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Is there an issue at all? Shouldn't international library cooperative professionalism ensure that all requests from whatever source be processed? And besides, talk of restrictions invokes bad memories of sad Czech librarians deprived of humanities serials, and causes panic amongst African users of loaned British apple‐tree pruning manuals. Many of these knee‐jerk reactions, while understandable, are hypocritical if they appeal to traditions of pure library altruism: whenever has librarianship been altruistic? Inter‐library loans go only to those who can afford to pay the high charges; the Third World does not get free loans, and is further haunted by Western copyright laws. The fights in Western countries against censorship and for freedom of information are causes which have political contexts, not pure Minervan origins in the forehead of the library profession. Cooperation with South Africa also has a political context, and librarians do not have diplomatic immunity.

Describes a number of experiments with electronic document delivery, and the copyright problems that are affecting its use. Considers the inadequacies of interlending for the user, the interlending in Eastern Europe and Australia. Outlines the impact of CD‐ROM on document supply and suggests that interlending can be a social, cultural and economic measure.