non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) do not provide remedial in low-income countries like Nigeria, where informal job seekers, street traders, informal labourers and artisans depend mainly on the informal economy. By applying social solidarity (SS) and community-based approach (CBA), the authors evaluate individual acts (trust, altruism and reciprocity) during the lockdown and how these practices evolve from individual approaches to collective actions.

This study reflects on pragmatism research paradigm that enables researchers to maintain both subjectivity in their reflections and objectivity in data collection and analysis. The authors adopt a qualitative method through purposeful and convenience sampling procedure. Data were analysed thematically to identify elements of SS, individual acts, collective or community actions and perceptions.

The findings reveal that COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact (lack of food and a fall in daily income) on workers, informal job seekers, informal businesses operators and the poor households. As such, the study developed a reflective model of solidarity exhibited by individual acts and collective acts (practices of resource pooling, information sharing, women empowerment, distribution of palliatives and donations) within trusted circles that helped people cope with the lockdown experiences.

Solidarity represents beliefs, practices of values and norms. The SS exhibited by people through NPI would have implications on planning and monitoring the effectiveness of public health programmes during a pandemic in the future.

The findings of citizens and community actions have implications related to the process of building communities – coming together – and solidarity that enhances social development with implications on community health policy agenda during disasters, emergencies and health pandemic.

This is one of the first studies to analyse the relationship between trust, altruism, reciprocity, SS and CBA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it seems reasonable to clarify the concept of SS given the lack of clarity about the definitions from previous studies.