my $charset = $self->charset || '';
    my $utf8    = $charset eq 'utf-8';
    if ($utf8) {
      eval "require Encode; 1;" if $utf8 && !Encode->can('decode'); # bring in these functions
      return wantarray ? map {Encode::decode(utf8=>$_) } @{$self->{$name}} 
                       : Encode::decode(utf8=>$self->{$name}->[0]);
    } else {
      return wantarray ? @{$self->{$name}} : $self->{$name}->[0];
    }