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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A day before I received the ARCHIVES, my e-mail "in-box" included 2 requests for reprints. These requests were followed by individual letters making the same request and then by a deluge of preprinted postcards. My mail even included 2 letters complimenting me on my article and not asking for a reprint. All of which raises the question, "Whom should I oblige with a copy of my publication?"

Time was when requests for reprints were made only by those sufficiently interested in the article in question. The photocopier had not been invented, and copies of original publications were difficult to procure. All that has changed, and most popular medical journals are freely available, as are photocopy machines. One sometimes has to pay a few cents for a copy, but the expense, in terms of cost, time, and trouble, is far less than one would incur in complying with the request. I . . . [Full Text of this Article]