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Widespread alarm at the Open University as the university diary for 1997 failed to turn up in staff pigeon holes at the normal time.

Pessimists mindful of financial worries feared that the non-appearance implied limited confidence in its inability to make it through the next 12 months. But reassurance was rapidly forthcoming. The in-house newsletter Open House explained that there had been production difficulties and that, throwing caution to the winds, the decision had been taken to make the diary an 18-month rather than a 12-month edition.