Abstract of the presentation held at XIV Archives International Conference: "New millennium archives in Information Society", (Los Archivos del Nuevo Milenio en la Sociedad de la Informacion), Seville, 21-26 September 2000. The full-text is available at: http://archivi.beniculturali.it/divisione_II/eventi.htm The report presented in Seville didn't mean to illustrate a detailed analysis of an event having clearly a wider dimension. The aim was rather to propose - for a wide analysis - some observations derived from experiences in front-office services, with examples taken from the Italian context. In these years, also the Italian archivists community - as it has been happening in other countries for some years already - is speding energies and intelligence in reusing and returning preexisting tools, and in designing new ones, suitable for the needs of the different users' type. Thanks - above all - to the discussion about international standards and the different experiences made both at national and local levels, a deeper reflection is beginning about the ways of the relationship with front-office services and about the urgency of implementing suitable answers.