Library Consortia: Benefits and Models of E - Journals Consortia

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International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832,(Print)E-ISSN-2320-5474,April- May (Combind),2013 VOL-IV * ISSUE 51-52

Research Paper -Librarian

Library Consortia : Benefits and Models of E - Journals Consortia


* S.P. Nimbhorkar
* Librarian , G.S.G College Umarkhed, Dist . Yavatmal A B S T R A C T
Library consortia is now being overhead globally. It is more because of electronic or digital form of information. In 21 st century, emergence of internal, particularly the World Wide Web, a new medium of information from last few years the phenomenon of consortia buying e-information together has been very important. This paper discusses the concept, need of library consortia. Also covers benefits of e-journals consortia. Key Words :- Library Consortia, Information explosion, Technology Infrastructure , e journals.

April-May,2013

Introduction :The library consortia on the basis of sheer strength of the numbers of Institution's offer healthy business growth opportunities to the electronic publishers. Libraries to achieve mutually the common objective . It is felt that the concept E-journal can strait can work well the libraries without requiring additional fees to access the e-journals. Definition of Consortia :A consortia is an association of two or more individuals companies organizations with the objectives of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal. Consortium is a Latin word. A library consortium formation can be local regional, state, national and inter institutional level. Need for Library Consortium :The consortium is needed for libraries because of : 1.Information explosion 2.Diversity of user needs 3. Financial crunch 4. Impossibility of self-sufficiency Factors To Consider Before Consortia Formation :Various factors to be taken for an effective functioning of a successful consortium. like resources identification on the basis of usage and usability, long run planning of the technology in fracture, access to back runs of periodicals will have to clearly spelt, copyright and licensing, archival issue, price issue should be economically favorable. Last but not least, designing and launching a library consortium should be long term sustenance and robust models towards achieving the above goals. Advantages of Consortia :Some of the important advantages of the proposed library consortium are as follows: Consortia-based subscription to electronic re sources provides access to wider number of

Facilities to build up digital libraries Helpful to provide better library services like CAS
and SDI Electronic Journals demand neither library space nor shelling costs nor can they be stolen from the library The consortium have been offered better terms of licenses for use, archival access and preservation of subscribed electronic resources, which would not have been possible for any single institution; and Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Economy in maintain Consortia Models :The types of consortia identified are generally based on various models evolved in India in Varity of forms depending upon participations' affiliation and funding sources. i) Open Consortia ii) Closed Group Consortia iii)Centrally Funded Model iv) Shared-budget Model v ) Publisher Initiatives vi.) National Consortium Examples of E-Journals Consortia India :INDEST - AICTE Consortium (http://paniit.iitd.ac.in/ indest/) UGC INFONET (http://web.inflibnet.ac.in/info/ ugcinfonet/ugcinfonet.jsp) FORSA Consortium (Astronomy and Astrophysics Libraries) (http://www.iiap.res.in/library/forsa.html) CSIR Library Consortium http://www.niscair.res.in/ActivitiesandServices/ MajorProjects/majproj. htm#ejournalconsortia) ISRO Library Consortium IIM Library Consortium HELINET ( Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences,

SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN

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International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0974-2832,(Print)E-ISSN-2320-5474,April- May (Combind),2013 VOL-IV * ISSUE 51-52

Karnataka) (http://www.rguhs.ac.in/hn/newhell.htm) ICMR Library Consortium Benefits of E-Journals Consortia : Only one search engine, not many Only one easy source for articles Ability to customize May offer archiving services (Ocic, Standard's, High wire only, so-far ) But no consolidator offers one single license for all. Better scope for developing a union catalogue among participating libraries, Enhanced search facilities; Effective document delivery systems; Reduced storage costs; Technology Infrastructure :Long range planning and sourcing of the appropriate IT and Long communication infrastructure conducive for proper delivery of information resources is pre -requisite for every participating library. Pricing :As discussed earlier, there are no standard practices or processes being followed by majority of the publishers of scholarly literature and hence this is a gray area all together. In most cases cost of the journals are out of reach of many of our libraries and only a consortia approach could provide some meaningful

practical solution. Publishers are invited for negotiations and asked to offer their best prices to the consortia. Access :Various access methods are offered by publishers towards accessing their resources and it varies from case to case. Access authentication could be user ID/Password based or IP based which are more popular /Uninterrupted and hassle free access to the scholarly content is the ultimate objective of the consortium but varying practices may make access sometimes cumbersome to use consortia approach. Licensing and Copyright :As against the print paradigm, the e-journal subscription and access models allow only licensing of the content /product for a stipulated period of time which has several restrictions and bindings on the licenses. A number of issues are being debated by librarians, users and publishers which need international attention, deliberation and solution. Conclusion :Library consortia consortia providing for physical and electronic delivery of material and integrating the collection development process are all distinct and crucial steps in moving toward 21 st century library can sortie are tools which will aid in exploiting the features on the e-journals as wall as in effecting savings.

R E F E R E N C E
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Janakiraman, S., 'Thoughts on Library Consortium', Proceedings of the Round Table on Sharing of E-journals through Consortia in Indian Libraries, Bangalore. 28-29 November 2002. Jagdish Arora. The International Information & Library Review, Volume 35, Issue 1, March 2003, Pages 1-17. Lancaster F.W. 'The evolution of electronic publishing'. Library Trends, 43(4), 1995,pp. 518-27. Cholin, V.S. (2003 ) Can sortie for Libraries and Information centres retried 19 th April 2004 from http :// wwwallnet.org Adhok babu, T.,'Planning of consortia for- journals', XXI National Seminar of IASLIC Kolakota 31dec-3 rd Jan 2005. Goudar, IRN. and Poornima Narayana. 'Emerging pricing models for E-Journals Consortia and Indian initiatives'.Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Libraries (ICDL 2004). New Delhi. 24-27 February 2004. 333-341 Terry, Ana Arias (2000). 'How today's technology affects libraries' collection choices'.Computers in Libraries Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 51-55.

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