This study of libraries in Leeds in the late Georgian era establishes why a range of subscription libraries came into being in the town in the mid eighteenth century, and provides a localised and integrated account of how several such libraries worked within the cultural economy of a provincial town. At the heart of this study is the question of how the Leeds libraries related to the reading and associate requirements of their first readers. Association, sociability, improvement and taste are words which usually describe the motivations for the establishment of subscription libraries but I argue for a new interpretation. The observation that a medical library was the first subscription library founded in Leeds in the eighteenth century raises the possibility that factors were at play in the decision to found these libraries other than those leisure purposes usually suggested by historians. I suggest that the Leeds libraries were founded to meet a range of practical purposes – professional, learned and industrial – as well as the leisure and other associated interests which have been discussed so widely in the prevailing literature.

What is the nature of the archive in the 21st century? What is the role of the archivist in a postmodern, electronic environment? To attain any absolute answers would be beyond the ability, or diplomacy, of any individual. Yet there are some questions, and subsequent dividing lines, which can be brought to the fore: • Is the archive a resting place for non-current records, a repository that provides the connection between inscription and preservation in order to ensure the veracity of the record as an authentic and reliability piece of evidence? • Should the archivist be distinct from the records manager? • Is the historical canon, if permitted to even use the term, a construct of the archive? If the answer is in the affirmative then does this legitimise the archivist in imparting overt value to a record/collection? • Is the archivist a custodian and keeper? • Should the archivist interact with wider societal needs and concerns? The ideal and idea of the archive and the archivist has become virtually unrecognisable from its early 20th century construct as questions such as these have been debated in the journals of archival science. The antiquated Jenkinsonian world-view has been dispensed with. The moral and physical defence of the archive is unsubstantial. Ensuring the preservation of the record and making it available to the public does not provide the archivist with a presence. Rather, the authority of archival beginnings has become the dominant, over-arching ideology. Through the advocacy of records continuum theorists and the proponents of postmodernism, we are to “stop rowing, start steering”. In order to be accountable, transparent, open, and representative, the archival profession is to control context and master reality. The archive is to define its own truth criteria. The archivist is an agent of accountability. The archivist is to openly negate his/her independent, neutral, non-political, non-ideological role: (1) There is an archive fever of audit culture. This is in response to the rise of the ‘consumer’ – “There is a risk, we’ll take care of it”. Continual monitoring, evaluation, and targets results in the record being a self-reflexive construct. Audit trails create a sense of truthfulness to the facts and of closeness to past reality. These perspectives have entered the archive. Perceived recordkeeping failures have made the archive unaccountable to wider society. The ‘right’ records are not reaching the archive. Records therefore must be programmed in advance by archivists working as records managers to produce acceptable outcomes. The archivist shapes the creation of the record. Archiving is auditing the recordkeeping systems of a record creating body. Archiving is the “active production of objectively truthful documents”. (2) Postmodernism sanctions a creative reconstruction of the past. The archive is to “fabricate metaphors…[tell] imaginings of history”. The archive overtly interprets the record and creates interfaces that reflect this interpretation and subjectivity, reifying cultural essentialism to appear representative of all elements of society. The archivist becomes a conscious participant in the construction and advancement of meaning. The perception of the user towards the records is moulded. The archive becomes a means of memory rather than memory itself. This thesis takes on what the author perceives as certain often rhetorical excesses of the records continuum theory and those of postmodernism. It engages on their terms, with their arguments, and with the interdisciplinary nature of today’s archival thinking. It shows that ‘traditional’ archival concepts and values are just as necessary and relevant today as in the supposedly homogenous and positivist society in which they arose. This thesis thus upholds the Jenkinsonian ideals for archives. However, it recognises the difficulty of achieving them, and that the proponents of postmodernism examined here do not intend to dispense with rigorous reasoning, balanced analysis, and truth seeking in favour of unrestrained ‘anything goes’ interpretations of records and archival concepts. Indeed, the author himself draws on leading postmodern thinkers such as Foucault and Derrida to develop his own socio-political analysis of audit records produced in the ‘audit culture’ of the past few decades. In so doing, the author hopes to show how postmodern analysis can be done in the spirit of the Jenkinsonian commitment to protection of evidential values through truth seeking. That said, the author believes that the archivist does not create life but holds the materials within its institution in a coma, awaiting the user to awake them from their perpetual slumber. This is a true re-assertion of archival value and responsibility. In caring more for a record’s corroborative power and transformative effect we have got too interested in the way we deliver what we do at the expense of what we deliver – engineering over content. Yet by acting responsibly the archive broadens perspectives and enlightens the individual. This is the responsible archival performance worth pursuing.

