libraries (which are linked by the gateway Gabriel)and academic libraries provide WWW access to their catalogues allowing searches by formal criteria such as title, author, year of publication as well as search by keywords. The catalogues of library networks (or meta-catalogues such as the German Karlsruher Virtuelle Katalog a)allow simul taneous research in all participating libraries. The publishers or Internet bookshops catalogues as well as indices such as the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Buecher (index of available books in the German language) are useful tools to remain up-to-date on the latest publications that may not yet be shelved in the libraries. The increasing importance of the Internet also means that it has become hard to find a government department, law faculty, research institute or pressure group without some sort of Internet presence. Even though the amount of information given varies considerably, all home pages contain some form of function or mission statement and facilitate contacts for further information. It has therefore become much easier to get a picture of who is working on what, who to ask for background information and how to obtain certain material. Also, for organisers of conferences it has become common to provide dates and details of the proceedings, sometimes n abstracts of the presentations t the I 2.2 Content material 2.2.1 Primary sources Most European countries now publish new legislation to some extent on the Internet. While parliamentary statutes the most important source of law are usually published through their parliamentary servers or through full-text online legal gazettes, the practice as to secondary legislation differs widely. Some countries do not officially publish any secondary legislation, while others offer extensive access either alongside the published statutes or on the government or departmental servers. In many countries, legislation enacted prior to the establishment of online access is not published in full text on the Internet, but can sometimes be traced by title and source. Occasionally, these gaps are filled by private enterprise (e. g, from 1949 onwards, the Bundesgesetzblatt- has been published as a facsimile version of the printed original). Apart from the statutes themselves, parliamentary servers also often provide important information on the legislative process, such as transcripts of parliamentary debates, committee reports or up-to-date information on the current state of legislative proposalslibraries (which are linked by the gateway Gabriel(2)) and academic libraries provide WWW access to their catalogues allowing searches by formal criteria such as title, author, year of publication as well as search by keywords. The catalogues of library networks (or meta-catalogues such as the German Karlsruher Virtuelle Katalog(3)) allow simultaneous research in all participating libraries. The publishers' or Internet bookshops' catalogues as well as indices such as the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Buecher(4) (index of available books in the German language) are useful tools to remain up-to-date on the latest publications that may not yet be shelved in the libraries. The increasing importance of the Internet also means that it has become hard to find a government department, law faculty, research institute or pressure group without some sort of Internet presence. Even though the amount of information given varies considerably, all home pages contain some form of function or mission statement and facilitate contacts for further information. It has therefore become much easier to get a picture of who is working on what, who to ask for background information and how to obtain certain material. Also, for organisers of conferences it has become common to provide dates and details of the proceedings, sometimes even abstracts of the presentations to a wider public on the Internet. 2.2 Content material 2.2.1 Primary sources Most European countries now publish new legislation to some extent on the Internet. While parliamentary statutes - the most important source of law - are usually published through their parliamentary servers or through full-text online legal gazettes, the practice as to secondary legislation differs widely. Some countries do not officially publish any secondary legislation, while others offer extensive access either alongside the published statutes or on the government or departmental servers. In many countries, legislation enacted prior to the establishment of online access is not published in full text on the Internet, but can sometimes be traced by title and source. Occasionally, these gaps are filled by private enterprise (e.g., from 1949 onwards, the Bundesgesetzblatt(5) has been published as a facsimile version of the printed original). Apart from the statutes themselves, parliamentary servers also often provide important information on the legislative process, such as transcripts of parliamentary debates, committee reports or up-to-date information on the current state of legislative proposals