One of the goals for the 2006-2011 NN/LM PSR contract is to assist Network members with negotiating licensing agreements for electronic resources. In developing our proposal for the contract period, we began by identifying existing buying consortia in the region. These include:

Arizona

• Arizona Health Information Network (AZHIN): AZHIN’s mission is to “provide an infrastructure for knowledge-based information to support health care practice and training in Arizona and to introduce, encourage, and support widespread use of electronic information management tools by Arizona’s health care practitioners.” Through membership in AZHIN, participating institutions have access to a variety of online journals, databases, and books.

California

• Califa: Califa’s mission is “to provide cost effective delivery of services, programs, and products through a membership network of California libraries.” Califa is a voluntary library agency created in 2003 after funding for the Library of California ceased.
• California Digital Library (CDL): The California Digital Library is the eleventh library of the University of California and focuses on electronic resources for the entire UC system. “The CDL also maintains its own distinctive programs emphasizing the development and management of digital collections, innovation in scholarly publishing, and the long-term preservation of digital information.”
• Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC): Established in 1986, SCELC originally focused on providing group licensing to electronic databases for private educational institutions in Southern California. SCELC now includes large and small members from the entire state.

Hawaii

• Medical Libraries Consortium of Hawaii: This is the newest consortium in the Pacific Southwest Region. It was created to replace access that had been supplied by the Hawaii Medical Library, a former Resource Library. This consortium focuses specifically on group licensing of health sciences electronic journals and databases.

Nevada

• The Bibliographic Center for Research (BCR) is a “nonprofit, multistate library cooperative that has served the library community since 1935, providing cost-effective library and information services.” Nevada is one of eleven states whose agreements between BCR and the state library allow any library located in those states to use BCR services as a member institution. BCR members also include individual libraries from other states, including 45 from California, 15 from Hawaii, and 1 from Guam. Three other regions of the NN/LM have state libraries who are members of BCR. The Midcontinental Region is currently working with BCR for licensing electronic resources for members in its region.

Pacific Islands

• Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL): The Pacific Islands have had the good fortune of benefiting from license negotiations made by PREL, an Affiliate Member of the NN/LM located in Honolulu. PREL serves the same Pacific Island jurisdictions as are served by this RML. PREL recently joined the Medical Libraries Consortium of Hawaii.

E-Licensing Survey

In December 2007, we conducted a survey of NN/LM PSR members to gain a better understanding of their e-licensing needs. We received 115 completed responses, a much greater return than we had anticipated. Survey results indicated that network members are currently licensing a wide variety of electronic resources and that they are interested in collaborating on joint purchases to reduce costs for individual products in order to increase their electronic offerings. Clearly there is significant interest in identifying new opportunities.

Collaboration with SCELC

While the e-licensing survey was underway, we were contacted by the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) to explore joint interests. Currently, we are exploring how the NN/LM PSR might collaborate with SCELC in order to facilitate group licensing of electronic resources. SCELC has been an active and successful license negotiator for non-profit academic and research libraries in California since 1986.

For more information

For more information, contact Julie Kwan, Library Network Coordinator, at 310-825-5342 or jkkwan@library.ucla.edu. You will find general information on our web page, Licensing Electronic Resources.