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The London and South‐Eastern Library Region (LASER) facilitates interlibrary lending in London and South East England. It has access to some 40 million volumes and through its union catalogues is responsible for 215,000 Interlending requests per annum. This paper describes the background to the automation of LASER'S referral activity. It also gives details of the mini‐computer system which was eventually installed and in which over 1,000,000 titles are now recorded. Careful monitoring over the last two years has demonstrated a number of advantages over the manual system which preceded it. Bibliographical checking has been reduced by 25% and cost containment has exceeded expectations. The next stage in LASER'S development will be the provision of on‐line access to a number of the Bureau's main users.

Alex Wilson was elected Chairman of Council, the customary vote against smoking was duly passed, the usual dearth of librarians in the Honours List noted and Council was under way for another year of office. In his investiture of Jean Plaister as President, Max Broome, the retiring President, made a point of not making a point about her being only the second woman to hold the office, asserting that gender had nothing to do with the choice of LA Presidents. The feminine majority of LA members, though accepting the theory, may not be entirely convinced of its practical application so far! His statement that no previous President has been as intimately connected with library co‐operation as Jean Plaister is certainly true. In her reply Miss Plaister looked forward confidently with the remark “I like challenges”, to a year which will involve the problems of legislation for copyright, increasing government pressure towards charging for public services, and continuing censorship. She drew attention to the fact that the LA has never before had a more broadly‐based membership with only 30 per cent now serving in public libraries and saw this as an encouraging development. Mr Barnes proposed the vote of thanks to Max Broome for his presidency in 1987.

As the various Lib‐2 studies conducted throughout the EEC are published (we hope), they should reveal how similar are the trends in automation in many European Countries. Perhaps that which is closest (geographically and metaphorically) to the U.K. scene is The Netherlands who have already published their study(1). They have features familiar to the U.K.: a centralised shared cataloguing system, promoting a local library system with the additional presence of some familiar turnkey vendors — Geac, ALS, CLSI. This brief summary of PICA is the result of a visit made by Jean Plaister to investigate, in particular, its networked messaging and ILL system — areas which the UK has not developed greatly so far. Also of interest are the developments in the implementation of OSI. Ed

The majority of librarians and information officers are uncertain about Prestel. As yet, they are probably wise to be wary but not I maintain, chicken‐hearted. We do not yet know the effect Prestel could have on the traditional services provided by libraries and information centres or the potential it could have for widening and expanding services. There is every reason to find out, however, and in talking this evening about LASER and Prestel I also want to deal with the insight our work has given us into the implications of Prestel.

The European Commission has accepted a proposal for an Open Systems Inter‐Connection (OSI) pilot/demonstration project between library networks in Europe for interlending services. The project arose from the Commission's call for ‘declaration of interest’ in pilot or demonstration projects designed to promote competitiveness and develop the information service market in Europe. It predates the ‘Plan of Action for Libraries in the European Community’, but subscribes to the objectives and action lines included in it.

The proceedings of a conference on the future of union catalogues, the recent Unesco guidelines on the compilation of union catalogues of serials and a book on future access to information and documents in France are discussed.

For such is the recommended style for any male editor of NLW writing about women in librarianship. So far every editor of NLW, since James Duff Brown the onlie begetter of Library World in 1898, has been a man. I'm sure, however, that She in Kings Ripton will find it tolerable to appoint a woman as next NLW editor.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. Ittis edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based, from June 1st 1984, at the Polytechnic of Central London and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for the articles rests with the British Library Board and opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1984 to VINE is: £23 for UK subscribers, £26 to overseas subscribers (including airmail delivery). Second and subsequent copies to the same address are charged at £14 for UK and £16 for overseas. VINE is available in either paper or microfiche copy and all back issues are available on microfiche.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Office for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1981 and 1982 for VINE is £20 for UK subscribers and £23 for overseas subscribers — subscription year runs from January to December.

The sixth Library Technology Fair was held at Hatfield Polytechnic on 11–12 September 1991. The fair has grown steadily in size since it was first held, in 1985, as a training event for the staff of HERTIS college libraries. HERTIS, which is based at Hatfield Polytechnic, has provided an information and consultancy service to member firms since the 1960s and, since 1979, has co‐operated with Hertfordshire Library Service in providing a commercial information service. A description of its experiences in the development and publication of a business databank of companies was given by Forster and others.