The changing role of the traditional players in the new information age: the future of document delivery services

One of the most significant recent developments for libraries has been the increasing availability of electronic versions of journals produced by the major publishers. Virtually instant online access to the full text of articles is engineering a fundamental rethink of how libraries provide information and services to their users: are libraries as physical entities still needed; can end‐users go it alone in searching for and retrieving documents they require; how can new and traditional services be effectively integrated, and so on. However, while technically many things are possible, the business models, the information delivery infrastructure, and the shifting relationships between the traditional players, are still in a state of flux and do not as yet provide a solid basis on which libraries can make confident decisions about the future. Explores the role of document supply services in the new paradigm and argues that, if they can seize the opportunity, they will have a vital though substantially different role to play.