on called media 'convergence' and a possible
rise of production costs if we need to offer audio and video products to stay
competitive. If that is the case, we will have to think over strategic
partnerships, a little like the one linking us to the group Ringier which
permitted the re-launching of the Chroniques after six months of inactivity. But
whatever the degree of convergence is, I think there will always be room for
written work, and also for in-depth analysis on the main questions."

6. LIBRARIES ON THE WEB

[In this chapter:]

[6.1. European and World Directories for Libraries / 6.2. The Internet in
Libraries]

This chapter focuses on traditional libraries, with librarians, walls, books and
periodicals lined up on shelves, and tables and chairs for the readers. The next
chapter will focus on digital libraries.

6.1. European and World Directories for Libraries

The first library website was that of the Helsinki City Library, Finland, which
opened in February 1994.

A trilingual English-French-German site, Gabriel (acronym for Gateway and Bridge
to Europe's National Libraries) is the World Wide Web service for Europe's
National Libraries represented in the Conference of European National Librarians
(CENL).

"Gabriel also recalls Gabriel Naude, whose Advis pour dresser une bibliotheque
(Paris, 1627) is one of the earliest theoretical works about libraries in any
European language and provides a blueprint for the great modern research
library. The name Gabriel is common to many European languages and is derived
from the Old Testament, where Gabriel appears as one of the archangels or
heavenly messengers. He also appears in a similar role in the New Testament and
the Qu'ran."

There are currently 38 national libraries from the member states of the Council
of Europe participating in CENL and Gabriel (Albania, Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, (Former Yugoslav) Republic of Macedonia, Malta, The Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City).

During the 1994 Oslo meeting of the Conference of European National Libraries,
it was suggested that national libraries should have an electronic noticeboard
available to one another as a means of kee