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This paper analyses the current state of Arabisation of automated library systems. Problems of Arabic language handling and limitations of Romanisation are described. The areas of character encoding, standards for coding and bibliographic records, character recognition and lexical analysis are synthesised. The current state of Arabisation in commercial library systems is reviewed and areas for further research identified.

IT is surprising that in these days of universal research the subject of library Fittings should have remained to all intents and purposes a virgin one. It is neither an unimportant nor an uninteresting subject; to the librarian it is one naturally of peculiar interest. Yet, if we except slight and largely incidental treatment of ancient and monastic libraries and accounts of present day fittings—and the latter mostly of the trade catalogue order—there has been almost nothing written on the subject. It is therefore a matter of congratulation that so capable a writer and scholar as Mr. John Willis Clark should have seen proper to devote much time and learning to the investigation of this subject. In his handsomely produced and profusely illustrated volume entitled “The Care of Books,” in which the evolution of library fittings is traced from the classic period to the end of the eighteenth century, Mr. Clark has made one of the most valuable contributions to library economy that has been issued for many a day, and has earned the gratitude of all librarians. Mr. Clark has already treated the subject in his valuable essay on “The Library” in “The Architectural History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge,” and in his Rede and Sandars lectures on the monastic and Greek and Roman libraries respectively, and these with much fresh material he has embodied in this monograph of over 350 quarto pages. Mr. Clark's descriptions of the mechanical appliances used in the libraries of olden time, such as, for example, the methods of chaining books and the details of the chains and their fastenings, are wonderfully clear, supplemented as they are by photographs and drawings, even to the most non‐mechanical reader. The many plans and elevations given are enhanced in value by being drawn to and accompanied by the scale, and altogether we have nothing but praise for this book. At least, if we have a grumble, it is that Mr. Clark has not been so full on the “wall system”—which brings us of course to our own fittings of to‐day, and which is therefore not merely of antiquarian value—as he is on the “press” and “lectern” systems. We should therefore be glad to see an expansion of chapter viii. in a new edition.

The development of educational programmes for special librarians has been very gradual in America. As recently as 1937 the Training and Recruiting Committee of the Special Libraries Association reported that there was only one library school giving a separate course for special librarians. The inclusion of one or two lectures or units in general courses, visits, field work, or some special adjustment for individual students in thirteen other schools represented all the special library training available at that time. A similar survey made by the Training Committee in 1945 indicates that somewhat less than half of the thirty‐six accredited library schools now have some kind of special library programme and most of the schools have at least one or two lectures, usually given by special librarians, as well as several visits to special libraries in order to acquaint their students with the opportunities in this field and the qualifications desirable.

Arabic script is the most recent addition to the scripts available on the Research libraries Information Network (RLIN). Bibliographic control and retrieval using the authentic writing system are available for titles in Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, and other languages written with Arabic script. RLIN is the world's largest bibliographic database for Middle Eastern language material. This paper is a comprehensive description of the Arabic script features of RLIN. It covers Arabic character sets and RLIN's character repertoire for Arabic script; how Arabic characters are input and stored in the RLIN database; the equipment needed for Arabic script support; the indexing, retrieval, and presentation of records containing Arabic script; the inclusion of non‐Roman data in USMARC bibliographic records; and statistics on the RLIN databases. Sidebars explain features of Arabic writing. The discussion of data storage and presentation of text is relevant to any computer application that involves Arabic script.

The capablilities and benefits of the Chinese/Japanese/Korean terminal, developed by the Research Libraries Group, are detailed. The terminal also provides for parallel display of languages which use the Roman alphabet and Arabic numerals. Examples are included.

Mnemonics was a tool in classification and information seeking processes in pre-print libraries. The purpose of this paper is to study the role of spatial mnemonics in Hellenistic libraries, including the one in Alexandria.

Since library- and information science has not explored this subject in depth, philology, rhetoric, book-history and archeology constitute the core literature. From this literature, the role of mnemonics in the libraries is discussed.

A new description of the practice of classification and retrieval in Hellenistic libraries, based on spatial mnemonics.

This paper is a new analysis of spatial mnemonics in the Hellenistic libraries. As will become clear, they blend easily and logically with each other.

The author describes the experience of adapting existing software to multi‐script two byte per character processing. The software concerned supports shared cataloguing by libraries on a service bureau basis. The adaptation is principally for Japanese, but incidentally includes Greek and Cyrillic scripts as well. The issues of a ‘separate systems approach’ and romanisation are also addressed.

THE monumental History of Criticism by Professor Saintsbury, and Mr. Hall Caine's lighter series of studies would be sufficient to put anyone on their guard against accepting as final many of the critical decisions of the important literary reviews. Mr. Caine's book particularly is a revelation of error and spite such as makes one wonder that anonymous literary criticism should be received with toleration by bookmen.

FOR TOO LONG there has been a tendency to adjure librarians to take note of the ‘new media’. There have been large numbers of courses designed to point out to librarians that there are more than books in a library, when for many years this must have been blindingly obvious even to the meanest of intelligences. Present concerns must instead be to accept that we have the media, and to spend more time thinking of how we use them, what we do with them, and who for.