Careers and lifestyles of craft makers in the 21st century

A survey of over 2,000 craft makers in England and Wales undertaken in 2003 forms the basis of this study. It is compared with data from a previous national survey, enabling a unique longitudinal perspective on specific trends within this sector. The career paths travelled by makers between their initial training and forming their enterprises are explored and the dynamism of the sector and its potential contribution to the UK economy are made apparent. Three themes are addressed: the initial training of the makers; the emerging pattern of late entry to the sector; and, finally, individuals' career paths in the context of lifestyles and quality of life associated with working in the crafts.     

Explaining Post-War Cinema Attendance in Great Britain

This paper models the interaction between cinema admissions and cinema supply in response to changes in exogenous variables, chiefly competition from television viewing. The relationship is estimated empirically by applying near Vector Autoregression (VAR) techniques to a long run of British annual data from 1950 to 1997. The results indicate that sustained negative shocks to cinema demand throughout most of the period reduced the supply of screens, inducing further falls in admissions and closures until a new equilibrium was attained. More recently, the introduction of multiplex cinemas has interrupted and partially reversed this downward demand-supply spiral.     

The British Columbia Open Learning Agency

This article discusses the formation and development of the British Columbia Open Learning Agency and summarizes the principal features of its current activities in providing open learning opportunities in the fields of adult basic education, technical‐vocational training and undergraduate degree programmes.     

Auditing the historic environment: Measurements,datasets and English heritage's state of the historic environment report 2002

This chapter sets out the current context for historic environment management, and the associated information requirements to manage organisations successfully within the sector for the benefit of the country's heritage. The initiative undertaken by English Heritage (the English government's conservation advisors) in developing a pilot State of the Historic Environment Report is used as a case study in the collation of management information for advocacy purposes. Political support for such a development is considered, as well as the history of the report's development with its roots outside the heritage sector. The challenges of project management for report delivery are discussed, particularly where information collation and analysis is reliant on third‐party data sources, often created for separate purposes. Tourism data is focused on, showing how results from the former English Tourism Council's annual surveys of visitor attractions were used to inform key messages in the heritage sector. Comments are made on specific types of data used, and a review given of the methodology for collecting dedicated heritage management organisational data.