Metal-Poor Globular Clusters of the Milky Way and Environs

We review properties of the most metal-deficient globular clusters and halo stars in the local universe as of March 2001, with goals of examining present evidence for the duration of the initial burst of massive cluster formation in the Milky Way, determining when that burst occurred, and elucidating what appears to be limiting our present understanding. Such issues bear upon many topics to arise later in the Symposium.