Es gibt viele Fachbeiträge zur archivischen Bewertung. Das Gros von ihnen widmet sich dem Umgang mit konkreten Überlieferungen. Aber nur wenige versuchen sich an der Beantwortung grundlegender Fragen, wie z.B. „Kann man falsch bewerten?“. Die meisten werden sich mit der Antwort nicht schwertun und mit „ja“ antworten. Aber der Blickwinkel ändert sich, sobald wir fragen „Kann man richtig bewerten?“. Das mag auf den ersten Blick banal wirken, ist aber elementar, weil auf diese Weise das Grundproblem zutage tritt: Gibt es richtige und gibt es falsche Bewertungsentscheidungen? Gibt es eine unteilbare (archivische) Wahrheit? Oder ist am Ende gar alles subjektiv und damit immer richtig UND falsch? Eine Verständigung darüber ist mehr als ein philosophisches Geplänkel. Sie ist unerläßlich für eine produktive Diskurskultur. Der Schlüssel liegt in der Definition des Ziels. / There are many technical papers on archival appraisal. Most of them are devoted to dealing with specific records. But only a few attempt to answer fundamental questions, such as 'Is it possible to appraise incorrectly?'. Most will not struggle with the answer and will answer 'yes.' But the perspective changes as soon as we ask 'Can you appraise right?'. This may seem banal at first glance, but it is elementary, because in this way the basic problem comes to light: Are there correct and are there incorrect evaluation decisions? Is there an indivisible (archival) truth? Or is everything subjective in the end and therefore always right AND wrong? An understanding about this is more than a philosophical skirmish. It is indispensable for a productive culture of discourse. The key lies in the definition of the goal.

This study examines the educational roles of public libraries in Portugal, as perceived by elected members and public librarians. The research was undertaken in 15 local authorities throughout the country, selected by purposeful sampling from the responses to a preliminary questionnaire. The methodology used a grounded theory approach and the core data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with 53 respondents. The data suggest that the respondents view public libraries as having well established roles in the fields of literacy, reading promotion and up to some extent, lifelong learning. Diverse sectors of the community are considered as beneficiaries of the library support to learning, including children and young people, higher education students, teachers and adult learners. The public library also helps vulnerable people overcome geographical, economic and age barriers to education. The evidence obtained by this study suggests that these roles are more relevant in a country such as Portugal that has generally low levels of literacy and poor socioeconomic indicators. The views of the respondents acknowledge this relevance, but differences of opinion emerge from the data suggesting some partial and limited opinions on the educational roles, especially the support for lifelong learning. This study suggests that several factors may influence the perceptions of the respondents. These factors include the socio-economic and educational context in which public libraries operate and a poor public perception of library roles, caused by the relative newness of public libraries in Portugal. Individual and local factors, such as the education and professional experience of the respondents and the size of the local authorities may also influence perceptions. The managerial and legal context is characterised by lack of legislation on public libraries and a traditionalist and bureaucratic organisational culture. The absence of an underlying philosophy on the roles of libraries in education is very apparent in the lack of research and publications in this field. A number of recommendations are put forward: legislation on public libraries, including on their educational roles, the publication of standards and guidelines, the increase of resources, especially staff and finance. Further research on the educational roles of public libraries is also recommended.

No description available.

