ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at alternative sources of information supply and storage: hard copy, computer disks, CD-ROMs, online databases and the Internet. Many types of information are available in virtually identical form as books, online databases and CD-ROMs. The Internet is left out of the discussion as sources there tend to be less complete and less reliable (unless they are standard online databases which just happen to be using it as a connection route). A book is relatively inflexible, especially if it is not well indexed; but online databases and CD-ROMs have very powerful searching and rearranging capabilities. It would be better to dip into less frequently used sources via an online host and pay only for what the readers use. Some online hosts provide break-downs of their bills by database, so in theory it is possible to compare it with the cost of the book, though it is difficult to place a value on the flexibility of the online version.
