Resource Sharing, Library Networks and Consortia National Conference on Collection Management in Changing Context: Problems and Prospects Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan Kuvempu University, Shivamogga August 19-20, 2011 Dr. Poornima Narayana Scientist Information and Head Information Centre for Aerospace Science and Technology CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore

INFORMATION CENTRE/ LIBRARY Library  Group of Libraries  Resource Sharing (Library Cooperation)  Consortium  User INFORMATION CENTRE/ LIBRARY K LIB 1 LIB 2 LIB 3 LIB n Broad Interest RESOURCE SHARING/ LIBRARY COOPERATION Geographical Location Similar Discipline INTERNET LAN /MAN /WAN LIBRARY CONSORTIUM

Contents Resource Sharing Networks Library Consortia Need for Resource Sharing Objectives of Resource Sharing Areas of Resource Sharing Resource Sharing through Networks Characteristics Objectives Advantages Networks Types of Networks Library Networks Important International Networks Library Consortia Salient Features of Library Consortia Need of Library Consortia Purpose Major issues of consortia approach Consortium initiatives in India

Introduction The so-called ‘Information Revolution’ has made Libraries around the world to adopt new philosophies and technologies for information dissemination and also reduce the cost of information. Maintaining the dept and depths of collection of a single greatest challenge confronting libraries, be it, academic, special, national or public, Libraries have realized that although they are well funded, it is difficult to acquire all the materials needed by the clientele. In fact partnership and cooperation in local, national and international have become enviable for all libraries. In achieving resource sharing/library cooperation is through the establishment of consortium over networks.

Phases Of Development First phase: several libraries come together for the mutual benefit of the respective users – Library Cooperation/ Resource sharing … Second phase: Libraries are linked together with the help of ICT – Library Network Third phase: Libraries come together to acquire and share e-resources – Library Consortium

Resource Sharing Resource sharing is a mode of library operation whereby all or part of the library functions are shared in common among several libraries, as the goal of resource sharing is to maximize the availability of materials and services at the minimum expense. Library resources comprise manpower material, function, method and services. Resource sharing encompasses information, bibliographical and textual database, cooperative acquisition, cataloguing, manpower, equipment, expertise and services. Resource sharing via network implies automation, data communication and effective cooperation.

Need for Resource Sharing Proliferation of literature in each and every field of knowledge; Multiplicity of documents in different subjects, languages and formats; Development of new subjects and subject specialization; Increase of reading community and information seekers; Diversity of user groups and their information needs; Demand of pinpointed, exhaustive and expeditious information services; Increased access to information and services at existing cost; Access to existing information and services at less cost; Increase in Quantity/Cost; Demand for expertise and rare documents; Space constraint; Budget constraint.

Objectives of Resource Sharing Optimization of information resources through shared cataloguing, ILL services, collection development and avoiding duplication. Pooled resources can help to arrange greater resource centers. Document selection. Provide, through cooperative acquisition by voluntary organization, materials beyond the reach of individual libraries.

Areas of Resource Sharing Inter-library loan Cooperative acquisition Specialized purchasing programs Centralized processing Shared Cataloguing Sharing of bibliographical data Centralized periodical collection for loan purposes Cooperative microfilming Preparation and maintenance of union catalogue and union list of serials Exchange of publications Exchange of expertise.

Resource Sharing Through Networks In the past two decades, information technology has made significant progress. The current state of information handling is indeed sufficient to support and encourage the sharing of resources among libraries. The pace of technological improvement shows no signs of abatement and libraries will find it rewarding to explore the realm of networking possibilities that this new technology makes feasible. Especially, the present decade has seen a greatly renewed interest in library cooperation and mutual benefits, prominently at national and international levels.

Resource Sharing Through Networks Characteristics Two or more libraries with a common desire and goals; Two way communication system for free flow of information from one source to another; Objectives Centralize the information processing system; and Reduce communication gap among libraries.

