Headlines in newspapers like "Books on satellite in the near future" or "Publishing houses stake on the electronic book" are on the increase. More and more information is no longer offered only in printed media but also in electronic form, whether on CD-ROM or in international networks like the internet. When the printed book will have lost its hitherto dominant position, at least in the sector of specialised literature, is foreseeable.

It is natural that this transformation in the information market will also affect professions that were traditionally concerned with books and communication of information: librarians and book dealers. Will they become superfluous now? Will libraries be closed and replaced by mass electronic memories that will be accessible to everyone from home?

That will definitely not happen. In the electronic age libraries have new, important functions. Librarians have new additional tasks and are more important than they were in the past. The age of information requires navigators in the worldwide information jungle. Competence in the field of media will become a central catch phrase.

Libraries and other public institutions must position themselves anew in the market, develop new services and discuss an extended concept of culture.