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I am greatly honoured by this opportunity to discuss with you the subject of micro‐opaques. Two years ago, at the request of Unesco, I made an extensive research into the possibility of all micro‐techniques. An outline of these visits and the conclusions I reached have been written in two reports supplied to Unesco for general distribution.

The death was announced on 21st December 1964 of Mr H. R. Verry, who was known to many members of Aslib. Up to his retirement in 1963 Mr Verry was Adviser on Photographic and Allied Processes to the O & M Section of the Treasury. He was the author of a number of textbooks on photographic reproduction techniques and often contributed to the book reviews in the Journal of Documentation.

When the Hertfordshire Technical Library Service was inaugurated three years ago the County Council followed their normal practice of appointing an Advisory Committee with members drawn from industry to assist in the development of the scheme. At an early stage in the deliberations of the committee it was apparent that the provision of extensive scientific and technical resources both for education and industry in the county would create difficulties both in cost and storage space. It was agreed that microrecording, mechanical retrieval systems and document copying would need to be seriously studied if the service was to be efficient and economical.

This paper is the first of what is intended to be an annual survey of the literature of documentation, covering both special librarianship and information work. Its aim is to select from the year's publications, whether books, pamphlets, periodical articles or any of the other miscellaneous items which form an important part of the stock of special libraries, those which are most likely to be of practical value in day‐to‐day work. It is designed specifically to help personnel in small libraries, and is directed particularly towards those who have not yet completed their library training or, in the case of information officers, those who have not yet had much experience.

ASLIB has been concerned with education in the field of special librarianship from the first conference of 1924, when the subject was among those discussed. At that date there were two qualifications available in librarianship, the Fellowship of the Library Association and the Diploma of the University of London School of Librarianship. For the Library Association's examinations it was possible to study by correspondence, at summer schools, and in a very few places at part‐time classes. The School of Librarianship offered a one‐year post‐graduate and a two‐year undergraduate full‐time course, and while some of the Diplomates entered public libraries, others went into private libraries, university and college libraries and industrial firms. Latin was a compulsory subject for entrance to the School, however, and this was a deterrent to science graduates who wished to train for the profession.

Let me first of all congratulate Aslib in bringing before its members these various photo‐copying and duplicating processes. Book reviews and advertising literature serve a most useful purpose by introducing the machines to our notice, and in keeping us aware of the progress made in this field. The capabilities of any machine or process can, however, only be fully appreciated by actual demonstration which enables us to compare their possibilities with our own requirements.

The 28th annual conference of Aslib, held at Nottingham University from 11th to 14th September, 1953, proved to be the largest that Aslib has so far organized. A list of those present is printed on pp. 254–260. Yet again Aslib was glad to be able to welcome a number of overseas guests and members, including Dr. and Mrs. Lancour and their small daughter from the U.S.A., Drs. and Mrs. van Dijk and Miss Rom from the Netherlands, Mr. M. S. Dandekar and Mr. J. V. Karandikar from India, Miss D. M. Leach from Canada, and Mrs. T. Collin from Norway. Mr. Walter A. Southern, a Fulbright scholar from the U.S.A. affiliated to Aslib during his year's study in the United Kingdom, represented the Special Libraries Association, and Mr. J. E. Holmstrom attended as an observer on behalf of Unesco.

I am using the term microrecording to refer to all forms of microtexts, including the opaque methods. Microrecording may be defined as a method of making images to a reduced size which are unreadable by the naked eye except with the aid of an optical viewer or other similar means.

The simple beginnings of modern duplicators are to be seen in the British Museum. There are exampies of hand rotary duplicators believed to have been in use as early as 1,000 B.C. They consist of engraved cylinders of stone and were operated by being rolled over slabs of soft clay which were subsequently dried in the sun. This elementary apparatus serves to indicate that the need for duplication has existed since man first began to record. The high speed rotary machines of to‐day are the result of his ingenuity to meet that growing requirement.

Contrary to what might be expected from the rather pessimistic view of library literature taken in another paper in this issue, the production of this annual review of the literature intended for special librarians becomes progressively more difficult, owing to the growth in the volume of the material from which the selection must be made. The aim of this survey has always been to pick out from the literature generally available in Great Britain in the year in question those items likely to be of practical assistance to library and information workers—particularly those with little experience or training working in small libraries. It therefore lists important reference works and tools which the special librarian ought to know about, even if he doesn't possess them, but omits all articles of purely theoretical interest, and those which describe practice in large libraries, except where they are capable of application in small libraries. Much of the increase in the volume of literature is due to an increase in the number of works of reference, many produced under the encouragement of bodies such as Unesco, but there is also a definite tendency for a closer link between theory and practice in much of the writing on library work. In these circumstances, the selection of a list of a hundred items becomes more than ever a matter of personal judgment, on which no two persons could be expected to agree, but it is hoped that all items included will prove useful, and that all sections of the field are fairly represented.