0. MANAGING AN ONLINE ELECTRONIC RESOURCES CONSORTIUM
LIBRARY INNOVATION TALK 2014
UNITAR INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
26 August 2014
Edzan, N.N.
UM Library

1. OUTLINE Consortium Why a consortium MOLEC MOLEC – what we do
Future plans

2. CONSORTIUM
Library consortium/consortia – has been around since the 1960s
Now – library consortium/consortia centers around electronic information sources
Defining consortium
A collectivity of any group of libraries towards a common goal ~ Prakash, 2005.
Two or more institutions or organisations that have formally agreed to cooperate or consolidate certain functions to achieve mutual objectives ~ Moorthy, 2009.
The collaborative acquisition of access rights to electronic databases and journals ~ Varaprasad and Madhusudhan, 2010.

3. CONSORTIUM
Primary aim of a consortium – achieve as a group what a member cannot achieve individually
Involves homogenous institutions with a common focus and can be local, regional, functional or subject based
Types - Open consortium, Closed consortium, Centrally-funded, Shared budget, Publishers’ initiative, National consortium, International consortium
Management of a consortium – the presence of a committee that links consortium members to vendors/ publishers and deals with financial and legal aspects

4. CONSORTIUM
Involving academic libraries + electronic content licensing + participating consortia in ICOLC
Australia – CAUL (Council of Australian University Libraries)
India – UGCINFONETDLC - UGCINFONET Digital Library Consortium
Japan – JUSTICE - Japan Alliance of University Library Consortia for E-Resources
Korea – KESLI - Korean Electronic Site License Initiative
New Zealand – EPIC - Electronic Purchasing In Collaboration
Taiwan – CONCERT - CONsortium on Core Electronic Resources in Taiwan

5. WHY A CONSORTIUM? Shrinking/static budget
Increasing number of journals
Increasing cost of journals
Increasing demand from users for more resources
Research-based universities – access to more sources to support their research activities
Requirements set by publishers/vendors

6. MOLEC
Differences in pricing of commercial databases offered by publishers / vendors to academic libraries
JKK PDK in 2000 under PERDANA (Sistem Perpustakaan Digital Negara)
Main function – coordinates pricing of commercial databases
Ist meeting – 21 March 2000 in Perpustakaan Tun Seri Lanang, UKM with 12 public & private university libraries

7. MOLEC
Changed name to JKPDK & changed name again in 2010 – Malaysian OnLine Electronic Resources Consortium or MOLEC
MOLEC – Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, 20 public university libraries, 7 GLC university libraries, 7 government/non government agency libraries = 34 with the UM Library as Chair & Secretariat
Objective of consortium
Establishes the concept of resource sharing of commercial databases
Subscribes to commercial databases as a consortium

8. What we do
Conduct workshops/courses/seminars – sharing of experiences & ideas
Invite publishers/vendors for product presentation
Make presentations to interested parties
Meet once every four months or when necessary

9. INVITATION MOLEC will be having a meeting 4 September 2014
Level 4.Chancellery, University of Malaya
9 am
If you want to attend, please

10. What we do
Identify ways & means of addressing the various Government policies & regulations with regards to subscription of non-Malaysian commercial databases
Every member has to provide a listing of all their subscribed databases & all freely available databases & e-journals on their website
Maintains
MyULIS (Malaysian Union List of Serials)
Master List of Commercial Databases
Master List of Backfiles/Archives

11. What we do
Develop the GARIS PANDUAN PEROLEHAN SUMBER MAKLUMAT ELEKTRONIK
Identify, study, evaluate & manage negotiations for subscription to commercial databases
Member of ICOLC = platform to share information and experiences and get assistance
Our website - Library.oum.edu.my/molec

17. What we do
Obtained funding from MOHE for subscription to online databases and one time purchase of electronic book
2010 to 2012 : ProQuest Dissertation & Thesis Fulltext
Bernama Library & Infolink Service (BLIS)
Scopus
EBSCO Academic Source Premier and Business Source Complete
IEEE
NetLibrary Ebooks
2015 to 2016 : will be applying

18. Future Plans
Formation of a national consortium with government funding for country wide access to electronic resources
Increase membership especially from private higher education institutions to strengthen the consortium
Collective negotiations with publishers to curb spiralling price increases
Explore other existing electronic resources consortia to benchmark for best practices
Develop new consortial models incorporating new pricing models and licensing practices

19. REFERENCES
Francis, A.T Library consortia model for country wide access of electronic journals and databases. International Conference on Multilingual Computing and Information Management in Networked Digital Environment, 2-4 February 2005.
International Coalition of Library Consortia ICOLC.
Moorthy, A.L DRDO e-journals consortium. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 29(5),
Ossai, N.B Consortia building among libraries in Africa, and the Nigerian experience. Collaborative Librarianship, 2(2) :
Parkash, A. J Role of e-journals consortium in 21st century. 3rd Convention Planner, November 2005.
Varaprasad, S.J.D. and S. Madhusudhan E-journal consortium: is it a success story always? Journal of Library & Information Technology, 30(2),

20. Thank you edzan@um.edu.my