Lifelong learning is becoming a reality throughout the world, requiring that learning opportunities and materials are delivered to citizens in their locality, at home or at work. Increasing numbers of students are undertaking distance education programmes and libraries are being called upon to find innovative ways to support distance learners. Developments in technology are creating new possibilities for document delivery and the distributed virtual library. This edited collection brings together the proceedings of the fourth Libraries Without Walls Conference, held in 2001, which addresses key strategic issues arising from international, regional and cross-sectoral approaches to the provision of library services to distant users. Contributions include: libraries and virtual learning environments; online enquiry services for remote users; virtual libraries and national-level initiatives; user behaviour and training in the distributed environment; the public library"s role in serving distant users; content development for the virtual environment; key technology issues in delivering services to distant users.