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In this paper the value of secondary information services is discussed from the viewpoints of service‐providers and a small group of scientists as users of current awareness services. A selection of earlier studies on the subject is briefly reviewed. The exchange value of secondary information services is demonstrated from the viewpoint of a service‐provider. Users usually see the services in the light of their value‐in‐use though the services often have exchange values as well. In conclusions the problem of assessing the value of secondary information is discussed.

Advances in information technology have made it economically feasible to automate small information services and libraries. From single applications interest is shifting to the integrated support of various functions. The main focus at the technical level is on workstations for information professionals and on the communications tools needed such as local area networks (LANs), and interfaces to various external systems. Application software packages are needed for this integration.

The article analyzes the development of the Finnish research in library and information science into its present position of high qualitative and quantitative level (in relation to the size of the research community). A number of aspects that may explain the success of the Finnish research are presented: 1) the early academic context, i.e., the establishment of the chair in LIS at the University of Tampere in 1971, 2) the new conception of LIS that emerged in Finland in the early 1980s shifting the attention from institutions into users and actions, 3) internationalization of research including publishing in peer reviewed journals, participating in international conferences, inviting foreign top-researchers into Finland, and organizing international conferences that have become institutionalized (CoLIS and ISIC), and 4) the selection of priority areas for the research effort combined with the concentration of research and doctoral education in research groups.

The first Oslo Online, a new annual event for the Norwegian online community took place from 16–27 February 1987 at the SAS Scandinavia Hotel in the centre of Oslo.