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Do these reference requests sound familiar? “I need to know what has happened on this day in history. Can you help me?” Or, “I'm doing a paper on Thornton Wilder. He was born on 17 April. Can you tell me who else was born on that day?” Or, “Are any national or regional anniversaries coming up next Friday?” These questions call for a special type of reference work—a book of days. A book of days (or day book) lists important events that have occurred on each day of the year throughout history, and is arranged by month and day. These works often include not only historical, cultural, and literary events, but also the dates of the births and deaths of notable people, commemorative days of saints, and special anniversaries. A book of days, for example, can reveal that historians Will and Ariel Durant were married in New York City Hall on Halloween in 1913, or that Hart Crane and Ernest Hemingway were born on the same day in 1899 (21 July). This article will review some of the more useful books of days that are often found in reference collections—works that are uniquely suited to answer questions about each day of the year.

218 brand names of microfilm/microfiche readers, computerized information retrieval systems and on‐line databases were subjected to an analysis of their characteristics. They acre analysed for the product information they conveyed and for the characteristics of the words employed. It was found that brand names tend to employ meaningless concocted words and that the favoured words begin and end with a consonant. Other features of the words used and differences between the groups of products were noted.

There are a number of reference works that present man's past — or certain periods of it — in outline, tabular or sequential form, arranged chronologically to show the continuity and relationships among historical events in different parts of the world. An historical chronology can show, for example, what happened around the world in 1783, 1309 or 41 B.C. Some historical chronologies focus on a few centuries, while others try to record the major (and often minor) accomplishments of men and women from earliest times to the present day. Some chronologies focus on political and military affairs, other emphasize cultural developments, while still others attempt to combine both political and cultural events into a single panoramic timeline of human history. This review will look at some of the better‐known historical chronologies that focus on more than one country. For each, the scope, format, strengths, special features, and any recognizable bias will be examined, in the hope that the reader will gain a better understanding of these chronologies and their possible applications in reference work.

The purpose of ths paper is to report that timely interventions to facilitate medical patient flow and reduce medical outliers may be associated with a reduction in hospital mortality.

Interventions to improve the flow of medical patients were used to unblock and facilitate the discharge process allowing a reduction in medical outliers. SPC run charts of mortality were used to quality control the changes.

Timeliness in daily senior medical review and discharge planning, a level 1 medical ward, and outreach including ALERT training and early warning scoring allowed a rationalisation in medical beds and a reduction in mortality for emergency medical admissions, reflected in a lower hospital standarised mortality rate (HSMR).

Interventions to improve flow can also lead to a reduction in mortality.

This paper emphasises how quantitative flow improvements can also generate qualitative improvements.

This index accompanies the index that appeared in Reference Services Review 16:4 (1988). As noted in the introduction to that index, the articles in RSR that deal with specific reference titles can be grouped into two categories: those that review specific titles (to a maximum of three) and those that review titles pertinent to a specific subject or discipline. The index in RSR 16:4 covered the first category; it indexed, by title, all titles that had been reviewed in the “Reference Serials” and the “Landmarks of Reference” columns, as well as selected titles from the “Indexes and Indexers,” “Government Publications,” and “Special Feature” columns of the journal.

The evolution from transaction marketing to relationship marketing in recent years has resulted in research indicating the need for more rigorous databases and greater utilization of current computerized tracking systems. Relationship selling has been examined and the results stress long‐term perspectives to the dyadic exchange process to enhance sales results. Considering the role of trust and culture in the relationship marketing process would indicate the need to pursue future research into a deeper understanding of the customer. Seeking knowledge of a customer’s personal feelings concerning their comfort level with various communication approaches could enhance the reception of messages crafted for them. The discipline needs to move beyond the numbers to a more abstract analysis of the customer as an individual with specific feelings toward various marketing approaches.

Much to the relief of everyone, the general election has come and gone and with it the boring television drivel; the result a foregone conclusion. The Labour/Trade Union movement with a severe beating, the worst for half a century, a disaster they have certainly been asking for. Taking a line from the backwoods wisdom of Abraham Lincoln — “You can't fool all the people all the time!” Now, all that most people desire is not to live easy — life is never that and by the nature of things, it cannot be — but to have a reasonably settled, peaceful existence, to work out what they would consider to be their destiny; to be spared the attentions of the planners, the plotters, provocateurs, down to the wilful spoilers and wreckers. They have a right to expect Government protection. We cannot help recalling the memory of a brilliant Saturday, but one of the darkest days of the War, when the earth beneath our feet trembled at the destructive might of fleets of massive bombers overhead, the small silvery Messerschmits weaving above them. Believing all to be lost, we heaped curses on successive Governments which had wrangled over rearmament, especially the “Butter before Guns” brigade, who at the word conscription almost had apoplexy, and left its people exposed to destruction. Now, as then, the question is “Have they learned anything?” With all the countless millions Government costs, its people have the right to claim something for their money, not the least of which is the right to industrial and domestic peace.

Companies are now struggling to cope with the most severe recession in more than half a century. This paper aims to study how leading companies have successfully reacted to the crisis.

The researchers identified early winners in the current recession, beginning with large US‐listed companies whose stock appreciated by at least 5 percent in 2008, at a time when the S&P declined by 37 percent. They looked at best practices of 61 companies.

Winners have learned to ask, “Which strategies will allow the company to both survive in this economic transformation and, potentially, to thrive in it?”

Overall, the early winners the following: focus on value via sustainable strategies that emphasize long‐term value; exploit opportunities presented during downturns, including growing through low‐cost acquisitions and stock buy‐backs; and act quickly, with the agility to respond ahead of, or at least to keep pace with, rapid changes in the new economic environment.

As winning firms have learned, there are the three targets for leaders in the new economic environment. The article offers a how‐to guide to achieving them: leadership target no. 1: focus on value; leadership target no. 2: exploit opportunities; and leadership target no. 3: make speed a competitive advantage.

Multicommunicating, the practice of using technology to carry on multiple near-simultaneous conversations, has been studied for almost two decades. This practice has new meaning today as more people carry a mobile device with them, remote working is prominent, and teams are looking for ways to be more productive. This chapter establishes why multicommunicating is an important communication concept that can help scholars interested in teams. After distinguishing multicommunicating from related concepts, such as multitasking, this chapter reviews key findings from literature and highlights the conundrum around whether this is a productive, acceptable practice or one that is rude and increases inefficiency. In conclusion, the proposed research agenda invites studies of multicommunicating in contexts where actual responses to the practice can be observed. Additionally, there are growing opportunities to include mobile communication and human–technology interactions in the multicommunicating mix.