Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Thomas Baker (1656-1740) spent most of his long life at St John's College, Cambridge pursuing historical research. He was also an avid book collector, and bequeathed his valuable library to the college. His writings included a history of the college, which was edited by John Mayor and published in 1869. Volume 1 begins with an account of the founding of the college in 1511, and goes on to list donors and details of their endowments, and the first scholars of the college. It also contains information about ordinances, petitions, and important individuals. Baker's sources include written documentation (for example the 'thick black book' and the 'white vellum book') as well as oral traditions. His work is not merely a register of dates and numbers, but a fascinating account of two centuries of committed work and political manoeuvres underlying the later success of this rich and influential college.

Thomas Baker (1656 1740) spent most of his long life at St John's College, Cambridge pursuing historical research. He was also an avid book collector, and bequeathed his valuable library to the college. His writings included a history of the college, which was edited by John Mayor and published in 1869. Volume 2, to which Mayor made a substantial contribution in his own right, is devoted to the Masters of the college between 1511 and 1840, and includes short biographies and anecdotes about their lives at Cambridge. It describes visits by royalty, disputes with the authorities, appeals against elections, details of salaries, and more domestic matters such as policies on tobacco-smoking and the production of plays in the library. It makes fascinating reading for those interested in Cambridge, the history of education and the lives of these distinguished scholars and the society in which they moved.

ECDL2000, the Fourth European Conference on Research and Advanced Te- nology for Digital Libraries, is being held this year in Lisbon, Portugal, following previous events in Pisa (1997), Heraklion (1998), and Paris (1999). One major goal of the ECDL conference series has been to draw information professionals, stakeholders, and user communities from both the research world and from - dustry into a discussion of the alternative technologies, policies, and scenarios for global digital libraries. The success of previous conferences makes them a hard act to follow. The eld of digital libraries draws on a truly diverse set of scienti c and technical disciplines. In the past three years, moreover, global cooperation on research and development has emerged as an urgent priority, particularly in the new European Framework Programme and in the Digital Library Initiative in the United States. Because of this diversity, the eld is perhaps still struggling for an identity. But this struggle for identity is itself a source of energy and creativity. P- ticipants in this eld feel themselves to be part of a special community, with special people. Each of us may claim expertise on a narrow issue, with speci c projects, but the choices we make and the methods we use in local solutions can have unforeseen impacts within a growing universe of interconnected resources.