The relationship between academic institutions and knowledge dissemination is discussed, with attention to new technologies, university presses, the role of scholarly journals, colleges as gatekeepers of knowledge, colleges as both producers and consumers of scholarly products, and an international network of knowledge distribution. New technologies cause economic and ethical problems but also provide immediate access to information. Fiscal problems for higher education in many countries have meant that budgets for dissemination and storage of knowledge, especially library funds and allocations for university presses, have been cut. University presses, particularly in the United States and Britain, are major publishers of scientific literature. Scholarly journals are typically edited in universities and frequently published on campus. Academic institutions are also the primary users of scholarly publications. Universities, through the system of evaluation of professional performance, act as indirect gatekeepers, deciding what kinds of knowledge will be rewarded. Universities in the large industrial nations are the major producers of scholarly knowledge, as well as the main distributors. Academic institutions in other countries, and particularly in the Third World, are, in the main, consumers of scholarly materials and research published elsewhere. (SW)