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Spiritual wellbeing is a neglected aspect of quality of life in British research on ageing. US research emphasises the health and other benefits of religious belief for American older people. However, whereas the US is still a strongly religious society, in Britain there has been a steady erosion of membership of Christian churches, accompanied by a loss of respect for the authority of the church and an increased freedom of expression in belief. In an exploratory study the implications of spiritual belief for adjustment have been studied in a sample of 28 older bereaved spouses, who have been followed from the first to the second anniversary of the death. Using a recently developed measure of strength of spiritual belief, a clear pattern was found of greater depressive symptomatology and lower perception of personal meaning among those of moderate belief; ie those who still held to a belief in a spiritual power outside of themselves but who were not sure of its efficacy. Investigation of this group of 11 moderate believers provided many illustrations of spiritual questioning, uncertainty and unease. It appears likely that a substantial proportion of the older population in Britain has become isolated from their churches of origin, yet maintains forms of spiritual belief, often hesitant in character. Some may benefit from renewed contact. Statutory health and welfare agencies need to consider their own role in promoting such re‐engagement.

Higher proportions of females than males currently attain tertiary education in the United States where completing high school is the prerequisite for gaining access to postsecondary education (Buchmann, DiPrete, & McDaniel, 2008; Horn & Premo, 1995). Since 1970, women went from being the minority to the majority of the United States undergraduate population, increasing their representation in higher education from 42 percent of undergraduates in 1970 to 56 in 2001 (Freeman, 2004; Peter & Horn, 2005). Although there were more men than women ages 18–24 in the United States (15 vs. 14.2 million) in 2004, the male/female ratio on college campuses was 43–57, a reversal from the late 1960s and well beyond the nearly even splits of the mid-1970s (Marklein, 2005). Male–female ratios differ among colleges, with some US institutions now having ratios approaching two-thirds of women. It is projected that by 2010, 9.4 million women will be enrolled in college, compared with only 6.8 million men, a ratio of about 41 men to 59 women (NACUFS, 2007).

This is an account of a training course consisting of six three‐hourly sessions held in 1989. Sixteen attended the course, all supervisors from a variety of disciplines. The majority were over 40 years old and with more than 15 years service with the company. Greene King Employee Relations Adviser, Rod McAlpine, and Training and Safety Manager, Peter Jackson, felt the need to develop a more formalised training programme at supervisory level and a first series in interpersonal skills was thought to be appropriate. At the same time Relate, formerly the Marriage Guidance Council, was extending its educational and training areas in the Eastern region. Greene King took advantage of this to use them in the organising, actioning and planning of the course. The article consists of two sections, the first written by Rod McAlpine and Peter Jackson giving background details of the company and its training requirements. The second is the work of Mary Pennock, Relate Training Organiser in West Suffolk. In it she recounts how Relate approached what is a logical but comparatively recent extension of their activities. It also covers the details of the course which was designed and packaged for Greene King, bearing in mind the background of those taking part and the particular needs of the company.

The article starts by describing the procurement process for a Library Management System at Kings College, London. The library chose Aleph 500 (version 11.4), the system and the implementation process at KCL are described.

This chapter deals with the development of banking in the Crown of Aragon from the end of the thirteenth century through the establishment of money changers, which followed similar patterns as in other Western European territories. It starts with a review of existing literature and follows with an explanation on the different banking services provided by money changers and the specific legal framework that supported such activities. It then examines the geographical distribution of private banks in cities and towns within the domains of the kings of Aragon, as well as their evolution throughout the fourteenth century. After that, it offers an analysis of the most common professional profiles among these bankers and financers. Finally, drawing on a heterogeneous pool of unpublished data, it seeks to shed light on the diversity of investors and clients of these establishments, a crucial proof of their role in integrated financial markets.

The purpose of this study is to mirror the late guitarist Peter Green’s life experiences through insights from Andrew Voyce, who recovered from mental illness, and expertise from Peter Bryngelsson, a Swedish professional musician and author.

The authors used a mixed method of collaborative autoethnography, psychobiography and digital team ethnography.

Despite having not previously attracted academic interest, Peter Green’s experiences of mental health problems and his return to recording and performance provide a rich data source when mirrored and compared to the lives and experiences of Andrew Voyce and Peter Bryngelsson.

The main limitation of this piece of work is that Peter Green died in 2020. During the process of writing, the authors have had to follow different, mostly unacademic, sources that have described various parts of Peter Green’s life. The authors have given examples and drawn conclusions from their own lives as well as from academic sources, which they have found appropriate.

Both Andrew Voyce and Peter Bryngelsson’s stories would be helpful when it comes to a deeper understanding as to why Peter Green “took a left turn”, i.e., turned his back on an accepted lifestyle.

Acid casualty is a problem connected to both mental distress and to the music industry. Peter Bryngelsson’s story tells us that one can remain sane and drug free and still be an influential and creative musician.

The analysis has brought together two stories of mental distress in combination with insights.

Partnerships with business involvement became a key trend in development cooperation since the late 1980s. Partnerships emerged as promising governance mechanism; however, governing partnerships in practice remained challenging – promise and reality seem to diverge. This chapter scrutinizes the tension between the promises of partnerships as governance arrangements and their actual governance challenges. It disentangles the complexity of governing partnerships by developing a framework based on a continuum between efficiency- and participation-orientation. This chapter identifies partnering approaches and their governance orientations based on an extensive review of literature in diverse academic fields and grey literature on the emergence and evolution of partnerships in development cooperation since the 1980s. Examples from the Dutch development cooperation provide illustrations for each partnership approach. Efficiency- and participation-orientation highlight competing governance rationales, logics and partnership characteristics. Partnership approaches that aim to embrace both perspectives have to deal with the inherent governance paradox between control and collaboration. This chapter identifies three key implications for research and practice: exploring new governance approaches and practices, adapting development agencies towards partnering and coordinating partnership approaches at international level. Understanding the tension between the promises of partnerships as governance arrangements and their actual governance challenges does not only contribute to more nuanced conceptualizations of partnering approaches for development but has also implications on how to govern partnerships for development in practice.

In common with many other UK academic libraries using the LIBERTAS library management system, Bristol University Library set out in 1998 to acquire a replacement. This paper describes the background to the Bristol project to choose a new system, and some of its distinctive features, briefly indicates the outcome (acquisition of Aleph 500 from Ex Libris), and draws some lessons from the experience. It is easy to under. estimate the size of the task involved in installing a modern library management system. Careful thought should be given to an assessment of conversion needs and to the justifcation for retaining existing practices (e.g. use of UKMARC) rather than accepting the international norm. Both staff and users must understand the need for change and be prepared for its consequences. On‐site support from the system supplier is vital and time is of the essence.