The Internet has completely changed the world of information over the last five years. This has led to many innovative digital library projects in research libraries in the Netherlands. The expanding network infrastructure of SURFnet, a national policy framework, and adequate funding are preconditions for the progress that has been made between 1995 and 1998. This paper gives a short overview of the most recent national and local digital library projects. The relationship with vendors and publishers play a role in projects concerning licensing and copyright.
Consortia are essential to take a joint stance in negotiations with publishers.
If successful, electronic journals offer better options for coordinated collection development than the traditional approach. The principal objective of Bibliotheca Universalis is to provide access to the world cultural heritage digitized by libraries.