J. H. Bowman is Programme Director for Library and Information Studies at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, University College London, UK.

'John Bowman and Ashgate are to be congratulated on reviving this essential series and covering not only a momentous decade for libraries from 1991-2000, but producing the 2001-2005 volume so expeditiously... there are many riches in these two volumes and anyone interested in seeing what has been gained and what has changed over the last fifteen yeard would learn much from reading them' . Refer 23(2) Spring/Summer 2007 'A feature of the volume is the impressively detailed index covering 35 double-columned pages. A both a "state-of-the-art" read and a reference resource, this is a "must have" for library managers and committed professionals' Library and Information Update, October 2007 'There is no question of the authority of each of the contributors and even the sectors that I have never worked in, nor had much dealing with, presented a fascinating insight into the issues pertinent therein. The book is confidently and ably edited by J.H. Bowman of University College London (UCL).' New Library World, Vol 108, 2007 'At a time of new realism in public affairs, the empiricism, clarity and lack of pretence of BLIWseems to me to provide the perfect antidote to a librarianship literature preoccupied with technology, change, futurology and gloom in equal measure. Long may these volumes, and the profession whose history they record, continue to thrive.' Journal of Librianship and Information Science

• Chapter 1 National libraries, Stephen Bury; Chapter 2 Public libraries, Richard Ward; Chapter 3 From social inclusion to community cohesion, John Pateman, John Vincent; Chapter 4 Community information, Helen Leech; Chapter 5 University libraries, Jeremy Atkinson, Steve Morgan; Chapter 6 Colleges of further education, Andrew Eynon; Chapter 7 Services to children, young people and schools, Lucy Gildersleeves; Chapter 8 Government libraries, Peter Griffiths; Chapter 9 Learned, professional and independent libraries, Mary Nixon, Carol Allison; Chapter 10 Library and information history, Peter Hoare; Chapter 11 Rare book librarianship and historical bibliography, K. E. Attar; Chapter 12 Art libraries, Erica Foden-Lenahan; Chapter 13 Music libraries, Pamela Thompson; Chapter 14 Media libraries, Katharine Schöpflin, Richard Nelsson; Chapter 15 Map libraries, Robert Parry; Chapter 16 Local studies, Ian Jamieson; Chapter 17 Archives, Elizabeth Shepherd; Chapter 18 British and European Union official publications, Howard Picton, Chris Pond, Valerie Nurcombe, Jane Inman, David Butcher, Grace L. Hudson; Chapter 19 Patents, Stephen Adams; Chapter 20 The book trade, Iain Stevenson; Chapter 21 The internet and libraries, Phil Bradley; Chapter 22 Education and training, Marion Huckle, Margaret Watson; Chapter 23 Research, David Nicholas; Chapter 24 Library buildings, Michael Dewe, Alan J. Clark; Chapter 25 Cooperation, Linda Berube; Chapter 26 Marketing, Linda M. Smith; Chapter 27 Information literacy, David Streatfield, Sharon Markless; Chapter 28 Library management systems, Lucy A. Tedd; Chapter 29 Cataloguing, J. H. Bowman; Chapter 30 Classification and subject organization and retrieval, Vanda Broughton; Chapter 31 Indexing and abstracting, J. H. Bowman; Chapter 32 Preservation, Alison Walker;