I lost the original message, but someone, in praising MELVYL (the online public access catalog of the University of California libraries) said something to the effect that it was public domain. What the original poster probably meant was that they were "accessible to the public" - i.e. "in the domain of the public" or something like that. Beware, people, that I believe most library catalogs are COPYRIGHTED. Not only is MELVYL copyrighted, but every library catalog I casually checked is also copyrighted. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe what that means is that the way the information is presented and organized is under copyright, so that if a publisher chose simply to download files and publish them, that might be grounds for copyright infringement. Hope this clarifies that point. Of course, libraries encourage the use of online access, so one shouldn't feel inhibited in any way from consulting them. Bob Kosovsky Graduate Center -- Ph.D. Program in Music(student)/ City University of New York New York Public Library -- Music Division bitnet: [log in to unmask] internet: [log in to unmask] Disclaimer: My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions.