The Consortial Agreements Program within the CIC Center for
Library Initiatives encompasses agreements and licenses for
a variety of electronic information resources, software, and
services from partner universities, organizations, and companies.
In 1995 the CIC Center for Library Initiatives began negotiating
agreements on behalf of the member libraries for the purchase
or license of electronic information resources. Ranging from
the African American Biographical Database to Web of Science,
some 50 electronic products have been negotiated by the CLI
and are available to students, faculty and staff through CIC
university libraries. Libraries decide individually whether
they will participate in each agreement as it is offered. Participation
in these agreements can range from only 2 to all 13 libraries.
Although consortial agreements can be undertaken by any CIC
CLI group, the Collection Development Officers/Electronic Resources
Officers Group has been involved in most of the existing consortial
agreements.
A March 2002 report to the Library Directors covering
the previous six-mont period noted that consortial agreements
negotiated by the CLI have saved the member libraries $2.1 million.
The total savings resulting from consortial licensing and purchases
since the inception of the CLI has surpassed $15.5 million.
Building upon this proven success in the area of
e-resources, the consortial agreements program within the CLI
has expanded over the years to encompass not only electronic information
resources, but also software and services essential to the operation
of research libraries. Current agreements cover everything from
a daily courier service to mass deacidification of fragile books.
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