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A recent article (Aslib Proceedings, March Vol. 39, No. 3) ‘Do VDUs make you sick?’ dealt with the possible health hazards which the misuse of visual display units (VDUs) can cause. These hazards are:

The introduction and use of new technology is becoming increasingly commonplace in today's libraries. Technological advances have made possible impressive achievements in improving services and streamlining operations. However, these achievements are often forfeited by managers failing to examine the human effects of automation. This paper highlights the need to consider the human component in the system and reviews health and safety aspects, the ergonomics of library automation, workplace design and job organisation. It concludes that consideration of these factors, combined with detailed knowledge about the needs and habits of personnel, can go a long way to ensure that staff are happy and healthy and that the system runs smoothly and efficiently.

The manager must take into account various human factors when introducing computers into the library. A survey of literature reveals the key fears of employees involved in library automation — to be concerned with job security, job satisfaction and health and safety. These findings are compared with data collected from a questionnaire administered to staff in four libraries, all in the process of automating various tasks. The effects of computerisation of the library service on users is also examined, with an analysis of literature and a questionnaire sent to 30 students in the College for the Distributive Trades. The author discusses ways in which the manager can interest and motivate staff by eliminating causes of dissatisfaction and by taking positive steps in appealing to employees' self‐interest in the possibilities of career advancement and the challenge of mastering something new. Staff selection procedures need to be amended to acquire the necessary skills, and training should be ongoing. The response of users to library automation is often enthusiastic but real benefits can be difficult to measure. The onus is ultimately on librarians to demonstrate that they still have a key role to play in the provision of information.

AFTER YEARS IN INCUBATION, THE NEW EEC DIRECTIVE ON VDUs HAS BECOME LAW. TOM STEWART DISCUSSES THE SALIENT POINTS AND THE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYERS AND USERS.

First of all, I must apologise for the interval between this VINE and the last. Unfortunately VINE's production cycle is growing longer as automated library systems become more complex, and consequently more time‐consuming to write up. Moreover, in this issue I have attempted in certain articles, for instance those on COM bureaux and the Telepen, to adopt a thematic approach to the subject, rather than reporting on individual projects. The process of cross‐checking the details of such articles with all the organisations concerned has been partly responsible for the delay in publishing VINE 17. Nevertheless in the long terms I still hope to increase the frequency with which VINE is published, thereby increasing its currency and decreasing the size of each individual issue.

The Geac 8000 Library System from Canada, installed at two sites of the Polytechnic, is based on a minicomputer offering 64K Bytes of memory for each site and 96K shared memory. The description of this fully online system using Informer Keyboard/VDUs for cataloguing and for online circulation control using attached lightpens, includes file handling, issue procedures, catalogue interrogation and the keys available for searching — class number, author, title, ISBN, ISSN, barcode, subject headings. Ways of browsing through the files starting with uncertainly spelt authors is also described in relation to the way library readers use the public terminals provided in the library. These offer limited access and do not allow unauthorised alterations to records. Lost badges and books, reservations provision, access to user data, generation of notices to readers are all described in varying detail. Reliability and precautions against failure are outlined. The procedures for restart without data loss after power failure, and the provision of portable barcode to allow continued operation of the loans system, give the necessary back up to cover most eventualities. The system will most likely be extended to include further Geac modules after a suitable period of consolidation.

VDU Working Still Creates Health Problems There seems to be little agreement about the effects on health of working at Visual Display Units (VDUs). There has been a great deal of discussion on the subject and a multitude of press reports about the dangers of the devices. In some instances litigation is pending. Recent reports from the United Kingdom note that office staff are losing thousands of working days a year through headaches and eye strain, which, it is claimed, are the results of working with VDUs. This has been confirmed by a group of opticians who advocate that firms make significant improvements in working conditions. The number of the units grew from four million in 1980 to 23 million in 1988 with users spending an estimated four hours in front of a screen being likely to suffer side effects.

Technical Information Systems (TIS) is the department responsible for the flow of techno‐commercial information in the Strip Mills Division of the British Steel Corporation (BSC). To give some idea of its size, the Division employs 64,000 people, has a gross turnover of around £600 million and has a number of steelmaking and finishing plants in the U.K., the majority being in Wales. TIS has been operating in its present form since 1968 when the industry was nationalised, and its initial aim from which it has not deviated was to set up small localised information units at each large works with a major back‐up facility at the Research Centre, Port Talbot.

The Dawson Group, with its large and varied customer base and over 500,000 periodical subscriptions, entered the automation sector in 1972 with a Singer System, which allowed a large number of simultaneous operations to be carried out on one database through multiple visual display units (VDUs). The system brought greater efficiency to in‐house subscription control with accruing benefits for libraries. By the 1980s a replacement system was needed to increase efficiency and meet the expansion of business. In 1981 an IBM System 38 was installed. The system performs well and currently supports over sixty VDUs and eight printers in three different locations — London, FolkeStone and Godalming. The success of the in‐house system led to the offering of a customer online service, linked to the main computer centre in FolkeStone, and offered on a ‘pay‐as‐you‐go’ basis.

VINE is a Very Informal Newsletter produced three times a year by the Information Officer for Library Automation and financed by the British Library Research & Development Department. It is issued free of charge on request to interested librarians, systems staff and library college lecturers. VINE'S objective is to provice an up‐to‐date picture of work being done in U.K. library automation which has not been reported elsewhere.