Online informationssøgning i en overgangstid - med særligt fokus på det historiske forløb i et større dansk forskningsbibliotek

Over the centuries, searching for information took place through searches in printed works. computers enabled the onset of electronic data processing. In the wake of this, an information industry emerged that partly digitized information in large databases and made the contents of the databases searchable and accessible. This article describes the brief but hectic development where online information search was established as a service in documentation centres. This is exemplified by illustrating the conditions at the then Odense University Library. In the period up to the turn of the millennium, end users of online information gradually took over the search process itself, which led to a reduction in the search activity at the documentation centres, while the total number of searches increased. Gradually, the information search service was adapted to the users’ new needs. The users' use of paid databases remains an area of ​​concern for the library sector, as users often prefer the free bases of the Internet, but they do not necessarily find the best references. Thus, there is still a task in promoting the scientific databases and educating the users. Concepts such as “information literacy” and “digital education” are therefore central to the work of research libraries.