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Kenneth Cooper, Chairman of the Working Party appointed jointly by the Library and Information Services Council and the Research and Development Department of the British Library, held a Press Conference on 19 February to introduce its report, published that day. The meeting took place in his office and, in the event, was attended by representatives of only NLW, the LA Record, and three national newspapers — a cosy occasion!

Times have changed since the days when debtors languished in the Fleet prison, but how does the law affect undercharging on invoices for example? The customer may now have recourse to the small claims court but the retailer is protected by the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971. “Wise retailers”, writes our legal correspondent, “take the law on debt collecting carefully into account” — and that includes recent changes in the legislation.

The Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 has now been in force since last May. It is one of the most important — as well as one of the most misunderstood — statutes in the field of distribution. Who is now responsible to the customer for a built‐in fault — the retailer or the manufacturer? What effect do ‘guarantees’ and ‘warranties’ now have? To what extent can the retailer pass responsibility back to the manufacturer? This is a summary of the Act considered from a retailer's point of view.

Children's failure to develop proficiency in reading and writing continues to challenge educationalists, parents and carers. In this chapter we argue that the concept of dyslexia as an explanation for failure or as a starting point for intervention is fatally flawed. Our argument is that the concept is a socially constructed category with no scientific basis. Hence quasi-medical differential diagnosis is invalid and educationally divisive. We question this phenomenon that persists despite the protestations of Stanovich (1994, 2005) and others, through a brief survey of work in the fields of social categorisation, cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In summary our view is that whilst there are some ‘natural’ tendencies to categorise, with regard to literacy there is no identified objectively defined and unambiguous discontinuity between skilled and unskilled reader. There is, therefore, no support for the persistence of a distinctive category of dyslexia. Further, the notion of ‘dyslexia’ in itself does not support appropriate intervention.

This section of the survey is concerned with the historical development of English language dictionaries for children and young people through beginning college years. Excluded are dictionaries of eponyms, etymologies, foreign words and phrases, homonyms and homophones, regional dialect, rhymes, slang, synonyms and homonyms and other compendiums of silmilar nature. Thesauri are briefly touched upon. These limitations apply solely to this section of the column; new reference books received by the writer, no matter what their category, are reviewed in Part II.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the use of sophisticated talent selection processes such as gamification and training and development interventions designed to ensure that candidates can successfully navigate the talent assessment process. Gamification is the application of game elements to non-game activities through the adoption of gaming tools, and little is known about how candidates (“talent”) struggle to learn about the structural mechanics of gamification as they engage with the hidden rules of talent selection, such as goals, rules, “levelling up”, feedback and engagement in competitive – collaborative activities. The term “talent development gamification” is coined and used as an analytical tool to consider how young talent are supported by development interventions in their inter-subjectivity as they learn how to survive and win in talent selection games.

Studying hidden dynamics in development processes inherent in gamified talent selection is challenging, so a cult work of fiction, “Ender’s Game”, is examined to address the questions: “How do candidates in talent selection programmes learn to make sense of the structural mechanics of gamification”, “How does this make the hidden rules of talent selection explicit to them?” and “What does this mean for talent development?”

Talent development in selection gamification processes is illustrated through nuanced theoretical accounts of how a multiplicity of shifting and competing developmental learning opportunities are played out as a form of “double-consciousness” by potential organizational talent for them to “win the selection game”.

Using novels as an aid to understanding management and the organization of work is ontologically and epistemologically problematic. But analysing novels which are “good reads” also has educational value and can produce new knowledge from its analysis. In exploring how “Characters are made to live dangerously, to face predicaments that, as readers, we experience as vicarious pleasure. We imagine, for example, how a particular character may react or, more importantly, what we would do in similar circumstances” (Knights and Willmott, 1999, p. 5). This future-oriented fictional narrative is both illustrative and provides an analogy to illuminate current organisational development challenges.

The term “talent development gamification in selection processes” is coined to allow analysis and provide lessons for talent development practice in a little studied area. Our case study analysis identifies a number of areas for consideration by talent management/talent development specialists involved in developing talent assessment centres incorporating gamification. These include the importance of understanding and taking account of rites of passage through the assessment centre, in particular the role of liminal space, what talent development interventions might be of benefit and the necessity of appreciating and managing talent in developing the skill of double consciousness in game simulations.

The three‐day working week, with the Machine as master of man, never materialized. But, as Simon Peterson reports, automation has found a new area in tackling the problems of the environment. Joe Wiltshire, pictured right, managing director of GEC‐Elliott Automation, points out that there is an increase in all things which help to control the quality of life.

The nature, development and techniques of Group Dynamics are described here by John Wellens. Its significance for training is not yet fully clear, but, properly used, it can throw much light on the behaviour of groups — and we all work in groups