Book review

A.K. Dickinson, P.J. Lee and P.J. Rogers (eds.), Learning History (London: Heincmann Educational Books, 1984) Pp.x + 230. £5.95.

William Boyd, School Ties (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1985). Pp.144, £8.95.

Randy Roberts, Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (New York: The Free Press/London: Collier Macmillan, 1983). Pp.274.

John Burrowes, Denny: The Life and Times of a Fighting Legend (London: Fontana, 1984, first published Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing Company, 1982). Pp.xii + 277. £1.95 (paperback).

J.K. Anderson, Hunting in the Ancient World (Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press, 1985). Pp. xiii + 192. £29.95 (hardback).

Thomas G. Bergin, The Game: The Harvard‐Yale Football Rivalry, 1875–1983 (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 1985). Pp.xiii + 367. £19.95.

John Harding, Football Wizard. The Story of Billy Meredith (Derby: Bredon

Books, 1985). Pp.240. £4.95.

Charles E. Funnell,By the Beautiful Sea: The Rise and High Times of That Great American Resort, Atlantic City (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1983). Pp.209.

J.R.L. Anderson, High Mountains and Cold Seas (London: Victor Gollancz, 1982), Pp.366. £10.95.

Gerald Pawle, R.ES. Wyatt—Fighting Cricketer (London: George Allen & Unwin 1985). Pp.xvii + 278. £12.95.

Peter Wynne‐Thomas, ’Give Me Arthur’: A Biography of Arthur Shrewsbury (London: Arthur Barker, 1985). Pp.xi + 163. £9.95.

Michael D. Smith, Violence and Sport (Toronto: Butterworth, 1983) Pp.vii + 215. £20.00.     

General Motion Pictures

Eileen Sheahan's Moving Pictures: An Annotated Guide to Selected Film Literature With Suggestions for the Study of Film (South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1979 – $9.95 hardcover)

Anthony Slide, Films on Film History (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1979 – $12.00 hardcover)

Hannah Elsas Miller, Films in the Classroom: A Practical Guide (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1979 – $12.50)

Roy Pickard, Hollywood Gold: The Award Winning Movies (New York: Taplinger, 1979 – $1 4 .95/$9.95)

Legal and Business Problems of Financing Motion Pictures 1979 (Practising Law Institute, 810 Seventh Ave., New York, N.Y. 10019—$20, paper)

Nancy Allen's Film Study Collections: A Guide to Their Development and Use (New York: Frederik Ungar, 1979—$14.00)

David McNicoll, eds. A Guide to Film and Television Courses in Canada (Canadian Film Institute, 75 Albert Street, Suite 1105, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E7 – $6.95)

Film Periodicals: A new journal, Discourse: Berkeley Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture (P.O. Box 4667, Berkeley, California 94704 – $9.00 for three issues for individuals, $12.00 for institutions, and $18.00 foreign)

Don Allen, ed. The World of Film and Filmmakers: A Visual History (New York: Crown, 1979—$19.95)

Raymond Fielding, comp. A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations on the Subject of Film: 1916-1979 (Houston, Tx.: University Film Association Monograph No. 3, 1979—$6.50, paper)     

Venture finance,small firms and public policy in the UK

During the tenure of the current Conservative administration, public policy in Britain has very much favoured the smaller firm. This policy emphasis appears to be based on a belief in the superior job creating potential and innovatory capacity of smaller firms over their larger counterparts. Evidence presented in the paper shows that small firms have, indeed, made an important contribution to innovation in the UK and that their share of significant British innovations has increased significantly since the mid-1970s. An important aspect of small firm policy in the UK has been the introduction of several schemes designed to increase the flow of capital into the small firm sector, with special emphasis being placed on venture capital. The first of these schemes, the Loan Guarantee Scheme, has directed capital from the banks into over 14,000 small firms. The second scheme, the Business Expansion Scheme, has increased significantly the overall flow of venture capital and has biased investments towards start-up and early stage financing. These two schemes, together with the establishment of an Unlisted Securities Market, have provided some impetus to the development of private sector venture capital in Britain, which is growing apace. Essentially, the public sector schemes have underwritten the costs of entry to the venture capital market of both individual and institutional investors. In other words, they have had an important catalytic effect in stimulating the growth of private sector venture capital industry which is now the largest in Europe.     

Towards a schools funding policy to ameliorate poverty and disadvantage

As a society we now have the means to identify regional areas of disadvantage, and the knowledge of what needs to be done to ameliorate intergenerational transfer of poverty. The missing ingredient is the political will² and commitment, and the capacity to convince all Australians that an increasingly divided society is to everyone’s disadvantage.     

Great experiments in physics

In Part 1 of this article, we described masers. In this part, we describe lasers, their optical counterpart.     

First catch your indexer*

Indexes are essential for many learned publications, yet often overlooked because those responsible for the publications do not realize the value of an index or know how to commission one. This article provides basic guidelines for coping with indexes.     

On Sense and Nonsense: Looking Beyond the Literacy Wars

This essay argues that sense depends on the circulation of nonsense. A realisation of the reciprocal relation can result in a micro-level praxis that helps us, as educators, to free ourselves from the polarisations that have occurred in the field of literacy, such as the phonics/whole language debate, replacing the antagonism with a more generative pragmatics.     

What’s in a Name: Defining Reference/Introducing Ourselves

ABSTRACT

Reference is the word we use for the actions that librarians engage in to answer questions from the public. The art and practice of reference involves many actions that likely can only be understand through engagement. Students in a graduate basic reference class engage in active learning to introduce themselves to their classmates and to understand how to define what reference is. Both activities involve placing words in context.