The British Library Net internet service (ISP) has ceased to operate as of March 31, 2007.
This means that @britishlibrary.net email addresses, web pages hosted by British Library Net and dial-up Internet connectivity are no longer available.
All users of the service were contacted some 12 weeks in advance of the closure date in order to give them time to identify an alternative ISP and transfer email and web content accordingly.
If you arrived at this page expecting a British Library Net hosted website please use a search engine such as Google to locate the website you require.
Background to the termination of the service
The British Library Net service was launched by the Library in 1999 with the objectives of enabling access to our online services and stimulating use of the Internet by research users. At that particular stage in the development of the Internet these aims were in line with the Library's strategy. Subsequently, however, usage of the British Library Net ISP has declined year-on-year, not least because of the widespread introduction of broadband Internet services. Although branded as a British Library service, British Library Net was in fact provided by Easynet, a European ISP and telecommunications company. We have investigated with Easynet the possibility of upgrading to a broadband-based service, but this option seemed unlikely to prove cost-effective - particularly since broadband access provision is now so ubiquitous. Our projections indicate that the service will soon start to draw upon public funds, as administration costs outbalance unit costs of a declining user base. With this in mind, we decided to wind up the service in a manner that allowed our remaining users plenty of time to find an alternative ISP.
We apologise for any inconvenience the closure of British Library Net may cause and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for using the service and for your continuing support of the British Library.
If you have any queries, please contact us at User-Satisfaction@bl.uk or by telephone at +44 (0)20 7412 7681.
