Editorial

The 31^st Annual General Conference of the Ligue des Bibliothèques Europeénnes de Recherche took place at the Karl-Franzens-University Library Graz in July 2002. The conference proceedings are to be found in this double issue which contains 17 articles covering a range of 8 topics:

• virtual libraries and virtual universities

• research organisations and learned academies

• strategic overviews of the future from key commercial players

• value added services in providing content

• multimedia: opening new doors in libraries

• e-books: equally good for libraries and library users

• the management of change in libraries

• risk assessment for collection preservation

Considering the variety of topics dealt with, this issue can be said to represent a bird’s-eye view of problems, developments, and challenges which research libraries in Europe and elsewhere are facing at the moment. What makes the reading of these articles particularly stimulating is the fascinating mixture of theoretical and practical approaches with a multitude of useful insights and experiences.

For registered users the online version of this issue is available at http:// webdoc.gwdg.de/edoc/aw/liber/. Member libraries of LIBER can register at http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/archiv/zeitschrift/liberform.html