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For rural areas the trends towards centralisation of public offices and reductions in transport and other services, mean that gaining access to public information has become more difficult at a time when we increasingly need information to survive in our complex society. In the last few years many specialist information‐giving organisations have made use of the new technology, yet few advances have been made in developing the equipment and the software for use in rural areas. This two‐phase project, run by Devon Library Services, aims to improve the levels of access to information in rural areas through the use of microcomputers.

People After acting as a section head in BLR&DD since the summer of 1984 John Burchell has been officially promoted to this post. His particular responsibilities include dissemination, user education and professional education. Sue Howley, BLR&DD project officer responsible for information policy, has been promoted to the post of Head of Central Services, Science Reference and Information Service (formerly Science Reference Library). Dr Richard Snelling, the project officer responsible for social science information, has transferred to Western Manuscripts in the British Library's Special Collections directorate.

Library and Information Science Abstracts have successfully completed a pilot project, with SilverPlatter Information Limited, that has resulted in a one‐year file of Lisa for 1984 being recorded onto CD‐ROM (Compact Disk — Read Only Memory). Plans are now well under way for providing the complete Lisa database on CD‐ROM commercially by mid‐1986.

The African Caribbean Library Association's (ACLA) current Chair is Gloria Lock of Wandsworth Libraries. I interviewed her recently about the Association — the results of which are reproduced here with her consent.

Anglia Connect was set up initially as a pilot scheme in April 1992. It provides an interlending network between the Public Library Authorities of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. This article describes the background to the system and the logistics of its operation. The statistics show that it provides an effective local service at relatively low cost.

The British Library Research and Development Department (BLR&DD) held its Open Day on November 14th 1990. The event was well‐publicised and drew representatives from the library and information community, along with many others from outside the profession, who came to take a closer look at the Department's work. The day took the form of an exhibition and demonstrations of various research projects, and two informal discussion sessions. The intention was to stimulate debate by giving participants the opportunity to hear about some of the research work funded by the Department, and then to put their own views. A report of the day's proceedings has been published and is available free of charge.

On 22 October 1988 the lager louts of Reading stayed nervously indoors. The CLW “class of ‘68” was in town.