A few decades ago requesting a copy of a scholarly article could be made to the author(s). The author would normally spare a copy from his quota of reprints or from his own file copy. This was a primary source in my days (I retired from active librarianship around 2000). In fact ISI used to sell specialised Reprint Request Post cards - They used to contain auto-carbon peel off parts. The address could be peeled and pasted on To: page of the postcard. The reprint (bibliographical) info per se could be peeled off and pasted in your file for reference etc Has this practice disappeared? Do authors not get reprints for personal distribution? Has the practice been banned by publishers ? Am I asking a "Rip Van Winkle" Question? Thanks if anyone could respond! Dr P Vyasamoorthy / 9490804278 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.