Library Consortia

Book excerpt: Libraries are burdened with increased demand for resources and services and inflating expectations against shrinking or stagnant budgets. An individual library cannot cope with the situation. Hence, libraries form alliances for cooperation and sharing. Emerging changes in the publishing industry are phenomenal and have forced libraries to move toward a strategic partnership called library consortia. Information technology has played a vital role in developing such partnerships. Publishers offer packages of resources to library consortia benefitting all member libraries. Library consortia protect the interests of individual members while considering the business interests of publishers. This book is a start-up guide to libraries and librarians desiring to form library consortia. It covers the various facets of library consortia and corresponding activities. The chapters are presented with different consortia models, formations, business negotiations and various licensing schemes. - presents a detailed guide and criteria for establishing library consortia - discusses consortia models in detail, with examples - includes examples of staff patterns and governance issues of library consortia - provides examples of different licensing and pricing models