The main goal of Handbook is to collect and catalogue information on spoken languae sesources and de facto standard procedures, and so provide an essential reference work for speech technology development. Speech technology has emerged during the past year as a market factor, primarily with dictation software and speech synthesis devices, and one main group within the potential readership will include research workers and system developers in this field, including service companies who adapt existing systems to new domains and scenarios. Other potential readers include corporate end-users who need to specify, procure or integrate system components, and require guidance on system specification and assessment, as well as newcomers to the field, including graduate students, and workers in other countries who require access to well-documented common practice in Europe.