Providing library services in a time of fiscal crisis: alternatives.

The nature of the fiscal crisis in health science libraries in the United States is in part due to the style of management in these libraries, in part due to the lack of user identification, in part due to the lack of economically valid fees for service, and in part due to the success of the Biomedical Communications Network. These issues are discussed in terms of how they might be approached. A pragmatic stance is advocated for practitioners, the MLA, the NLM, and library schools to jointly address the questions raised.