Reference materials in the world of tomorrow

Good projections about the use of reference materials (RMs) in the world of tomorrow are especially important to RM producers. They need to know what kinds of RMs will be required in the future, by whom, and for what purposes. They need to know what batch sizes to prepare of different kinds and how to allocate limited resources to best effect. The following steps may provide a useful view of the future of reference materials: (1) Review of trends, (2) Projection of challenges, (3) Analysis of driving forces and construction of scenarios, (4) Thinking “outside the box,” and (5) Selecting strategies. This paper will illustrate the use of these steps for the field of reference materials in order to provide a framework for the role of reference materials in the world of tomorrow. Received: 6 May 1997 / Revised: 22 July 1997 / Accepted: 24 July 1997