Making the case to fund networked access to electronic information services

The establishment of a local area network can greatly widen access to an organization's electronic information services, create improved conditions for staffing the delivery of these services and improve training and user support. Such a project is, however, expensive to fund. This article describes the approach taken at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine to secure funds for networking MEDLINE on hard disk and other information services. The importance of close collaboration between library and computer departments in planning and promoting a project of this nature is emphasized.