As we are heading towards the 21st century, we are witnessing an information revolution. The importance and value of information, delivered in a timely manner to the requester, is steadily growing. New technologies have changed dramatically the ways in which information can be obtained.
Astronomy librarians are in the fortunate situation of having tools in their hands that provide search and navigation capabilities of which we wouldn't have dreamed only a few years ago. On the other hand, the current situation also confronts us with a large number of questions. Librarians are not interested exclusively in accessing the very latest (pre-)publication, but need to make sure that scientific documents will be available throughout time. Many librarians are alarmed by some of the directions currently suggested. Mature and standardized solutions for retrieving and accessing and in particular for archiving electronic publications must be in place before the current, paper-based system can be abandoned.
Librarians traditionally have been on the forefront of making information available to users. They will continue to be so, but the means and methods used in order to achieve this aim are undergoing rapid changes. The role of librarians in the new publishing scenario has been expanded, it involves new tools and technologies, and reflects changed requirements and new end-user behavior.