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During a period of five years (1989–1993) all academic libraries in Finland (20 institutions) will install the same local library system and will be connected with each other through the Finnish academic data communication network FUNET. The software uses Hewlett Packard 3000 series' computers and has been developed by the US company VTLS Inc. This library network LINNEA will also include an auxiliary central system with a union catalogue, and various authority files as well as some other functions for the whole network. The selection process and the adaptation of the software has been carried out by the Automation Unit of Finnish Research Libraries which also assists individual libraries in installing the software.

FINNISH ARCHITECTURE has won fame and honour. This applies to the best of it, of course, the achievements suitable for export and as a trade mark. Our world image tells nothing of our middling, ordinary buildings. Finland probably has just as many deficiently planned and poorly implemented monstrosities as most other countries. But it is probably characteristic that the end product is technically quite polished. The building regulations are exceptionally precise, partly because of our harsh climate, partly because of the bureaucratic tradition of our administrative machinery.

Progress in Europe between 1973 and 1978 is reviewed mainly in the context of the LIBER Seminar on International Interlibrary Lending held in Florence in 1978. The Danish interlending system is considered separately. Attention is given to a theoretical on‐line system in Belgium and actual on‐line methods in the USA and recent articles from the USA, especially on the National Periodicals Center, are presented. Articles on developments in Scotland, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand are reviewed. Finally payment for loans and the effects of copyright legislation are considered.

Today, VTLS is a comprehensive, integrated solution to the automation requirements of academic, public, and special libraries around the world. No two libraries are alike; no two regions are alike. VTLS recognizes these differences and offers libraries the flexibility of numerous options to configure the system that best meets their functional and financial needs.

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.

Interlending activities in various countries, particularly in academic libraries, are examined. The growth of networking and the importance of a strong infrastructure are discussed. A system of cost recovery for large net‐lenders is outlined. Developments in copyright are reviewed.