Resource Sharing Through Networks Advantages Bibliographic literature explosion controlling Avoiding duplication Improving the mobility of data Flow of information among special information centres

NUCSSI

Union Catalogue of CSIR-DST Institutions

Networks A library network is broadly described as a group of libraries coming together with some agreement of understanding to help each other to satisfy the information needs of their clientele. Alphonse F. Frezaa defines networking as: “A formal organization among libraries for cooperating and sharing of resources, in which the groups as a whole is organized into subgroups with the exception that most of the needs of a library will be satisfied within the subgroups of which it is a member.”

Networks…. Objectives To promote and support adoption of standards in library operations; To create databases for projects, specialists and institutions to provide online information services; To improve the efficiency of housekeeping operations; To coordinate with other regional, national and international networks for exchange of information and documents; and To generate new services and to improve the efficiency of existing ones.

Networks…. Advantages The networking of computers permits the sharing of computing resources available at geographically dispersed locations. Networking also provides stand by backup option to its nodes.

Types of Networks Local Area Network (LAN) Wide Area Network (WAN) Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) Storage/System/Smart Area Network (SAN)

Library Networks Objectives To provide a national platform designed to bridge the gap among various types of libraries and establish links among organizations, professionals and users involved in R&D and manufacturing activities in the country; Establish local, regional, national and international cooperation for exchange of information and expertise; Evolve and implement programmes on education of users and training of information scientists responsible To build information resources, prepare union database and to develop relevant information handling tools and techniques;

Library Networks…. Continuously assess information requirements, create and improve necessary infrastructure including computer network support and to provide informatics based support and services to the specialized community of users working in various subject areas; Sharing of resources and services including inter-library lending of books, periodicals, bulletin boards, SDI service, on-line union catalogue of books, periodicals, preprints/reprints, document delivery, information retrieval and dissemination, exchange of materials and requests for photocopying; On-line access to foreign databases, subject to the user’s willingness to pay the costs incurred; Building a low cost library information system which can possibly be used as a model for future expansion; Create understanding and confidence among professionals and authorities.

Important International Networks The International Nuclear Library Network (INLN) WHO Library and Information Networks for Knowledge (LNK) International Association of Aquatic & marine Science Libraries & Information centeres (IAMSLIC) WorldCat of OCLC International Nuclear Library Network (INLN) Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) STOU (Sukothai Thammitharat Open Univ) INASP HINARI AGORA JSTOR’s Africa Access Initiative

WorldCat

INLN/IAEA

AGORA

HINARI

NDLTD

WHO LNK

Indian Networks ADINET BALNET BONET BTISNET CALIBNET DELNET ERNET MALIBNET MYLIBNET NICNET PUNENET INFLIBNET

INFLIBNET

DELNET

ERNET

NICNET

Library Consortia “Consortium is cooperative arrangement of groups with a policy of sharing resources among members.” It is a strategic alliance of institutions having common interest. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘Consortia’ means a “temporary cooperation of a number of powers, companies, etc., for a common purpose. It is an association of similar types of organizations/ institutions who are engaged for producing and servicing common things for providing services for a specific purpose of its users.”

Salient features of Library Consortia To eliminate problems faced by libraries to provide various services to users; To meet the thrust of information of people due to rapid growth of population all over the world; To cope up with newly generated knowledge published in different forms, such as printed and non-printed documents, electronics media on various disciplines, multi-disciplinary and new generated subject areas; To collect all documents published at the national and international level, because of the library financial crunch; and To overcome language barriers.

Need for Library Consortia The pressure of competition in the information market is enhancing and compelling information providers. Reduce the cost of collection development. Provides more, better, faster and cheaper services for less money. Indian universities are finding it hard to maintain subscriptions to even core journals due to ever increasing cost of the journal subscriptions and also shrinking budgets. Shrinking fiscal resources, price hike in scientific and technical journals and also social science titles. Recent trends and developments in the area of communication, computer and information technology. Improving the quality and standard of research in Indian universities by improving the access base of literature to them is essential.

