obvious as when one tries
to find information on a topic by searching the internet. When
one uses a search engine like Lycos or AltaVista or a directory
like Yahoo!, it soon becomes clear that it can be very
difficult to find valuable sites on a given topic. These search
mechanisms work well if one is searching for something very
precise, such as information on a person who has an unusual
name, but they produce a confusing number of references if one
is searching for a topic which can be quite broad. Try and
search the web for Russia AND transport to find statistics on
the use of trains, planes and buses in Russia. The first
references you will find are freight-forwarding firms who have
business connections with Russia."

How about the future? "The internet is impinging on many
peoples' lives, and information managers are the best people to
help researchers around the labyrinth. The internet is just in
its infancy and we are all going to be witnesses to its growth
and refinement. (...) Information managers have a large role to
play in searching and arranging the information on the
internet. I expect that there will be an expansion in internet
use for education and research. This means that libraries will
have to create virtual libraries where students can follow a
course offered by an institution at the other side of the
world. Personally, I see myself becoming more and more a
virtual librarian. My clients may not meet me face-to-face but
instead will contact me by email, telephone or fax, and I will
do the research and send them the results electronically."

# At the Pasteur Institute

"The Pasteur Institutes are exceptional observatories for
studying infectious and parasite-borne diseases. They are
wedded to the solving of practical public health problems, and
hence carry out research programmes which are highly original
because of the complementary nature of the investigations
carried out: clinical research, epidemiological surveys and
basic research work. Just a few examples from the long list of
major topics of the Institutes are: malaria, tuberculosis,
AIDS, yellow fever, dengue and poliomyelitis." (excerpt from
the website in 1999)

Bruno Didier, librarian and webmaster of the library website,
explained in August 1999: "The main aim of the Pasteur
Institute Library website is to serve the Institute itself and
its associated bodies. It supports applications that have
became essential in such a big organi