Now in its 35th edition, this is the most authoritative, detailed trade directory available for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Asian populations are among some of the fastest growing cultural groups in the US. While books on serving other target groups in libraries have been published (e.g., disabled, Latino, seniors, etc.), few books on serving library users of Asian heritage have been written. Thus the timely need for this book. Rather than a generalized overview of Asians as a whole, this book has 24 separate chapters—each on 24 specific Asian countries/cultures of East, Southeast, and South Asia—with a wealth of resources for understanding, interacting with, outreaching to, and serving library users of each culture. Resources include cultural guides (both print and online), language helps (with sample library vocabulary), Asian booksellers, nationwide cultural groups, professional literature, and more. Resources and suggestions are given for all three types of libraries—public, school, and academic—making this book valuable for all librarians. The demographics of each Asian culture (numbers and distribution)—plus history of immigration and international student enrollment—is also featured. As a bonus, each chapter spotlights a US public, school, and academic library providing model outreach to Asian library users. Additionally, this book provides a detailed description and analysis of libraries in each of the 24 Asian countries. The history, development, facilities, conditions, technology, classification systems, and more—of public, school, and academic libraries—are all discussed, with detailed documentation. Country conditions influencing libraries and library use are also described: literacy levels, reading cultures, languages and writing systems, educational systems, and more. Based on the author’s 15 years of research and travels to Asia, this work is a must-have for all librarians.

The Directory: contains more than 2,000 Web site records, organized into 20 subject-themed chapters. It provides descriptions and URLs for each site and describes sites to help in choosing the proper resource. It also provides Web site descriptions that includes information about the sponsoring agency and notes the useful or unique aspects of the site as well as listing some of the major government publications hosted on the site. It evaluates the most important and frequently sought sites providing a roster of congressional members with members' Web sites and includes a one-page ’’Quick Guide'' to the major federal agencies and the leading online library, data source, and finding aid sites. There are multiple indexes in the back of the book to help locate Web sites by agency, site name, subject, and government publication title. The Master Index combines the agency, site name, and subject indexes. A separate index lists Web sites with full or substantial Spanish-language versions.