Vector meson production in collisions of nucleons

The production of vector mesons in collisions between nucleons is studied in order to address a variety of issues concerning nucleon-nucleon interaction, reaction mechanism and properties of baryons. These studies are summarized with emphasis on the most recent experiments at the Time-of-Flight spectrometer TOF and results obtained at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY in Julich. While currently the open questions regarding the so-called OZI violation, its relation to the meson exchange picture and the relative importance of contributions to the production mechanism from various channels within this formalism are still unresolved, the present-day experiments hold the potential to clarify the situation greatly. Possible extensions of the experimental program on vector mesons using 4 pi detection techniques for charged as well as neutral particles, in particular pi(0), are discussed.