I found out today that the British Library is discontinuing its Patent Express service with the last orders being accepted on June 5 2002. The reason the BL gave for this is that the service no longer makes money and it is not their policy to subsidise services.
I am concerned about the lack of consultation/publicity about this decision. Account holders were supposed to have received emails about this and a mailing is in progress but this is extremely short notice for users of the service.
It also raises issues about the role of the BL. The person I spoke to said that their review of requests indicated that people used the BL as 'a last resort'. I suspect that it many people's mind this is a function of the library. If this is wrong perhaps the BL needs to do more to explain how it views its function.
I'd like to hear if anyone has any more info on the reasons for this decision.
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