Many factors and pressures affect decisions made in UK university libraries on opening hours especially 24/7. This article reports on a project to examine the decision making process, influential factors, and stakeholders. A workshop for senior library managers in theEast Midlands was held to gather data and share experiences. From analysis of the workshop a framework of influential factors was devised and the decision making process was examined. Although each library had different priorities, important factors overall included pressure from undergraduates and the student's union, and provision during exam periods. Further research to examine the framework nationally is required.

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The process of selection underpins many important questions facing those libraries which have responsibility for preservation. Properties of digital material present challenges to established preservation selection drivers and practices, including the increasing volume of digital material; the complexity of some digital objects; changing forms of cultural object creation and ownership; and the need for early interventions to keep material useable over time. This paper examines relevant library and related literature to identify and conceptualise factors which affect selection decision making relating to the preservation of digital material in libraries. It describes six organisational areas of concern: resources and volume; criteria; policy; legal and ethical issues; roles and responsibility; and user aspects of selection. Particular challenges include the need to revisit criteria and develop policies for preservation and selection along with the effect of unclear roles, responsibilities and expectations of a wide range of stakeholders.

Two rival records management models emerged during the 1990s. Duranti’s model involved moving records out of business applications into a repository which has a structure/schema optimised for recordkeeping. Bearman’s model involved intervening in business applications to ensure that their functionality and structure/schema are optimised for record keeping. In 2013 the US National Archives and Records Administration began asking Federal agencies to schedule important email accounts for permanent preservation. This approach cannot be mapped to either Duranti or Bearman’s model. A third records management model has therefore emerged, a model in which records are managed in place within business applications even where those applications have a sub-optimal structure/schema. This model can also be seen in the records retention features of the Microsoft 365 cloud suite. This paper asks whether there are any circumstances in which the in-place model could be preferable to Duranti and Bearman’s models. It explores the question by examining the evolution of archival theory on the organisation of records. The main perspectives deployed are those of realism and of records continuum theory. The paper characterises the first two decades of this century as an era of partial automation, during which organisations have had a general capability to automate the assignment of business correspondence to a sub-optimal structure/schema (that of their email system and/or other messaging system) but not to an optimal structure/schema. In such an era any insistence on optimising the structure/schema within which correspondence is managed may paradoxically result in a reduction in recordkeeping efficiency and reliability.

Making decisions on academic library opening hours is complex with many pressures on managers. This research surveys senior academic library managers from the UK, using a questionnaire to reveal views on library opening hours, the decision making process, and the pressures which influenced their decisions. A variety of factors were found, in particular satisfying undergraduate demands. The research also revealed the sources of information important in making decisions on opening hours and the influence of 'political' issues in the decision making process.Some institutions remove complexity by utilising 24/7 opening, though this is not an option for many. KeywordsAcademic libraries, library opening hours, 24 hour opening, library decision making.