Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

As part of a larger research effort to determine what constitutes an effective information system, a user evaluation of the "Wiltshire Social Services Staff Digest", a monthly publication produced by the research and development section of the Social Service Department, was carried out. A stratified sample of 700 among the total 2,424 departmental employees received a questionnaire designed to obtain data on the use and usefulness of the "Digest". In addition, an interview survey was designed to acquire data on the Digest that could not easily be obtained by the questionnaire and data on the information requirements of the staff. The results indicated that the "Digest" was read by almost everyone in the department. Nearly all respondents (94 percent) read the news section and 79 percent found it useful. The library information bulletin was read by only half of the respondents and only just over a third of the respondents found it useful. The majority of respondents were satisfied with the present monthly frequency and also with the presentation. There was a general feeling among the interviewees that articles and letters giving personal views and comments ought to be published. Conclusions and recommendations relate to four main parts of the information system: the "Digest", the office filing systems, the information officers, and the role of the department's library. (CH)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert