ABSTRACT
This paper reports the results of a survey of 193 New York State special libraries to determine the effects of the online search services on those libraries. The survey indicated that special libraries are heavy users of online search systems and have been for a number of years. While there were changes in library collections there was little evidence of much “print-online migration”. The types of databases searched and the use of online systems varied by the subject orientation of the libraries surveyed as did collection and staff size. The amount of end-user searching also varied with the subject orientation. The major impact of online services, outside their effects on library budgets, was to make a number of databases outside their subject areas more easily accessible to special libraries.