Need of Library Consortia… Academic and research users can now hope to have access to their learned journal articles in electronic form as electronic access is comparatively cheaper. Reduction in staff strength and cost savings for library budget. Able to change themselves and re-engineer their services and operations in such a way that they meet user-expectations better for less money. Rational utilization of funds of little more investment pays a lot. Qualitative resource sharing for effective document delivery. Growth in number of users, particularly in academic and research institutions. Increase in user demand for quality services. Emerging changes in the publishing industry as most publishing is now done in digital form.

Purpose Library Perspectives: The general perception among libraries is that a consortium should enable libraries to purchase and provide access to more resources than they currently have, with lesser spending than what they currently spend and gain net savings in current spending. Publisher Perspectives: Publishers look at consortia as an instant mass-market opportunity to expand their market base in many times both in terms of client base and revenues. True Perspectives: Consortia models are still in an evolving phase, constantly affected by technological changes. Hence, consortia development requires an open dialogue between the two parties-libraries and publishers/vendors, in a spirit of partnership to help their common beneficiary, the end user, whose needs and usage alone can justify the sustenance of whatever new consortia models that publishers can offer and libraries can adopt.

Objectives Rational utilization of funds - A little more pays a lot. Increase the access base - More e-journals. Ensure continuous subscription. Maximize the cost benefit per subscription. Examine and review national and international issues such as pricing policies and copyright law. Bring pressure on commercial publishers to reduce the ‘growth rate’ in the cost of information and to bring down the unit cost of information. To provide more coverage of collections and facilities to provide wider access to users. To avoid duplication of resources among libraries of interest. Encourage access and sharing of unique and special collections which are available in member libraries. Recognize few libraries, so that they can take the responsibility of developing and maintaining collections which are of archival value. Develop technical capabilities of the staff in operating and using electronic publication databases. Reduced information cost.

Functions Agreement for establishment of a consortium – A concrete agreement is needed to be established for participating libraries in consortia to achieve a common target. Administrative of library consortium – To run the total functions of a consortium smoothly a statutory body is very much essential to be formed taking chief librarian/chief information manager from every library/information centre. Financial control – Whether a consortium fund be created to subscribe to the core journals in different subjects in multiple copies at a discount rate. Joint Work – Prepare list of titles Subscribe to Core titles Prepare the union list of titles TOC services Evaluation – After a certain period, the whole activities of a consortium, (i.e., individual as well as cooperative) must be evaluated on the basis of pre-determined objectives.

Major issues of Consortia approach Resource Identification Technology Infrastructure Pricing Issues Access Related Issues Licensing and Copyright Issues Archival Issues Sustainability Issues Usage and Usability Issues

Consortium Initiatives in India J-Gate / JCCC Consortium TOC of 500+ journals Links to abstract of the article Enables downloading INDEST AICTE Consortium (Indian National Digital Library in Engineering Science and Technology) MHRD UGC INFONET Consortium CSIR-DST Consortium (NKRC) IIMs’ Consortium FORSA Consortium HELINET Consortium UGC-DAE Consortia ISRO LIBRARY Consortia ICICI KNOWLEDGE PARK TIFR Libraries Consortium ISI Library Consortia Deals STI NETWORK FOR RESOURCE SHARING AMONGST S&T LIBRARIES

CSIR-DST Consortium

INDEST

J Gate

JCCC

Information Resource Sharing Functions A consortium can take up following activities for promoting information resource sharing: Cooperative collection development among member libraries Cooperative processing of information resources acquired through consortium Creation of virtual library covering all the e-resources available in member libraries

Information Resource Sharing Functions Compilation of bibliographical and /or full-text databases of the holdings of the member libraries, both print and non-print Sharing of information resources, both traditional and digital, of member libraries through network or document delivery service Allowing reciprocal borrowing by the members of all libraries of the consortium Supporting member libraries for setting institutional repositories, e-print archives, electronic theses collection, etc.

