Who Needs a Consortium? Experiences from Switzerland Alice Keller, ETH Library Zurich, Switzerland ANKOS Meeting, May 2001, Izmir, Turkey

Swiss National Consortium The purpose of the Swiss National Consortium is to license electronic information resources cooperatively. The consortium covers all Swiss universities and focusses on databases and electronic journals. The central bureau took up work in September 2000.

Universities of Switzerland

2 Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology –Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) –Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) –and 4 Research Institutes 7 Universities of Applied Sciences –numerous locations 10 Cantonal Universities –University of Basle –University of Berne –University of Fribourg –University of Geneva –University of Lausanne –University of Lucerne –University of Neuchâtel –University of St. Gall –Università della Svizzera italiana –University of Zurich Total of 23 institutions

Numbers of students and staff

Languages in Switzerland German French Italian

Development of the National Consortium ETH Library + Research Institutions of ETH = 1 License ETH LibraryResearch InstitutionsMini Consortium + = ETH LibraryRes. InstitutionsOther Univ. Consortium ++= ETH LibaryRes. Inst.Univ.Colleges Major Consortium +++=

When do you Need to Get Organized Nationally? ETH LibaryRes. Inst.Univ.Colleges Too much work +++= When you get this far, it’s too much work for one librarian or one library to do on a voluntary basis. It’s more than a full-time job.

Formal Steps to the National Consortium 1998: Commission of University Libraries initiates the foundation of a national consortium 1998/1999: Two major reports „National Consortium“ 1999: Pilot project Springer LINK Switzerland 2000: Swiss University Conference passes resolution : Financial support for national consortium available Sept 2000: Foundation of central bureau at ETH Library Jan 2001:10 databases, Springer LINK + Academic Press Journals

Organisational Chart of the Swiss National Consortium

Responsibilities of the Central Bureau Evaluating requirements, organising trial access to new products Introduction of new products –negotiations with publishers –prices, terms + conditions –technical infrastructure Contact to other consortia, helpdesk for Swiss libraries Maintain website: Budget control Reporting to Steering Committee

Financing Model Total costs budgeted for : CHF 18.6 mio Financing of products –Cantonal Universities: 50% gov. funding (=CHF 7 mio for ) –For Universities of Applied Sciences: 50% gov. funding (=CHF 0.8 mio for ) –Technical Universities: 100% self-funding Contributions of libraries: –Financial contributions –Non-financial contributions (co-ordination within univer- sity, assessing holdings, testing products, expert groups)

Who Needs a Consortium? The Publisher? The User?The Library? The Agent? Examples from Springer LINK

Who needs the consortium? The libraries? Titles with print holdings Titles with no print holdings

Who needs the consortium? The small libraries? Holdings in % ETH Library UB Basel HBI CHUV Lausanne PSI

Who needs the consortium? The user?

Who needs the consortium? The large libraries, too? Cross Access: Electronic access to articles in journals that the library does not hold in print.

Who needs the consortium? The publisher? There is no way the publisher can deal with every library individually Need for individual contracts with each customer Necessity to cover whole areas to regulate cancellations Preference of multiyear contracts Reach out to new customers Bring in the small ones through the big ones

Who needs the consortium? The journal agent? The journal agents have not yet found their specific role They can be of help for: –assisting / replacing central bureau –negotiating deals –serving as journal aggregators –doing the invoicing (incl. VAT)

What a consortium won’t do for you... But it may help you reduce library spendings on journals / databases.... solve your financial problems.... get more information for your money’s worth.... get governmental funding.... achieve better co-operation between libraries

The real reason why you need a consortium... You need a person / central bureau or committee that –speaks very good English –is good at negotiating –is willing to read a 10-page contract agreement –has technical expertise –has contacts to other consortia –can raise the necessary funds Not every library has the necessary resources and expertise to perform these tasks successfully

The End Literature: Neubauer, W., Piguet, A.: The long road to becoming a "Consortium of Swiss University Libraries”. In: Liber Quarterly (2001) 11, No. 01, pp