The Internet as an information resource has been widely recognised over the last few years. Many people involved in the fields of education, teaching, learning and research are happy and familiar with using the Internet as one of the tools in their information seeking toolbox. The rapid growth in more popular, everyday use of the Internet has also meant that more and more people are using it as one of their primary ways of seeking information.

No matter what the user's information needs, skill level or educational background, they all face a number of similar problems in relation to using the Internet as an information searching and retrieval tool. These problems include:

• Volume of information - there is so much information on the Internet, how does one find a way through it?
• Searching issues - the sheer volume of information makes searching difficult.
• Quality issues - when you find information, how do you evaluate the "quality" of the it?
• Trust issues - when you find information how do you know whether or not it can be trusted and/or used?

Information gateways and other quality-controlled portals are one of the proposed solutions to many of these problems. Information gateways help users discover high quality information on the Internet in a quick and effective way. They select, classify and catalogue information in ways similar to those that librarians have used for many years.

But what exactly are information gateways and how do they relate to different user communities?

The DESIRE information gateways handbook attempts to answer this question, as well as addressing the many issues that arise when planning and implementing an information gateway. The handbook has been designed and written with the specific aim of highlighting best practice and the latest technologies behind information gateways. The handbook is a joint effort written by many of the leading information gateway practitioners in the world, thereby bringing a unique wealth of experience and expertise to bear.

The handbook is divided into three sections to reflect the managerial, information and technical issues that building a gateway raises. Each of these sections attempts to cover all of the key issues that might be encountered in setting up an information gateway.

If you are interested in setting up an information gateway or just want to find out more about what information gateways are, then the DESIRE information gateways handbook is the place to start.