This introductory textbook covers all the basic requirements for setting up a community information service in both the public and the voluntary sectors. Areas covered include: determining needs; type of service; furniture and equipment; staffing; collection and dissemination of information; publicity and public relations; and evaluation and monitoring. This is the second edition of a book previously entitled The Basics of Information Work, and the new title stresses the even greater importance in the 1990s of the availability of information on a wide range of subjects, and in a wide range of formats, for people in the local community. In order to highlight this, an additional chapter on computers and community information has been added, and the section on staffing expanded.