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This chapter aims to provide a critical analysis of special needs education within the United Kingdom today. Central to such an analysis is an understanding of the rapidly changing social and political milieu within which special needs education is embedded, including the rapidly changing demographics of schooling, and the devolution of political power into four separate but linked countries – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Following a discussion of such wider social, political and educational issues, the authors explore the convergences and divergences in policy and practice across the four devolved administrations. The authors describe a plethora of contemporary policy developments within each of the four administrations that speak to the need for special needs education to change in response to 21st century concerns about the problems of access to, and equity in, education for all children. Despite this, the authors remain extremely circumspect about the potential of many of these developments to lead to successful inclusive practices and developments on the ground – and explain why. The analysis in the concluding section focuses on the issue of teacher education for inclusion and some very innovate UK research and development projects that have been reported to successfully engage teachers with new paradigm thinking and practice in the field of inclusive special needs education.

A behavioural approach to information retrieval system design is outlined based on the derivation of a behavioural model of the information seeking patterns of academic social scientists. The information seeking patterns of a variety of academic social scientists were broken down into six characteristics: starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring, and extracting. These characteristics constitute the principal generic features of the different individual patterns, and together provide a flexible behavioural model for information retrieval system design. The extent to which these characteristics are available on existing systems is considered, and the requirements for implementing the features on an experimental system are set out.

Resource sharing is an important element in the national planning of library and information services to meet the needs of information, education and culture of the whole community at all levels. An overview of resource sharing practices is presented, with particular reference to the British scene. It is also argued that, with the approach of the Single Market in 1992, resource sharing should now be considered on a European scale. In conclusion, some problems associated with the practice of resource sharing are considered.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the information needs of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Delhi. It aims to provide a study of information sources used by them. It also includes the library use by MLAs, their awareness about various library services, and deals with the problems/hindrances faced by MLAs during the process of information seeking.

The study was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire and semi‐structured interview schedule. The respondents marked their response on a graphic scale which was converted into a rating scale for obtaining the inferences. The analysis of data is done with the help of weighted mean. A histograph has been used to make the matter more understandable.

The results of this research show that only a few MLAs are aware about the usefulness of library/information services. They are dependant on non‐documentary sources of information. They are not fully satisfied with the present system of information gathering, where they have to devote more time and energy.

The present research is applied only to the information system available to the MLAs of Delhi. The findings can not be universalized to all the MLAs in the different states of India.

In the last part of this paper an outline for the proposed information system for the MLAs of Delhi has been provided. These suggestions will be useful to the policy maker when making an electronic based information system for the MLAs of Delhi.

There has been no study carried out on the information needs of MLAs in India prior to this research. The study will help the authorities to build/rebuild/improve the information system for MLAs in Delhi.

THE re‐opening of air offensive action on both sides, which marked the later part of January, is likely to complicate life considerably for librarians. The lull that has been enjoyed during the Russian operations, and is probably owing to them, may prove to have been deceptive. We do not know yet how much further the destruction of buildings—and amongst them libraries—will go before a decision is reached. We suppose by now that every librarian has taken every precaution within his power to preserve his stock and his service : more than that it is hardly possible to do with the resources to which we are now restricted.

A VERY interesting winter lies ahead for all students and other librarians; for, we suppose, almost immediately attempts will be made to harmonize the practice of the Library Association with the expressed wishes of its last Annual Meeting. We publish some notes in Letters on Our Affairs on the crisis, if it may be so called, but we would add such voice as we have to that of those who plead for moderation. Violent changes are rarely justified, and violent expressions still less rarely, and as there appears to be now a disposition to bury hatchets and to get to work we hope that every advantage will be taken of it.

THE Conference of the Library Association may be described as one without a press. The greatest dailies had the barest references to it, a fact which is surprising and lends us matter for reflection. If an admittedly national service, almost universal in application, can be completely ignored in its annual gatherings, what is to be thought? Is it that libraries are now so normal a part of the social landscape that they may be taken for granted? Are they so insignificant that they do not merit notice? Alternatively, were our proceedings too dull for the dramatic necessities of the reporter? Or, finally, was it because the general publicity of the L.A. is not aggressive, is indeed inert? These questions every librarian and library authority may ask and have a right to the answer.