Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:05:52 +0530 From: Ratnakar Aspari Dear Moderator: I have been following the the arguments in the Lis-Forum regarding the requests for full artilce from libraries. While it is good and correct to review policy of any forum from time to time, it is my earnest request to the Forum not to take a hasty decision which would hamper the very helpful nature of the Forum. While the forum should be a channel for intellectual (?) communication, it certainly should not forget one of its most fundamental goals - to provide a platform for librarians to serve their clientele better through the use of technology. Finally whatever a librian/information officer/technical information officer (call him/her by whatever title) does, if he is not able to provide a basic material like an article requested by an user, all the efforts being made by organisations like NCSI to be a part of the serving community will be lost. I certainly endorse the view that commerical organisations should not be allowed the freedom to get this facility but a resear! cher working in a university or institution should not be made to suffer for this reason. As long as no finacial transaction is involved in requesting/offering the full text to a genuine user, I do not see any impropriety in such an action. I am reacting to the present issue only because of my connections with NCSI as an user (librarian) from its inception and the benefits the scientific community is getting through it. A. Ratnakar Former librarian, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, and Consultant (Education and Training), Informatics India Ltd.Bangalore