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The paper describes a research project conducted by ISRDS‐CNR, on behalf of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Rome, which looks at the current availability of electronic information products in the field of the humanities and their potential users. The study has involved an investigation of the patrons of the various departmental libraries. An analysis of bibliographic information, search strategies and retrieved citations performance has been conducted on FRANCIS and on Philosopher's Index. The humanities have access to comparatively few bibliographic databases. However, since the introduction of optical storage devices such as CD‐ROM and videodisc, several applications have been made with still and motion images, including museum and document catalogues, photographic collections, art history lectures and reproductions of rare material. Some recent Italian initiatives and products are looked at, as are methods of specialised automated data collection utilised by public institutions which provide access for research activities.

While Gutenberg's invention is likely to endure for some time, it is indisputable that the prominence of print is diminishing. The recently published Mellon report University Libraries and Scholarly Communication highlights the symbiosis between the humanities and the print medium. It maintains that electronic media will ultimately change the nature of the humanities and spawn a new kind of discourse with fundamentally different features. The report asserts that the shift from print to electronic media, which began in the late twentieth century, will have widespread consequences on the intellectual experience of modern society, reaching beyond print and libraries.