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This paper examines the problem many researchers experience of having to spend much time rekeying records obtained from external online and CD‐ROM databases into their own personal microcomputer databases. An overview of the possibilities for electronic transfer of such records is given. For a university library and information centre, the need for a multipurpose reformatting program, capable of converting record formats, is demonstrated. One such program, HEADFORM, is used to test record conversion from one CD‐ROM and four online databases to the personal microcomputer databases of three researchers and to determine approximate time savings by transferring such records electronically rather than manually. Results show that, with a few limitations, records from online and CD‐ROM databases can be converted successfully to the formats required by these three personal database systems, and that significant time savings are possible.

This paper examines the problem many researchers experience of having to spend much time rekeying records obtained from external online and CD‐ROM databases into their own personal databases on personal computers (PC). An overview of the possibilities for electronic transfer of such records is given. For a university library and information centre the need for a multi‐purpose reformatting program, capable of converting record formats of many diverse databases to a multitude of personal database formats, is demonstrated. One such program, HEADFORM, is used to test record conversion from one CD‐ROM and four online databases to three researchers' personal databases on PC, and to determine approximate time savings by transferring such records electronically instead of manually. Results show that, with a few limitations, records from online and CD‐ROM databases can be converted successfully to the formats required by these three personal database systems, and that significant time savings are possible by electronic transfer of converted records, instead of rekeying these records into personal databases.

Aims to demonstrate how BASF's eco‐efficiency can be used for sustainable decision making at all levels, from industrial to consumer.

Three case studies are described as examples of the potential applications of eco‐efficiency both within industry and extensively in the consumer sector.

The first case study describes its use for dyeing facilities in Morocco, the second demonstrates how the most eco‐efficient product transport modes can be selected, and the third shows how eco‐efficiency can help the consumer decide whether to purchase a new household appliance.

Eco‐efficiency can support sustainable decision making not only within the company, but also industry‐wide and beyond.

This article was originally written for the former Careers Bulletin which has now been superseded by a new‐style publication.

Without aspiring to emulate Robert Browning's song thrush, we venture to repeat an admonition on smoking in the food trade of almost a decade ago. (The Smoking Habit, 1962, BFJ, 64, 79). The first time it coincided with a little research we had undertaken, which later saw the light of day epitomized in article form and was enthusiastically (sic) commented upon in sections of the press and then died as if it had never been born. (Tobacco and Lung Cancer, 1965, Med. Offr., 2955, 148). Now, it coincides with the most concentrated, officially inspired, campaign, so far, mounted against the evils of smoking. The most striking fact about all these national efforts every few years is the lack of success in real terms. A marketing organization achieving such poor results would count it a costly failure. It would be unfair to say that none have given up, but with a habit so ingrained, determination is required and in many, if not most, of those able to refrain, the craving is so great that they are smoking again within a week or so. Overall, the smoking population is enormous, including, as it does, girls and women‐folk. Once, it was undignified for a woman to be seen smoking. We recall a visit by Queen Mary to the village Manor House, just after the First War; she was an expert in antique furniture and came to see the manor's collection. When Her Majesty asked for a cigarette, the village rang with astonishment for days. Nothing as amazing had happened since Cavaliers and Roundheads tethered their horses beneath the three great poplars which stood on the green. “Queen Mary! 'er smokes!”

The purpose of this research paper is to contribute to strategy theory by differentiating different types of top management narratives and trying to understand the interplay between them as well as the dynamics over time.

The study was designed from an interpretative narrative approach. Narratives were produced from deep interviews and organisational documents covering a period of more than 25 years.

Two kinds of narratives were detected – builders and cleaners. The builders' narratives illustrate how personal life‐stories are embedded in the strategic development processes but the cleaners' narratives are organisational stories without personal life‐stories and cover no actual development. The concept meta‐narrative helped to understand strategic changes over time and was embedded in the myth‐periods involved. The meta‐narrative identified was built on an idea of a going concern and on the role to produce physical large objects for long‐term use.

Owing to the longitudinal design of the study a cyclical pattern with related managerial narratives were produced. The dichotomy builders and cleaners could be developed studying other longitudinal business strategies and also by connections to meta‐narratives derived from more general economic theories.

Builders and cleaners focus on either business or organisational/financial aspects but neither of both. Awareness of this, learning strategic management requires co‐operation between different actors.

The longitudinal design describes and analyzes a cyclical pattern of managerial patterns, while other studies based on narratives cover more limited organisational events in time and space.

Statements by Lord Denning, M.R., vividly describing the impact of European Community Legislation are increasingly being used by lawyers and others to express their concern for its effect not only on our legal system but on other sectors of our society, changes which all must accept and to which they must adapt. A popular saying of the noble Lord is “The Treaty is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back”. The impact has more recently become impressive in food law but probably less so than in commerce or industry, with scarcely any sector left unmolested. Most of the EEC Directives have been implemented by regulations made under the appropriate sections of the Food and Drugs Act, 1955 and the 1956 Act for Scotland, but regulations proposed for Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (reviewed elsewhere in this issue) will be implemented by use of Section 2 (2) of the European Communities Act, 1972, which because it applies to the whole of the United Kingdom, will not require separate regulations for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is the first time that a food regulation has been made under this statute. S.2 (2) authorises any designated Minister or Department to make regulations as well as Her Majesty Orders in Council for implementing any Community obligation, enabling any right by virtue of the Treaties (of Rome) to be excercised. The authority extends to all forms of subordinate legislation—orders, rules, regulations or other instruments and cannot fail to be of considerable importance in all fields including food law.

Closing water loops in industry and the reuse of wastewater for irrigation purposes should not only be practiced in industrialised countries but it is extremely important in arid or semi‐arid regions. This paper shows, on the basis of three case studies, the possibilities of environmental protection on the one hand, and the achievement of financial benefits on the other hand by introducing membrane technology. The case studies are about three different fields, in order to describe that the application of membrane technology leads to an effective water treatment, which makes it possible – depending on the application – to recover valuable materials or to provide suitable service water. In the case of combining biological wastewater treatment and membrane technology the potential of reusing municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes will fit the increasing demands in this sector.

The international tourism options have been enriched due to several factors: new transport technology, more flexible legislation, the globalization process, and political openness regarding some areas dominated by dictatorship regimes. Antarctica is one of the new possibilities for adventure and ecological travel. It is the wildest, most well‐preserved and most isolated continent on the planet. About 10,000 tourists can appreciate its dazzling landscapes each austral summer and tourism operations have increased considerably in the region during the 1990s. This article presents a history of travel to Antarctica, an analysis of the tour operators and of the Antarctic Treaty on tourism, and reports an experience on board one of the cruise ships in the Antarctica Peninsula.