Book excerpt: For over fifty years anyone needing information on British and Irish libraries has turned to Libraries and Information Services in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for the answer. This newly updated directory lists over 2000 libraries and other services in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland, with contact names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and URLs. The listing is broken down into the following main categories, all fully indexed alphabetically: public library authorities, with entries for headquarters libraries plus the main administrative, divisional, area and regional libraries; universities and institutes of higher education and other degree-awarding institutions, with entries for major departmental and site/campus libraries; and, selected government, national and special libraries, together with schools and departments of information and library studies.