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It is said that travel broadens the mind, deepens the understanding and refreshes the spirit. Judging by the amount of long distance travel undertaken nowadays by more people than ever before, it may also be said to widen the beam! However, this brief article is mainly concerned with the scope and benefits of the Library Association's programme of internships.

These substances, resulting from the constant building‐up and breaking‐down of living tissues, have most friendly relations with their host, although antagonists—antimetabolites—appear now and then and disrupt their functions. In some of the inborn errors of metabolism, the antagonism is permanent and unless replacement therapy occurs at a very early stage, it interferes with physical and/or mental development. That metabolites from other sources introduced into a host could be extremely toxic was amply illustrated when a metabolite of certain strains of Aspergillus flavus, a fungus commonly found in peanuts and other vegetable seeds, caused severe losses to turkey breeders a few years ago. In 1960, it was discovered that the toxic principle was aflatoxin, which had a number of components and that all farm and laboratory animals, with the exception of sheep, were sensitive to it. Now, it has been confirmed that pure aflatoxin added to a normal laboratory diet is carcinogenic. (J. H. Butler and J. M. Barnes, 1963, Brit. J. Cancer, 17, 699.) Cows fed on highly toxic meal secreted a milk factor which proved to be toxic to ducklings. (H. de Iongh, R. O. Vles, and J. G. van Pelt, 1964, Nature, 202, 466.)

In dealing with the relations of the Public Analysts to the Local Authorities, the very wide differences in status and importance exhibited by the various types of local authorities possessing the power to appoint such officers must first be considered. At first sight this matter may appear to be one of minor significance, but it has in reality a most important bearing on the efficiency of the administration of the Acts, and it is one in regard to which future legislation might effect much‐needed reform.

IT is said that travel broadens the mind, deepens the understanding and refreshes the spirit. Judging by the amount of long distance travel undertaken nowadays by more people than ever before, it may also be said to widen the beam! However, this brief article is mainly concerned with the scope and benefits of the Library Association's programme of internships.

The way of thought and vision and memory is that they often come upon you unexpectedly, presenting nothing new but usually with a clarity and emphasis that it all seems new. This will sometimes happen after a long period of indecision or when things are extremely difficult, as they have long been for the country, in most homes and among ordinary individuals. Watching one's life savings dwindle away, the nest‐egg laid down for security in an uncertain world, is a frightening process. This has happened to the nation, once the richest in the world, and ot its elderly people, most of them taught the habit of saving in early youth. We are also taught that what has been is past changing; the clock cannot be put back, and the largesse—much of it going to unprincipled spongers—distributed by a spendthrift Government as token relief is no answer, not even to present difficulties. The response can only come by a change of heart in those whose brutal selfishness have caused it all; and this may be a long time in coming. In the meantime, it is a useful exercise to consider our assets, to recognize those which must be protected at all costs and upon which, when sanity returns, the future depends.

IN this issue we conclude our symposium on Modern Library Planning, and although it is not as complete as we could wish, it has certainly proved to be one of the most interesting subjects we have been able to deal with in recent years. We regret that lack of space has prevented us from including some interesting details about new libraries, and that we have laid ourselves open to the criticism of over‐crowding. We hope, however, that we shall be able, from time to time, to add further material as the occasion warrants. We had hoped to obtain a description of the Central Library Extension of the Hull Public Libraries, but this has, unfortunately, proved impossible. Lancashire County Library, too, is constructing four new branch libraries, an account of which we should have liked to include. Plymouth may be mentioned as still another library of which the material was not ready in time for our symposium. Also, we are sorry to have had to omit some of the illustrations which librarians have been kind enough to offer us for reproduction. In spite of these omissions, however, we have been able to gather together much that is new and interesting in modern planning, and one of the points that is well worth notice is the willingness of librarians to experiment in new ideas, even if conservatively.

Taming the complexity of crisis and integrating diverse narratives and sources regarding crisis events is a serious challenge. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for reconstructing, dissecting, and thematically comparing crisis experiences, using the 7/7 London bombings of 2005 as an illustrative empirical application.

A cognitive-institutional process-tracing methodology suitable compatible with structured focussed comparison of crisis cases (Stern and Sundelius, 2002; cf. George and Bennett, 2005) is used. This cognitive-institutional process tracing and analysis strategy consists of four steps: contextualization, development of a synthetic chronological narrative, identification and reconstruction of decision occasions, and (comparative) thematic analysis.

The paper demonstrates the feasibility of applying the methodology to real-world cases in the UK and concludes with reflections about the need for contextualized, systematic post mortem crisis analysis taking into account problem and process complexity, differential crisis performances of individuals and organizations under adverse conditions, and the increasing importance of social media and personal communications devices for crisis research and practice.

The methodology used in this paper has the potential to improve the effectiveness of organizational learning and reform efforts in the wake of crisis experiences.

Insights associated with the application of this methodology can lead to improved post-crisis learning and fairer accountability processes, and thus contribute to enhancing societal resilience.

The study not only presents an original methodology developed by one of the authors, but also provides a systematic, relatively comprehensive and theoretically informed analysis of the July 7 London bombings based not only upon the documentary record, but also upon a substantial number of interviews.

Various newspapers seem to agree that the Ministry of Food will cease to exist in the course of 1953. The increase, this month, in the price to the consumer of several rationed foods, as the result of reductions in subsidies, may facilitate the abolition of rationing at an early date—and this abolition, it is considered, will attract housewives' votes to the Conservative party, in addition to securing economies in administrative costs. If Mr. Churchill and Lord Woolton remain in office and decide to abolish the Ministry of Food, what remains to be considered is the extent to which its functions will remain and to what Department they will be allotted. For the abolition of all controls is just unthinkable and would involve economic chaos. It may be that some local authorities would welcome complete independence of central supervision in the administration of Food Laws. On the other hand, they would strongly deplore the cessation of the flow of those Statutory Instruments by which standards of composition and quality are set up. Nor would all manufacturers wish to see any backsliding in the matter of the control of advertisements and labels. In a recent issue of The Pharmaceutical Journal, an unnamed manufacturer expressed the view that it would be a pity if the good results achieved by the onlightened action of the Labelling Division of the Ministry of Food were allowed to slip away, and deplored the discontinuance of the Ministry's advisory service. For myself, I have no doubt that there must also remain great need and scope for centralised activities in the matter of limiting certain imports, restricting the sale of luxury articles in short supply (for example, cream, at certain periods of the year, at least) and various other controls required for economic reasons. It would be a pity to throw away the baby with the bath‐water.