The authors report on their initial findings from their major work investigating the changing nature of personnel management during the recession. They point to the key importance of employee relations for the personnel function. They discuss top management influence, the use of specialized personnel skills, computers, consultants, and changes in…

Expertise in the labor relations field is seen as necessary for any college or university engaged in collective bargaining. Three choices are considered: hiring the expert, retaining an outside consultant, or training the in-house specialist. Management, it is suggested, must maintain the power balance by meeting expertise with expertise.…

Offers practical approach to locating and understanding sources of current information in industrial relations from four groups: non-profit, policy research associations; professional and trade associations; advocacy and lobby organizations; and private, profit-making agencies. A method for enriching library collection development and a new…