Further progress for European libraries
European libraries have made a lot of progress in the development of public library sites in both quality and quantity. Services that have been developed include sophisticated catalogue access for their users as well as links and guidance to other topics. Projects have received support from the European Commission's Telematics for Libraries programme. Networked information on European libraries is on the increase. The strongest expansion has taken place in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, with Finland now listing 247 libraries on the Web. Sites have been created for information from over 100 EU projects and national projects have also contributed significantly. Additional efforts in the area of public libraries have added a wealth of accessible resources in a wide variety of languages. This trend can be expected to continue as most countries now have plans to support libraries in the Information Society. Public libraries have a special place on the Web scene as they play an increasingly important role in providing generalised access to network information as well as to their own catalogues and services. It is estimated that well over 1000 public libraries in some 30 European countries are now on the Web. However, there is a major language problem. While some countries maintain their Web resources in English, others now make increasing use of their national language.