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Outlines the nature of research and publishing in Arabic, the attempts to encourage resource sharing in the Arab Gulf States, the existing arrangements for interlibrary lending and the development of electronic document delivery systems that facilitate interlibrary lending. A case study examined the availability of relevant technology and personnel with appropriate expertise in three major libraries in Kuwait: Kuwait University, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, and the National Scientific and Technical Information Center. Questionnaires and interviews, intended to assess staff attitudes and perceptions, were used to examine the reasons why the Ariel system of Electronic Document Delivery appeared to have not yet been adopted, although it has been increasingly used in other parts of the world for more than 10 years. The paper notes that the adoption of this new technology in Kuwait is supported in principle, but is hindered by lack of awareness, skills and motivation, and speculates about the wider implications for the Gulf States.

This paper examines the relationship between research into the evaluation of the impact of library and information services, policy making in the field

Drawing upon the theories and taxonomy of vitality, suggested by Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor (1977), a questionnaire was developed to uncover the subjective perceptions of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province. This questionnaire was distributed between September and November 2004 in seven locations with 369 completed questionnaires being returned by inhabitants of these municipalities. The distribution of the questionnaires included a wide cross-section of society to reflect perceptions of the strength of the Welsh language among the society as a whole and not just the Welsh community. This article concentrates upon important questions relating to the current perceptions of the strength of Welsh language and Welsh culture and perceptions of the prevailing historical and future trends. Analysis of the questionnaire results shows positive trends in informants' responses linked to the informants' a‰liation to the Welsh community, fluency in oral Welsh, and location. Some significant di¤erences exist according to the informants' age and the region of the province in which they live.

Guest-editorialPeering into the mist and struggling through it -the education and training of the future information professional A recent guest-editorial comment in 'Education for Information' challenged its readers to ask themselves whether they were producing students with up to date and relevant knowledge and skills [1]. Read over lunch in the office during what is laughably described as the Summer Vacation, it provoked an immediate reaction. Clearly, however, the response is one which needs to be addressed, not to the educators, but to practitioners. Hence its appearance in this joumaP, perhaps a fitting conclusion to my five year term on its Editorial Board.What I am not going to try to do is to discuss some of the changes affecting the profession. Everyone is well aware of the changes in the place of information in society; in the availability and sophistication of information technology; indeed, in the nature of the information and communication industry; and the added complexities these have brought to the task of maintaining and developing information services.What I would like to do is to outline some of the responses to these changes which are being made by the Schools of Information and Library Studies, particularly the Schools which I know best, in terms of: how we have been updating our curricula and courses to develop the technical competencies which are changing rapidly and increasingly important; -what we are doing or what we are about to do to meet the growing need for management and leadership skills; -what we still need to do, and -how practitioners will have to help us if they expect us to produce the kind of professional they would like to employ.