MEDLINE – the most important bibliographic database by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) – has been arousing again a great deal of interest since the announcement of its free availability on the Internet two years ago. This seemed to us the fulfilment of an utopia, a desire pursued for a long time, but we didn't expected a solution so simple and total. There was this earthquake and now, after two years, with all the intervening innovations and strengthenings, we consider the information resources of MEDLARS system as an acquired heritage that probably cannot be given up. Among the positive consequences, we are now in an Italian editorial market that grants a widespread need of better knowing the MEDLINE potentiality and publishes not only brief articles for specialized journals, but specific books dedicated to the archive on the Internet.