Objective Of Consortia Basically consortia have been created for acquisition and sharing use of e-journals It is possible for the users of participating libraries to access and/or download the required materials remotely The objective of consortia can be widened to make them efficient instruments of sharing of all types of library resources

Organizational Models A variety of organizational models of consortia have been developed At one end are loosely affiliated buying clubs aiming at sharing a discounted rate of e-journals and databases At another end are tightly integrated organizations sharing variety of resources

Organizational Models… Digitization of valuable and rare collections of member libraries available in printed format and providing access to such materials to the members of all the libraries of the consortium Developing common interface to catalogues, databases and e-collection by creating portals Creating inter-operability among member systems, databases and services

Other Resource Sharing Functions A consortium may also share other resources in the following manner: Sharing the storage facilities, thereby minimizing expenditure on space Pooling of expert manpower and promoting professional development Assist member libraries in creating IT infrastructure

Other Resource Sharing Functions Facilitating joint preservation and archiving activities for print and digital materials Initiating and supporting research projects of common interest Collectively promoting, marketing and publicising the library services

Advantages of Consortium Building A comprehensive collection is possible Avoidance of duplication of non core collection development among the participating libraries. Reduction in the cost of information services Quality of services is enhanced Facilitation of the use of common library system Promotion of best practices Implementation of staff skills development programmers.

Challenges of Consortium Building Team Work Recognition of the value of each team member and his specialty, respecting each member’s opinion and seeking understanding of each others views contribute to team members feeling being valued and part of the team Trust, openness and honesty Trust will be build over time with each of the partners delivering their commitments. Trust will drastically cut down the cost of running a consortium where partners constantly cross check information from other partners constantly cross check information from other partners to avoid being advantage of.

Advantages of Consortium Approach Libraries coming together to form consortium must make careful choice of partners. If every member is treated fairly then no one will need to waste time worrying money issues. Win-Win Approach All partners should receive an acceptable benefit from it rather than working for individual short terms gains, the benefit of the consortium as a whole is considered. Once the win-win is mindset is in place, the energies will be noticeable. The contributions of all members should be recognized and appreciated no matter how small is.

Mobilization Of Library Community In spite of the benefits of consortia approach the library community in general in India is not actively coming forward to adopt it Only a few libraries have formed consortia voluntarily Some others have been induced to join consortia by the sponsors A large number of libraries is still out of the ambit of any consortium

Mobilization … The main reasons of this situation are: Lack of awareness among the libraries and/or library authorities about the ultimate benefits of consortia Conservative mentality of the library authorities with regard to e-information resources, specially online resources Unwillingness of some libraries to share their resources Unwillingness of some libraries to share the burden of resource sharing i.e. serving users of libraries other than their own

Mobilization … Uneven development of libraries of different sectors and slow progress of library automation Inability of many libraries in meeting the minimum commitment required to join a consortium due to financial and other infrastructural constraints Lack of demand for resource sharing on the part of users Poor bibliographical control of the holdings of the libraries Lack of sufficient information resources to be shared

Mobilization … To harness the enormous benefits of consortia it is necessary to mobilize the library community to adopt the method Govt. agencies like UGC and CSIR have come forward to mobilize the libraries being funded by them Steps should be taken to mobilize more libraries by making them aware about the benefits of consortia approach and removing the barriers faced by them in this regard

Future for Library Consortium To boost resource sharing activities three-pronged approach is needed: Strengthening and reengineering of existing consortia to make them true vehicles of resource sharing and not merely sharing of e-journals Starting new consortia and networks for resource sharing on suitable basis Linking of the consortia based networks to achieve nation-wide network of libraries

Future… Implementation of these steps may take some time and face many hurdles But once done it will be possible to have effective nation-wide resource sharing This will save enormous amount of money and expedite research at all levels thereby contributing greatly in national development THANK YOU

ACKNOWELDGEMENTS Dr. A R Upadhya Director, NAL KUCLA & KSCLA Organisers NCCM: Organizing and Technical Committees Dr. B U Kannappanavar, Organising Secretary Dr. B S Biradar, Prof & Chair, DLIS, Kuvempu Univ. ICAST/ CSIR-NAL colleagues