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The report of the Metals Information Review Committee contains two recommendations relating to referral. The first, classed as a Principal Recommendation, was to the effect that a pilot referral centre for metals information should be established at the Metals Society and funded by the Department of Industry. The second, listed among the Other Recommendations, was that the British Library Research & Development Department should investigate the effectiveness of current informal referral practices, including the role of referral in technology transfer. It noted that the project should include consideration of whether there should be a national referral system for science and technology, or whether smaller, subject or industry‐oriented services are more appropriate. According to the report, this recommendation was based on the finding that ‘the referral function is a basic component in effective access to and availability of information, independent of improving bibliographic control and information dissemination. It provides a key to maximising the usefulness of existing resources of knowledge and information’.

This paper combined an at-destination decision-making model with the theory of tie strength to find out information related to the referrals that travelers received and used at a major tourist destination in the southeastern United States. At-destination decisions included lodging, eating and dining, entertainment, recreation, and travel. The data indicated eating and dining, recreation, and entertainment decisions are made in large numbers at the destination. The first research question involved referral source and frequency for at-destination decisions, revealing many third-party decision-makers. Friends and family members were the most requested and local residents the least requested referral sources. The second research question inquired as to whether satisfaction scores from the referred experience differed across referral source. The researchers suggested that referrals have different perceived levels of trust, expertise, and ties, and potentially will render different sales levels. Due to this, the satisfaction outcome was measured by referral source. Results showed that referred satisfaction scores were highest from local resident referrals followed by friends and relatives – one a strong tie and one a strong–weak tie. Finally, more neutral satisfaction scores were reported from other information sources. The article closes by offering possible explanations for these differences and by providing suggestions for additional at-destination decision-making and outcome research.

The Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) is an all IQ service accepting professional and self-referrals, from age 18, for diagnostic assessment. LADS is unusual compared to other diagnostic services in England, in that it accepts self-referrals. The purpose of this paper is to compare diagnostic outcome between self-referrals and other referral sources.

This is a service evaluation of all 692 referrals for diagnostic assessment into LADS, over a three year period, from 2016 to 2018. The diagnostic outcomes were compared between self-referrals and other referral sources. Secondary analysis looked at age and gender differences between these groups.

There were 98 self-referrals over three years with autism diagnosed in 65 per cent. In total, 594 other referrals were received during this time period, with autism diagnosed in 44 per cent. This showed a significant difference of 21 per cent with 95% confidence intervals of 10–31 per cent (p=0.0001) using a n−1 χ² test. In total, 59 per cent of self-referrals were from patients identifying as female, which compared to 35 per cent identifying as female from other referrals. This was a difference of 24 per cent with 95% confidence interval of 14–34 per cent (p<0.0001) on the n−1 χ² test.

Factors which may influence the ability to generalise from these results are: that LADS covers a large mainly urban and suburban area with a range of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity; that LADS is an all IQ service unlike some other autism diagnostic services; historical and service-related factors unique to Leeds may be dissimilar to other locations. It was beyond the scope of this evaluation to perform a qualitative analysis to compare the referral sources, but this may be an area for further study.

This evaluation supports the use of a self-referral route for adult autism diagnostic services on a local level and may support its use more widely in other services.

This evaluation, in demonstrating proportionately significantly higher autism diagnosis from self-referrals is likely to be reducing the work load of professionals who would normally make referrals. Alternatively, it may be capturing a subgroup of the autism population who would not otherwise have sought diagnosis. In either scenario, it supports and is consistent with a patient centred approach to accessing appropriate diagnostic services.

The authors are not aware that any previous evaluation of this nature has been conducted and feel this evaluation supports the use of a self-referral pathway in adult autism diagnostic services.

Transference-based trust (TBT) via referral sources is a cognitive process where trust in third-party information about an individual transfers to trust in the individual. TBT via referral sources can have significant effects on early trust development in a virtual team (VT). This study aims to examine the potential influence of Hofstede’s (1980) cultural variables and two proposed combinations of these cultural variables on early trust development in VT, including the effects of referral source.

This study adopted multigroup analysis partial least squares structural modeling to examine potential cultural differences in the responses of 357 university students from 51 different countries to understand early trust development in VT.

TBT via referral sources as in interpersonal construct has a positive, direct impact on early trust development. TBT mediated the individual and organizational model constructs. There were significant differences in the high/low values of 3 of the 56 tested cultural dimensions.

Reaffirmed the validity of cognitive-based trust models in understanding early trust development in VTs TBT as an interpersonal construct and has a significant influence on early trust development in VTs. TBT via referral sources mediated the individual and organizational constructs of the model. There were significant differences in the high/low measures of three cultural dimensions (i.e. IV, M and the combination of IV-M-LT) in the relationship of early trusting beliefs to early trusting intensions.

To positively influence interpersonal and organizational aspects of trust development, managers should ensure that the early phases of VTs, before actual implementation begins, are well organized. Managers could make VT members fully aware of how referral sources can influence early trust development. Managers could encourage individuals to have open access to relevant social media accounts for other VT members and encourage individuals to research referral sources on other VTs members. The implication for managers of culturally diverse VT is that the development of early trust is largely by individual choice, rather than differences in national culture.

