Abstract
This presentation reviews the extremely rapid developments in information technology and use over the last few decades, with observations on data-transfer restrictions and the problem of copyright. In this context, the author introduces and discusses the currently controversial questions of information re-use and re-packaging, along with the matters of government/commercial sector participation, usage-fees, and software-development. The A-C-C-E-S-STM and OMNILINKTM software packages for microcomputers are described. There is discussion of abstracting/indexing services and of their relations with primary publishers, in historical perspective. The author stresses the necessity for caution and careful deliberation in choosing a computer-based system for purchase. The presentation closes with a recounting of some factors that will influence the re-use and re-packaging of information in the future, an expansion on the concept of the ‘information warehouse’, and a description of some of the operating procedures followed by Information Intelligence for its information-retrieval services.