Medical libraries are confronted with the international aspects of copyright and licence agreements, and cope with a fast-growing demand for high quality medical information in order to bring evidence-based medicine into practice. Medical librarians also serve the public, especially in those countries where consumer health information is in the forefront of health care policy. The importance of pharmaceutical information is well understood; the need for information transfer from (basic) research into (clinical) practice is not restricted to medicine, but is also important in veterinary sciences. In all fields in which members of EAHIL are working the commercial interest and political value of information is recognized. With the exponential growth of medical, health and health-care related information available or accessible on the Internet, librarians play a crucial role in information dissemination. Information services, especially in medicine, are no longer local activities, but are knitted into the global web. The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports of The Netherlands, Mrs Els Borst-Eilers, gives many arguments why doctors need to be better informed. The papers of Lois Ann Colaianni (USA), Derek Law (UK), Charles Oppenheim (UK), Bas Savenije (NL) and many others show that the library provides a paradigm for the management of networked resources.

Health Information Management: What Strategies? contains the Proceedings of the Fifth European Conference on Medical and Health Libraries and gives a full account of the state-of-the-art of European medical librarianship. This book is the fifth in a well-received series of proceedings of the European conferences and together the volumes form a valuable source for medical librarians in Europe. The quality of papers reflects the growth of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) towards maturity and the ongoing professional development of its members. The field of medical and health information has no geographical borders, therefore medical librarianship needs to be an international and multinational cooperation. The book reflects the important developments ongoing in medical informatics and medical information management. These subjects are touched upon as they have a close connection to medical librarianship. The future of medical libraries will be dominated by strong alliances with computer departments and health and hospital management departments. Many contributions deal with the strategies medical librarians can or will develop in order to incorporate the many tools of modern information technology into library policy and practice.

One of the characteristics of the final decade of this century is the treatment of information as a commodity. As the world becomes increasingly dominated by information and its technology, in all its facets, librarians must learn to integrate all the new developments into daily practice. "It is to the extent to which we shall succeed in developing powerful information networks through efficient information transfer that we shall succeed in contributing to the betterment of health throughout our nations". It is this challenge which medical librarians from some 34 countries set for themselves in convening the Third European Conference of Medical Libraries in Montpellier, France, in September 1992. All aspects of medical information were addressed - the technical aspects of transfer, ethical and legal issues, costs, benefits, rights and responsibilities, quality assurance, guidance systems, communications technology, education and training both of information professionals and end-users were discussed and debated in depth in Montpellier. This volume presents an accurate account of a conference which has made a significant contribution to the development of medical librarianship in Europe and the wider world.

The slogan Information professionals make the difference' was chosen to highlight the 10th anniversary of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) in 1997. To what effect, under which circumstances, and how medical librarians in Europe play an active role in medical information management and education is reflected in the collection of papers presented during the 6th European Conference of Medical and Health Libraries in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 22-27 June, 1998, entitled: Libraries without Limits: Changing Needs - Changing Roles. Medical libraries are confronted with the international aspects of copyright and licence agreements, and cope with a fast-growing demand for high quality medical information in order to bring evidence-based medicine into practice. Medical librarians also serve the public, especially in those countries where consumer health information is in the forefront of health care policy. The importance of pharmaceutical information is well understood; the need for information transfer from (basic) research into (clinical) practice is not restricted to medicine, but is nonetheless important in veterinary sciences. In all fields in which members of EAHIL are working the commercial interest and political value of information is recognized. With the exponential growth of medical, health and health-care related information available or accessible on the Internet, librarians play a crucial role in information dissemination. Information services, especially in medicine, are no longer local activities, but are knitted into the global web. The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports of The Netherlands, Mrs Els Borst-Eilers, gives many arguments why doctors need to be better informed. The papers of Lois Ann Colaianni (USA), Derek Law (UK), Charles Oppenheim (UK), Bas Savenije (NL) and many others will prove to the reader that the library provides a perfect paradigm for the management of networked resources.

One of the characteristics of the final decade of this century is the treatment of information as a commodity. As the world becomes increasingly dominated by information and its technology, in all its facets, librarians must learn to integrate all the new developments into daily practice. 'It is to the extent to which we shall succeed in developing powerful information networks through efficient information transfer that we shall succeed in contributing to the betterment of health throughout our nations'. It is this challenge which medical librarians from some 34 countries set for themselves in convening the Third European Conference of Medical Libraries in Montpellier, France, in September 1992. All aspects of medical information were addressed - the technical aspects of transfer, ethical and legal issues, costs, benefits, rights and responsibilities, quality assurance, guidance systems, communications technology, education and training both of information professionals and end-users were discussed and debated in depth in Montpellier. This volume presents an accurate account of a conference which has made a significant contribution to the development of medical librarianship in Europe and the wider world.

Health Information Management: What Strategies? contains the Proceedings of the Fifth European Conference on Medical and Health Libraries and gives a full account of the state-of-the-art of European medical librarianship. This book is the fifth in a well-received series of proceedings of the European conferences and together the volumes form a valuable source for medical librarians in Europe. The quality of papers reflects the growth of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) towards maturity and the ongoing professional development of its members. The field of medical and health information has no geographical borders, therefore medical librarianship needs to be an international and multinational cooperation. The book reflects the important developments ongoing in medical informatics and medical information management. These subjects are touched upon as they have a close connection to medical librarianship. The future of medical libraries will be dominated by strong alliances with computer departments and health and hospital management departments. Many contributions deal with the strategies medical librarians can or will develop in order to incorporate the many tools of modern information technology into library policy and practice.