La bactérie Clostridium difficile est maintenant considérée comme un pathogène majeur responsable d'infections nosocomiales en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. De plus, l'émergence de souches hypervirulentes, telle la souche NAP1/027 responsable de récentes épidémies, est un phénomène inquiétant. Un enjeu crucial au cours des prochaines années sera de mieux comprendre les mécanismes de virulence et d'évolution de C. difficile. Les bactériophages (c.-à-d. des virus bactériens, ou phages) sont des joueurs clés dans l'évolution de la plupart des bactéries, pathogènes ou non. Les données concernant l'impact des phages sur C. difficile sont très limitées. Par contre, deux études récentes démontrent que les phages semblent influencer la virulence de C. difficile en altérant la production de toxines TcdA et TcdB. L'objectif de mes travaux de recherche est donc d'étudier au niveau microbiologique et moléculaire les phages de C. difficile et de démontrer leur impact sur l'évolution et la virulence de ce pathogène. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs phages ont été induits à partir d'isolats cliniques de C. difficile. Dans cette collection, un phage en particulier, le (pCD38-2, a été choisi pour la caractérisation subséquente dû à sa divergence génomique par rapport aux autres phages et à sa capacité d'infecter la grande majorité des souches ayant le ribotype hypervirulent (027). Ces caractéristiques uniques ont justifié le séquençage complet de son génome. Par contre, aucun facteur de virulence évident n'a été identifié. À l'opposé, une analyse bio-informatique a permis l'identification d'une région spécifique comportant plusieurs gènes de conversion lysogénique potentiels. L'impact de ces gènes sur la virulence bactérienne reste à être déterminé. De plus, lorsqu'on introduit le phage cpCD38-2 dans la souche sensible CD274, on observe une accumulation plus rapide et plus grande des toxines après 48h dans le surnageant de la culture. Ce phénomène a été confirmé avec des tests ELISA sur des réplicas biologiques indépendants ainsi que par un immunodosage avec anticorps spécifiques aux deux toxines. Par ailleurs, une étude transcriptionelle par PCR en temps réel a permis de constater que le phage (pCD38-2 influence également l'expression des gènes tcdA et tcdB dans le temps. Par contre, l'effet du phage cpCD38-2 est variable lorsqu'on l'introduit dans d'autres souches de C. difficile. Donc, les résultats de nos travaux indiquent que certains phages auraient un impact sur la virulence de C. difficile en altérant la production et la transcription des gènes de toxines. Nos données laissent toutefois sous-entendre que cet effet peut varier selon les souches de C. difficile. [Symboles non conformes]

This study reports on an investigation of the effectiveness of the Learning Resource Centres (LRCs) in the Colleges of Education in Oman. It considers the aims of the LRCs/libraries and explored the extent to which the LRCs achieve their aims and identified the defects which represent obstacles to improving the LRCs. The extent to which the LRCs support the Colleges of Education to achieve their aims is also explored. Accordingly, this thesis examines the effectiveness of the LRCs and leads to recommendations, which if implemented, will improve the LRCs for the users. In order to achieve the research purposes the study surveys the LRCs in the Colleges of Education in Oman. The survey includes observation of all six LRCs, responses to questionnaires from 140 academics and 436 students and interviews with 24 employees from the staff ofLRCs. In consideration of the fact that the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman (MOHE) tries to benefit from the Canadian experience in LRCs/libraries, interviews were conducted with nine employees working in LRCs/libraries at six Canadian Universities. The study indicates that, in general, the LRCs have satisfactory factors such as the provision of resources, accessibility, support from personnel to users, training of users to develop their skills and increase the utilisation of facilities. Consequently these enhance the possibility of achieving the aims of the LRCs as well as supporting the Colleges to attain their aims. The availability of the previous factors also indicates to the reasonable effectiveness of the LRCs. On the other hand, the findings of the study consider that the main obstacles to improving the LRCs are: centralisation of acquisition of human and material resources at the MOHE, space, policy, and the incomplete classification system and catalogue. Finally the study proposes recommendations which can overcome the identified obstacles and improve the effectiveness of the LRCs in the Colleges of Education in Oman.

by Arnoldo C. Hax. / Series title from publisher's list. / Includes bibliographical references.

Für die Zeit der Sommerferien werden von Schulen und Bibliotheken Leseclubs ins Leben gerufen. Die Teilnehmer, Schülerinnen und Schüler ab der fünften Klasse, werden aufgefordert, in den Sommerferien drei Bücher von einer vorgegebenen Auswahl von hundert Titeln zu lesen. Der Inhalt wird in den mitwirkenden Bibliotheken abgefragt und im Leselogbuch bestätigt. Gleichzeitig können die Schüler eine Bewertung abgeben, wie Ihnen das Gelesene gefallen hat. Am Ende des Buchsommers erhalten die Teilnehmer bei der Abschlussparty ein Zertifikat für die erfolgreiche Teilnahme.

Der Beitrag schildert die Geschichte der Bibliothek der Klosterschule Ilfeld in Thüringen.