ABSTRACT
To fully understand the contemporary situation, one needs to go back in time and consider the outlines of the German constitutional tradition. The most striking effect of the decentralized structure of Germany is the awareness that cooperation is crucial—and it is often successfully achieved. The majority of librarians and researchers in Germany believe in and underscore the fact that every discipline has its own intrinsic need for information, a specific information profile. The impact of the digital age on library organization is a theme to which attention should be drawn. The patron who needs information calls on the full services of a library and is involved in a kind of sale and purchase process. German librarians are convinced that they play an indispensable part in storing electronic information. German universities and other public bodies normally have their research results disseminated by publishing houses in the private sector. Therefore, publishers have a watchful eye on the activities of public institutions.
