I often need the very specific tiny bits of information that is trapped between pages of paper stored in some library somewhere. Today I need to fill out forms

I often need the very specific tiny bits of information that is trapped between pages of paper stored in some library somewhere. Today I need to fill out forms and afterwards wait days/weeks to get that information delivered to me. The thought about all of the necessary resources for this (paper, transportation, storage, etc) makes you almost feel ashamed, because most of the time the amount of desired information is very small. I would love to abolish this waste and have a service payed for by a flat rate that gives you access to all books, papers, phd-thesises, etc by keystroke. The service should not be completely free in order to maintain the incentive of writing well structured books as way of personal income. Whether it is Google Book Search or something else, I think humanity definitely needs something like a global digital library.