An exponential increase in the volume of recorded knowledge and continuing rapid development of the technology available for accessing it have become part of our way of life. In the medical context Tony Blair stated in 1998 that "the challenge for the NHS is to harness the information revolution and use it to benefit patients".¹ This poses a major challenge for hospital libraries, which until recently (with the exception of those in the university teaching hospitals) have lagged behind libraries in higher education in embracing and utilising the potential of the "new" IT. The imperative for developing access to electronic resources such as databases, electronic journals, and the internet has been reinforced by successive governments' initiatives on modernising health care in the UK. The adoption of clinical governance, and the emphasis on evidence based medicine to provide better and more cost effective health care have in particular made access to the . . . [Full text of this article]