Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir, In Dr Wyatt's absence I write to answer Miss Pile's letter in which she ‘reviews’ parts of a chapter in our recent book and our paper in the April Aslib Proceedings. It is self‐evident that a user can only have direct and immediate access to those documents actually in the library in which he is working and must ask the library staff to obtain those other documents which he requires from elsewhere. With regard to J. Exp. Med. I would not expect this to be found often outside of places where it is read regularly—namely medical faculty libraries and perhaps certain pharmaceutical companies. Indeed, because of the pressure on library finances, few efficient librarians can afford the luxury of many journals which do not have a regular (albeit small) readership. The impression which I got from rereading Dr Wyatt's ‘Epilogue’ was not one of a moan about ‘unhelpful and hidebound library services’ but rather that library services are there to help the user obtain his literature requirements and in the main perform this task well despite the limitations imposed by shortages of money and adequately trained staff. Interpretation, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder!