How can a library consortia help your library?

Some thoughts on the development of library consortia

Sarah AerniSpecial Projects LibrarianUniversity of Pittsburgh

18 April 2005

Outline of the presentation

Definitions and descriptions of library consortia

Services provided by library consortia Development of International

Cooperatives Problems and Issues for the future Bibliography Questions

What are library consortia?

King (1987) suggests that a consortium must meet these criteria:

- The participants are mainly libraries.- The activities of the organizations extend beyond

reciprocal borrowing, but includes resource sharing.

- The organization operates for the mutual benefit of participating members.

- The scope of the organization is inter-institutional.

- The operation is based on a verbal or a written agreement between its members.

What role can library consortia play for libraries?

Library consortia help libraries save money and improve services.

They also allow libraries to offer services or access to collections beyond the individual library.

In the electronic age, consortia can assist in helping libraries obtain favorable licensing terms when working with database vendors.

How did consortia develop?

Libraries have been sharing resources for many years.

Resource sharing began with combined cataloging and Interlibrary loans.

Other names for these cooperative groups include: library networks, library cooperatives and consortia.

Cooperatives operate for the mutual benefit of all participating libraries.

How did consortia develop? - 2

The operation of consortia are based on a verbal or written agreement between its members.

Examples of the results of consortia work include the National Union Catalog (U.S.) and digitized MARC records.

A significant factor in the development of library consortia is the culture of librarians. By nature, they are generous in their outlook concerning service to users.

How are consortia governed?

Consortia are governed by a verbal or written agreement between its members.

Most have their own budgets (the money comes from member dues and service fees). Others have been funded by government grants.

Services Provided by Library Consortia

Interlibrary lending and borrowing Other shared collections Reference, referral and research Library operational/technical services

functions Support of library development, including

infrastructure, support and management Arrange cooperative efforts (i.e., electronic

licensing)

Electronic journal services provided by library consortia

Negotiate group license arrangements

Negotiate (or provide) individual member library site license

Provide volume-discounted rates to members.

Technical consulting, advice and support.

Electronic document delivery.

Evidence that consortia can be beneficial to libraries

Some services can be provided better or at less cost due to economies of scale.

Economies of scale means that a service or product costs less as the amount of service or number of products provided increases.

Consortia can avoid duplication of effort among member libraries. Such activities include original cataloging and license negotiation.

International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC)

An organization that provides guidance to consortia and attempts to coordinate their activities.

A recent (October 2004) statement was released by this group concerning the preferred practices for selection and purchase of electronic information.

In this document, they strongly advocate for affordable pricing models for developing countries.

Development of model licenses

Model licenses were first advocated by Ann Okerson of Yale. She proposed agreement on some areas of licenses and some standard types of language.

She defines components of a license, including definition of authorized use and users, legal responsibility, functions of technology and archival issues.

LibLicense Standard Agreement

Devised in 2002 by the U.S. library community led by Yale University.

This model is library-driven and helps to meet the specific needs of the US academic library community.

The development of a model license has provided a valuable service to the library community. It improves consistency among contracts, and helps vendors and libraries work together.

Consortia licensing is beneficial, but also has downsides

Consortia pricing may not provide any advantages for a multi-campus university.

A large institution may be able to negotiate a better deal, but must stick with the consortium for political reasons.

Members give up the ability to customize the license packages and have less direct contact with the publisher. This could negatively influence, for example, cooperative technical development.

Other challenges in consortia licensing

Overlapping consortia Lock-out of individual libraries because a

publisher only wants to deal with consortia. Lock-out of some consortia types. Slower implementation times, due to the

time it takes to negotiate a consortia license.

Members must trust each other and be able to cooperate with each other.

Bibliography

King, Donald W. and Hong Xu. “The Role of Library Consortia in Electronic Journal Services” From Ingenta’s “Consortium Site License: is it a sustainable model” 24 Sept. 2002

ICOLC Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information. Available at: http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/2004currentpractices.htm

LibLicense Website http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml