The immediate stimulus for this collection of papers was a conference, Self-Access and the Adult Language Learner, organized by the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT) and the Language Centre of the University of Cambridge in December 1992 at Queen's College, Cambridge. Several 1-day conferences on the same theme were also organized during 1993 and 1994 in Stirling (with Scottish CILT), the Universities of Westminster, Leicester, and Bristol. Papers include: "Aspects of Learner Discourse: Why Listening to the Learners Is So Important" (Philip Riley); "Demystifying IT in Second Language Learning" (Jeremy Fox); "Hypermedia and Cognitive Tools" (Terry Mayes); "Preparing Learners: Toolkit Requirements for Preparing/Orienting Learners" (Leslie Dickinson);"Learner Support: Interacting with Learners" (Edith Esch); "'Whatever Is Worth Knowing Can Never Be Taught' (Oscar Wilde)" (Peter Forbes, Anny King); "Self-Access, Not Self-Service: Tesco versus Taylor's" (Edith Esch); "From Continuing to Higher Education: Open-Access Learning at Anglia Polytechnic University" (Anne Ife); "A Unique Resource-Based Language Learning System" (Ritva-Liisa Cleary, Lucila Makin); "Learner Telesupport: Language Advising by E-Mail" (Lucila Makin); "Learners' Search Criteria and Cataloguing Language Learning Material: Demands Imposed on Databases" (Ritva-Liisa Cleary); "Files and Catalogues: Meeting and Answering Learner Queries in a Resource Centre" (Sam M. Cembalo); "Implementing a Support System for Language Learning in a Resource Centre on an Industrial Site" (Daniele Abe); "Self-Access Language Centres: Implications for Managers, Teachers and Learners" (Jack Lonergan); "The Language Learning Centre at the University of Central Lancashire: A Case Study" (Stella Hurd); "Preparing Teachers for Self-Access: Hong Kong Experiences" (Herbert Pierson); "A Study of Independent Learning: The Learner Training Programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong" (Beatrice Ma); "Keeping Contact with Learners" (Eva Fung-kuen Lai); "Using Computers for Authentic Communication" (Linda Mak); "Developing Materials for the Independent Learning Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong" (Emma Yuen-wai Poon); and "Comments from an Adult Language Learner" (N. W. Barlow). (MSE)