People need to maintain and actively manage their online presence, ensuring that online information about them is accurate and updated. Referral sources could help VT members learn about one another, which might in turn help foster early trust in their online teams.

Although some studies have found significant cultural differences in early trust development, other studies, including a meta-analysis of 43 studies, found no significant cultural differences in early trust development. This study confirmed the results of the meta-analysis.

This paper aims to respond to the findings of the initial phase of the Safeguarding Adults Programme (November 2009‐March 2010), which found an unexpected inverse relationship between referral rate for safeguarding adults and population size of local authority in the data captured from April 2008 to March 2009.

An analysis of regional safeguarding referral rates relative to population with a breakdown by service groups was undertaken; statistics from the economic deprivation index (EDI) were also used. A questionnaire was designed and sent out to the authorities regarding thresholds, eligibility, definitions, advice and information available to referrers, accuracy of recording and public awareness. The data analysed here cover the following year's safeguarding referrals.

The questionnaire revealed broad differences in thresholds, eligibility, definitions, advice and information available to referrers, accuracy of recording and public awareness campaigns across the studied authorities. These differences contribute to obscuring real differences in underlying processes. A highly significant relationship between EDI and safeguarding referral rates was found, implying real differences in abuse rates driven by underlying socio‐economic factors. Differences in abuse allegations were systematic, so that authorities with a particularly high level of referrals did not have unusually high contributions from particular service user groups or from particular referral sources. Similarly the nature of abuse allegations did not differ between authorities with high or low‐referral rates.

The paper investigates the reasons for variation and explores thresholds for safeguarding referrals.

People with an intellectual disability are at an increased risk of developing a mental illness. An estimated 50 per cent develop a significant psychiatric problem at some point in their lives. Since the shifting trend to treat and manage individuals in the community setting, there are concerns over the lack of guidance of how intellectual disability mental health services in the community should be organised. This paper aims to address this issue.

Details of all new referrals made to the mental health of intellectual disability team in Dartford, Kent over a 12‐month period were collated and a questionnaire was used to gather retrospective data of each referral pathway.

There were 50 patients referred in total, with the primary source being GPs (58 per cent). In total, 40 per cent of all referrals were considered to be inappropriate for the mental health of intellectual disability team and the majority of these originated from the adult mental health and child and adolescent mental health service teams.

These findings identify areas of focus for closer liaison with colleagues to improve the quality of referrals and to reduce the demands placed on our service.

Although ethnicity and gender play a significant role in many types of social interaction, little research exists on their importance in mediation. An analysis of community mediation cases (N = 27,852) from New York state demonstrated that, consistent with predictions from criminal justice research, Whites were underrepresented in mediation relative to Blacks and Hispanics, and that females were more likely to participate in mediation as claimants than men. Both ethnicity and gender were related to the type of dispute, degree of violence, intimacy between disputants, source of referral, and mediation outcome. Additional analysis, taking into account source of referral, education, and income level of the claimant, did not fully account for the observed ethnic or gender differences. Results are discussed in terms of reasons why ethnic and gender differences exist in mediation, limitations of demographic data, and areas for future research.

Literature suggests young people (YP) from ethnic minority backgrounds face barriers in accessing mental health support due to discrimination and stigma and so this study aims to explore how YP from ethnic minority backgrounds interact with online counselling.

The study used secondary data provided by Kooth, a digital mental health service for YP, for users who accessed the service from September 2020 to 2021 (N = 118,556). The users measure of need (YP-CORE) was assessed upon sign up to the service, and they also chose the ethnicity and background they felt best represented by. The study hypothesised the following: H1. There would be a significant difference between ethnic group of YP and source of referral; H2. There would be a significant difference in ethnic group of YP and YP-CORE score.

The one-way ANOVA and chi-squared analyses demonstrated a significant difference for both hypotheses indicating a significant association between source of referral and ethnicity, and a significant difference in measure of need when comparing YP who self-identified as White to those who self-identified as Asian.

Findings reveal school-based services are the most popular source of referral for all YP; however, a higher number of YP from Asian and Black ethnicities reached out through informal sources such as Google as opposed to health professionals such as GPs. From the data, YP who identified as Indian, Chinese and African present to online counselling at a lower level of distress compared to their White British counterparts, contradictory to findings investigating measure of need in face-to-face settings.

Although the Public Health Service has identified AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) as the number one priority among public health concerns in the United States, and the Surgeon General has issued an official report calling for AIDS education initiatives to be instituted in a variety of settings throughout this country, many libraries have been slow to develop proactive means of supplying educational material on AIDS. As part of an overall AIDS education initiative, libraries stand to play a significant role through the production and/or distribution of information on AIDS, through the development of collections capable of satisfying the informational and educational needs of patrons and through the provision of reference and referral services that provide effective information delivery as it pertains to inquiries regarding the subject of AIDS.

The literature on job networks predicts that employees referred through networks would be better matched and mentored and thus would have lower turnover. However, existing research on this question has neglected the ways in which network effects are contingent upon firm organization. Using the personnel records of a large retail bank, we examine the relationship between network recruitment and turnover among new employees. There was no significant difference between network referrals and non-referrals, but referrals eligible for the employee referral program did have lower turnover. These results are explicable in light of the bank’s organization.