Abstract
Traditionally, the relationship between users, librarians and suppliers of information products has been a relatively stable one, with librarians acting as mediators in the delivery of information from suppliers to users. The emergence of electronic databases linked to users by (“free-of-charge”) communication networks tends to threaten two sides of this “Golden Triangle”. Some commentators have forecast the end of libraries, anticipating a future in which users satisfy all their information needs from electronic databases, without recourse to traditional libraries or librarians – indeed, the “virtual library” may not be run by librarians at all!
However, this threat extends beyond libraries to the suppliers themselves. The appearance of networked electronic journals, with no print equivalents, may herald the start of a trend towards bypassing traditional publishing methods and traditional publishers. Continually, and steeply, rising periodical prices can only serve to exacerbate the problem.
For users, these developments also raise threats as well as opportunities—How easy will it be to find out about invisible electronic colleges and databases? Who will help them to navigate through the electronic jungle? And so on.
The key question, then, is how we ensure that these potential threats become opportunities. What is needed is an ongoing dialogue, involving all three players, about how this emerging electronic market-place may best be structured to everyone's advantage. Without it, the “Golden Triangle” may turn out to be another Bermuda Triangle!