Reform and UK Higher Education in the Enterprise Era

Higher education in the United Kingdom is centrally funded, centrally planned, and insulated from market forces. It bears many similarities to the non-market centrally planned economies (CPEs) of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe while they struggled to reform but to retain a system of planning and central control. Examination of UK higher education and the CPEs before the transformation to market based systems highlights some of the issues facing higher education today. It also highlights the need for reforms, as well as the difficulties involved in them. Such comparison can also bring home problems faced by reformers in the transition economies.
Despite allegedly extensive reforms in UK higher education, the sector faces problems like those facing the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe and the former USSR in the 1970s and 80s. Parallels in a number of areas are particularly striking.     

Acquiring unpublished population documents in Africa: a personal experience

Acquiring both published and unpublished documents produced in Africa is, generally, a difficult task due to the existing poor state of bibliographic control and the publishing industry. It is even more difficult to obtain unpublished documents in a specialized area of study such as demography--a diffuse area which cuts across several disciplines. This paper discusses the problems encountered on acquisition trips to some African countries to acquire unpublished population material. To help solve the problems, the Population Association of Africa must persuade its members to send copies of their publications to population libraries and documentation centers in their individual countries for dissemination to the other users in Africa. The various organizations and institutions in Africa engaged in the teaching and research of population studies should have an agreement to exchange copies of their theses. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) should make representations to the various African member countries on the need to disseminate the results of vital censuses and surveys conducted. Finally, the Population Information Network for Africa (POPIN-AFRICA) with its coordinating unit at the population division of ECA should ensure that all the nodes of the network have the financial and other resources to be able to acquire the relevant documents needed for their operations.     

Introducing computer literacy skills for physicians

Computers are integral to medical practice, education, and research. While medical students learn computer skills during their training, many practicing physicians do not have the same computer experience. To familiarize this group with the exciting developments in medical informatics, the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library and Department of Computer Medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center organized a workshop "Introducing Your Office Computer!" for attending physicians. The workshop featured a short lecture/video presentation on computer applications in medicine followed by a "computer fair" of five computer applications. Eleven physicians attended the workshop. Feedback was very positive; many called later to request more detailed instructions on using the programs demonstrated. It was a valuable experience for the staff, and new bridges were built between departments and clients.