ABSTRACT
To charge or not to charge the user for access to expensive machine-readable databases is the source of the sharpest conflict in reference service today, but only coincidentally is it a question of paying for reference service. The real issue is that of paying for information, a question with ramifications far beyond the reference department. Librarians have examined the question from a variety of viewpoints, economic, political, and ethical, and almost invariably the discussion has been cast in terms of pro or con. It is clear that librarians are caught between their inadequate resources and their professional values. They find it difficult to reconcile their need with their beliefs, and a certain uneasiness is latent in the debate. 1
