We train you in techniques like electronic searching creating databases and designing Web pages

We train you in techniques like electronic searching, creating databases and designing Web pages.". Normally, you will be expected to have a degree and to have done a year's work in a library.Mr Shoolbred says: "Most of our students have arts degrees, but an increasing number have science backgrounds. They are highly sought-after, because of the demand for specialist librarians."He stresses the need for enthusiasm for technology. "We look for students who are comfortable with IT and prepared to learn You don't need to be an expert. These are available at the University of Central England in Birmingham, Loughborough University, the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and Thames Valley University. "We will be responsible for providing information to the public, liaising with client departments and designing Web pages."If you are interested in this type of work, you will need to study for a postgraduate diploma or MA in librarianship or information management. Guy was attracted to games by the flat structure and freedom of the industry.

"The level of freedom in the smaller games houses, and the multiple roles of the job, are very attractive," he says.The UK's pre-eminence in games software has created a number of larger houses, which are both publishers and originators. One of the largest is Psygnosis, based in Liverpool and currently part of the Sony Corporation. With more than 300 staff, it is able to offer structured training for recruits Artists, for example, are hired on their creativity alone. He found his way into Intelligent Games by "sheer cheek", but his experience with computer graphics during his degree, and a personal love of games, helped. For the golf package, Cass visited courses to take measurements, and supervised the filming of live golfers: the program uses the likenesses of stars to add realism.

"It is fair to say that within computing, games programming is looked at as the ideal thing to be in," he says. "It is quite glamorous, and much more relaxed."Computing experts are not the only people who can carve a career in games Richard Guy, 24, has a degree in fine art. Games houses employ scriptwriters, programmers, graphic artists, sound engineers and even musicians. A software house is rather like a miniaturised film studio: managers are even referred to as "producers".Recent graduates at Intelligent Games are typical of the new generation of software engineers Steve Cass, 25, has a degree in computer science and drama He joined IG after working on air-traffic control software. He is now programming team leader for golf software, and has completed the latest version of PGA European Tour, for publishers Electronic Arts.The job is far more varied than business-software engineering, he explains. Advances in computer power, coupled with rising expectations from users, mean that a programme now costs tens of thousands of pounds, or more, to develop.

It employs 30 staff and was started from scratch by 26-year-old Matthew Stibbe, a history graduate who wrote his first commercial game at university. "A very substantial proportion of the world's games are developed in the UK," says Stibbe. "We are lucky because we share a language with the Americans, which is a key market."To stay ahead, firms like Intelligent Games need to recruit ever-better qualified staff. "The UK is a major fount of creative, interactive software," explains ELSPA's director general, Roger Bennett.Intelligent Games is one such firm. ELSPA estimates that more than 100,000 people are employed in the UK, writing, publishing and distributing games and entertainment software. The UK is one of the largest players: 30 to 40 per cent of those titles are created in the UK, according to ELSPA, the European Leisure Software Publishers' Association. The majority of new computers sold go into the so-called SoHo (small office, home office) market or are bought purely and simply for pleasure. Worldwide, the market for leisure software, including games, is worth some $20bn a year.

When he caught the night train to Paris in 1933, Thea von Harbou elected to stay behind in Germany's new political metropolis.n 'Metropolis' is showing at the QEH, London SE1, on 4/5 July (0171-960 4206). Writing computer games conjures up an image of teenage boys programming feverishly in a darkened bedroom. Certainly, this is how many leading games authors started their careers. But, as the industry has grown, the almost underworld community of hackers and coders is giving way to something more professional Computer games are big business. But the reactionary political sentimentality of that message is just as evident in this restored version as it ever was - a sentimentality that has usually been attributed to Lang's regular scriptwriter, his wife Thea von Harbou.