BLAISE—The British Library Automated Information Service

One of the problems audiences face when hearing about computer systems is that of separating reality from enthusiastic speculation about future developments which may or may not materialize. This paper is almost entirely about systems and services which are already available and in every‐day use. I hope to cover the whole range of BLAISE services and perhaps enable you to appreciate how the various individual features of BLAISE fit in to a total library service.