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Consortia remain a critical part of how academic libraries in the United States (US) collaborate and achieve scale to maximize influence for resource and content acquisition. The US consortia landscape is a complex and vibrant one with increasing levels of intra- and inter-consortia engagement. Evolving licensing and negotiation practices as well as emerging trends in scholarly communication and Open Access all affect how these groups work together. The authors interviewed consortia leaders about changes in library needs occurring over the past several years as well as needs that have emerged since the pandemic., Introduction Consortia remain a critical part of how academic libraries in the United States (US) collaborate and achieve scale to maximize influence for resource and content acquisition. Partnerships amongst libraries [...]

Subscription agents have had to reinvent themselves over the past 15 years as the numbers of print subscriptions have dramatically dwindled. Many libraries have chosen to bypass the subscription agent and its extra fees in favor of dealing directly with the publisher for e-journal and e-journal package procurement and management. Especially in difficult economic times, libraries have to seriously and deliberately evaluate the expense of using the subscription agent and determine whether any value-added services the agent offers are worth the money. At The University of Alabama (UA), the author says they had to determine whether to use or not use a subscription agent for their e-journal procurement, and this decision involved evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of using an agent versus going direct. This article will explore the UA decision-making process and examine the challenges associated with e-journal management more broadly. (Contains 3 notes.)

The 2009 database marketplace is bounded by two extremes: massive digitization projects to increase access, and retrenchment owing to budget worries. Picture medieval monks hunched over their desks in the scriptorium as they labor to copy manuscripts. A 21st-century version of this activity is being repeated daily in the world's libraries and publishing houses as major digitization projects seek to preserve millions of printed books and documents. The work of medieval scribes ensured that the classics were available when the invention of movable type and the printing press made books accessible to the masses, transforming the world. Today's laborers are hunched over digitization equipment, but their goal is the same: copying and preserving resources so they are available now and into the future. Before the printing press made books more affordable, only the well-to-do could afford libraries of manuscripts. Similarly, many companies today are concerned with how libraries will face growing budgetary problems. Twenty-two of the 39 companies that responded to this survey cited the budget as the most important issue in 2009. Demonstrating value via high usage or enhanced and intuitive platforms will become even more crucial as libraries decide which products to keep or cancel. In response to the economy, many companies have frozen prices and are releasing fewer new collections in 2009, focusing instead on improving existing collections.

Library school courses focusing on management and budgeting are as important as ever, as are continuing education opportunities for librarians who may not have encountered a severe economic recession. The journal crisis of the 1990s is still a fresh and unpleasant memory for many. However, for other librarians who may have graduated from library school in the years since or do not have a business or economic background, a formalized or crash course in the economics of scholarly and other types of publishing may be necessary. When faced with new or reemerging challenges, an understanding of an issue's nuances helps one meet those challenges. Reference librarians must understand the sources available to them to answer questions. Instruction librarians must continually update themselves about the latest instructional technology practices and learning and teaching theory. The same holds true for those dealing with electronic resources. A firm grasp of theoretical concepts helps librarians in their practice.

Social networking and other Web 2.0 technologies led the social whirl of the information industry. Publishers and librarians tried to keep their products and services relevant by mixing authoritative content with user involvement, but that was not enough. Enhancing interfaces, adding new forms of content, and making strategic acquisitions--all are necessary to ensure that the information industry party continues. This article cites how several vendors and libraries are making efforts to dress up their databases and products in order to attract users to their services. New training programs, new interfaces, ebooks, planning tools, multiple-language content, prepackaged searches, and search widgets are just some of the methods being utilized to aid researchers and consumers. (Contains 1 table.)

While mission statements for various libraries and information centers necessarily vary, all librarians face "two very pressing charges: make voluminous numbers of electronic resources as visible as possible in a landscape of multiple access points and simultaneously manage all the technology, tasks, and data necessary to facilitate such ubiquitous access." Managing this volume of electronic resources, while simultaneously attempting to provide full access, has required a shift in staffing patterns to accommodate the unique challenges e-resources pose. E-resource management grows increasingly complex and requires specialized knowledge. These developments beg the question: How are library schools educating students for electronic resource management? In an effort to gauge the current environment of library school education and e-resource management, the author interviewed several practicing librarians and adjunct faculty members who have proposed to teach or have already taught a library school course devoted to at least some aspect of e-resource management. This article presents a summary of those discussions. (Contains 5 notes.)

