Librarians have always been the link between resources available in-house and those that had to be obtained from elsewhere, but never before have external resources been so easily accessible, not only by librarians, but also by our users. Because of this strong focus on electronic resources, libraries must pay utmost attention to their appearance on the web. Increasingly, users visit our web pages instead of reading the printed brochure if they seek information about our library - the homepage has become our business card. This is the place to show users the range of services, to provide them with starting points for their information search and to encourage them to contact us for more detailed questions. As users typically don't spend much time on pages which require a lot of reading to be understood, virtual libraries must be clearly laid out and self-explanatory.
Appealing designs are just the immediately visible part of virtual libraries.
What really counts are the contents and the service we provide. In the information-rich Western world, information overload is a more severe problem than lack thereof. To create and maintain well-structured library web pages means to put important resources in context by monitoring existing and evolving information systems, selecting the useful ones and arranging them according to their contents. Many users will find their way to information resources without guidance from librarians, but others will appreciate our assistance. In these cases, prompt responses to enquiries should be a matter of course.