worldwide. Statistical background information on foreign jurisdictions can also be obtained from national departments of statistics, which now publish some of their findings through the Internet. 3. Specific usefulness of the internet for comparative lawyers 3. 1 Accessibility The increasing availability of legal information on the WWW has facilitated legal research enormously. Research of foreign legal material is no longer dependent on travel, not bound to opening times and is generally free of charge. (For those not fortunate enough to get free access with a university server connection, telephone costs are still an issue, though. There is a tendency, however, for initially free databanks to turn fee-based when their offers have become large enough and established in the user community. The first step is often research in the catalogues of foreign libraries to get an overview of the literature available. Most university law libraries now allow guest access to their catalogues. The English library network COPAC(3) the German Suedwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund 4) (which includes the library of the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law in Hamburg), or the U. S. Library ot Congress (ao have become convenient points of entry for research on iterature in foreign legal systems. The catalogues increasingly employ uniform surfaces, thereby making research more user-friendly than former file-card, microfiche or other systems which were often idiosyncratic and mysterious to outside users. While reference research still is one of the ma jor strengths of Internet legal research, content material is of ever increasing importance Getting the full text of a document from the Internet is most convenient for comparative work. Most Western countries and many of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe now provide primary sources on the Internet. Foreign parliamentary sites can be especially useful because they often feature a databank for parliamentary material such as official documents and/or parliamentary debates. This material, formerly virtually inaccessible from outside the country concerned, can now easily be retrieved and searched More convenient and comprehensive research of what printed legal material there is and where it can be found. and direct online access to the materialworldwide. Statistical background information on foreign jurisdictions can also be obtained from national departments of statistics, which now publish some of their findings through the Internet. 3. Specific usefulness of the Internet for comparative lawyers 3.1 Accessibility The increasing availability of legal information on the WWW has facilitated legal research enormously. Research of foreign legal material is no longer dependent on travel, not bound to opening times and is generally free of charge. (For those not fortunate enough to get free access with a university server connection, telephone costs are still an issue, though.) There is a tendency, however, for initially free databanks to turn fee-based when their offers have become large enough and established in the user community. The first step is often research in the catalogues of foreign libraries to get an overview of the literature available. Most university law libraries now allow guest access to their catalogues. The English library network COPAC(13), the German Suedwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund(14) (which includes the library of the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law in Hamburg(15)), or the U.S. Library of Congress(16) have become convenient points of entry for research on literature in foreign legal systems. The catalogues increasingly employ uniform surfaces, thereby making research more user-friendly than former file-card, microfiche or other systems which were often idiosyncratic and mysterious to outside users. While reference research still is one of the major strengths of Internet legal research, content material is of ever increasing importance. Getting the full text of a document from the Internet is most convenient for comparative work. Most Western countries and many of the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe now provide primary sources on the Internet. Foreign parliamentary sites(17) can be especially useful because they often feature a databank for parliamentary material such as official documents and/or parliamentary debates. This material, formerly virtually inaccessible from outside the country concerned, can now easily be retrieved and searched. More convenient and comprehensive research of what printed legal material there is and where it can be found, and direct online access to the material