Electronic resource management (ERM) systems have inundated the library marketplace. Both integrated library systems (ILS) vendors and subscription agents are now offering products and service enhancements that claim to help libraries efficiently manage their electronic resources. Additionally, some homegrown and open-source solutions have emerged as part of the ERM landscape. These ERMs were developed in response to a very real need: The volume of e-resource materials collected in libraries has reached critical mass that prohibits traditional resource management with traditional tools such as ILS. In preparation for a presentation at the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) E-Resource Management Forum: The What, Why, and How for Managing E-Resources in September 2007, the author conducted informal interviews with practicing e-resource librarians and e-resource management vendors to gauge the current temperature of the ERM landscape. Each interviewee was asked what he or she thought were the most pressing issues facing ERMs. This article presents a summary of the most common responses.(Contains 3 notes.)

Library schools may be teaching some of the theoretical framework necessary to perform the duties of electronic resource librarianship. However, a gap remains "between practical needs, as expressed in position descriptions, and the theoretical way in which library school courses address those needs." To fill this gap, professional associations have stepped up to the plate and have created a number of continuing education opportunities for those librarians with e-resource management duties. This article primarily focuses on classes, workshops, and preconferences sponsored by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS, http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/alcts.cfm). (Contains 2 notes.)

The information industry continues to consolidate, just as agribusiness has consolidated and now dominates farming. Both the family farm and the small information company still exist but are becoming rarer in an age of mergers, acquisitions, and increased economies of scale. Small companies distinguish themselves by high quality, special themes, or useful tools to keep and build their customer base. The database marketplace this year was dominated by the news of several large acquisitions. Yet, even the largest companies in the database marketplace are feeling pressure from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. There are a lot of worries from database providers but they are working on ways to integrate social networks, provide increased depth within their specialties, and make their products stand out in order to succeed on the information farms of the future. A table listing organizations and their database services is provided, along with company profiles of these firms. (Contains 1 table.)

Librarians face two very pressing charges: make voluminous numbers of electronic resources as visible as possible in a landscape with multiple access points, and simultaneously manage all the technology, tasks, and data necessary to facilitate such ubiquitous access. In the past ten years, solutions have emerged and become commonplace in many libraries: the electronic resource management system (ERMS), OpenURL resolver, metasearch tool, A-to-Z list, public catalog with faceted search, and so on. These tools help librarians achieve their goals. In this article, the author describes several Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) initiatives and partnerships that help increase the visibility of library resources to users and allow librarians to better manage their increasingly complex collections.

Virtual tours delivered via the Web have become a common tool for both instruction and outreach. This article is a case study of the creation of a virtual tour for a university library and is intended to provide others interested in creating a virtual tour of their library the opportunity to learn from the mistakes and successes of fellow librarians. Virtual tours can enhance a library's Web presence as well as provide much needed information to remote or prospective users.

Presents a comparison of access to full-text articles from a free bibliographic database (PubSCIENCE) for affiliated and unaffiliated users. Found that affiliated users had access to more full-text articles than unaffiliated users had, and that both types of users could increase their level of access through additional searching and greater information literacy. (Author/LRW)

For the August/September 2010 issue of "Library Technology Reports" (LTR) published by the American Library Association Techsource division, the author and her colleague, Rachel A. Fleming-May, focused on use and usage, both of electronic resources and use of libraries in general. In this article, the author discusses a few of the findings from an informal survey they conducted of librarians in the trenches who deal with usage statistics on a regular basis. (Contains 3 notes.)

Librarians engage in some sort of negotiation all the time. Unfortunately, library schools do not uniformly teach negotiation theory or skills. New librarians are left to their own devices to self-educate, and self-educate they must. Most of the library-specific negotiation literature and continuing education opportunities focus almost entirely on negotiating licenses for content and services, which is essential knowledge for anyone charged with these responsibilities. There are also a significant number of library-specific resources that address intellectual property and copyright law. However, while it is critical for anyone negotiating content to have a strong background in intellectual property and copyright, these are knowledge sets separate from theories of good negotiation. It is important to remember that negotiating contracts is a semi-commercial activity, and the commercial realm is not where many librarians feel comfortable. Many experienced librarian negotiators agree: One of the biggest mistakes librarians make is underestimating the power they hold as possible negotiators. In this article, the author presents acquisitions and e-resource management books that include chapters on licensing and to some extent, on negotiation. She also suggests other ways librarians can learn the basic building blocks of good negotiation.

The Google Book Search Library Project has partnered with an array of impressive libraries, including Harvard University, the University of California System, University of Michigan, and the New York Public Library. The reasons for collaborating with Google to further book digitization are different for each library. Moreover, the exact way in which these libraries will use their own digital copies has yet to be decided for many of the libraries involved. While the Google Book Search Library Project remains controversial, the Google library partners are seizing an unprecedented opportunity to amplify the scale of their pre-existing digitization initiatives. KEYWORDS. Google, Google Book Search, digitization, libraries