  An observational survey of stars selected from the region of sky in the
direction of the Galactic bulge is presented. We discuss the choice of tracer
populations for this study. Digitised UK Schmidt plate photometry, calibrated
with CCD photometry, is obtained in 18 regions over the bulge. Stars are
selected for spectroscopic follow-up from within a carefully chosen
colour-magnitude selection window, optimised for efficient detection of bulge K
giants. Some 1500 stellar spectra were obtained, with the AAT AUTOFIB facility,
giving the largest data set yet obtained in this region of the Galaxy, by a
factor of $\approx 10$. We have derived a radial velocity and metallicity for
each star, and have quantified the uncertainties in these measurements.
Luminosity classification has been derived both by visual classification and
using an automated routine based on Principal Component Analysis. There are two
basic results from this survey: the discovery of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy,
which is described by Ibata, Gilmore & Irwin (1994,1995), and a study of the
Galactic Bulge, which is presented in an accompanying paper (Ibata & Gilmore
1995).
