Library consortia in China

Abstract

This paper traces the history and development of library consortia in China from 1980 to the present. It also gives examples and descriptions of various types of library consortia in China, including academic, public, special, multi-type library consortia at the regional and national level.

Proposing a Library Consortium Model for National Development in Zimbabwe

“…Documentary evidence on socio-economic conditions between 1999 and 2005 confirm the impact of Economic Structural Adjustments (ESAP) on social services (NUST Vice Chancellors Report, 2011;Makoni, 2000). A literature review and responses from the interviews confirmed that ZULC was able to negotiate with UNESCO to use coupons as legal tender to purchase electronic journals during the hyper-inflationary period between 2007and 2009(Kadyamatimba and Tapfuma, 2014Country Report, 2009). However, the rate for purchasing these coupons continued to escalate, and made it difficult to sustain subscriptions to PERI resources (Country Report, 2009).…”

“…Hoang & Genoni (2017) viewed library cooperation as an enhanced form of cooperation that serves as a strategic choice made by academic libraries internationally to improve access to a wide range of content and services. Globally, the twenty-first century has seen an increase in the number of library consortia (Csajbók, Szluka & Vasas, 2012;Dong & Zou, 2009;Goudar, 2013;Fresnido &Yap, 2013;Coetsee & Weiner, 2013;and Chisita, 2017). Library consortia have helped to support development in many countries by providing affordable access to information to enhance teaching, learning and research.…”

“…Zimbabwe is not an exception to this trend as evidenced by the establishment of sector specific library consortia, for example, the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium (ZULC) and the College and Research Libraries Consortium (CARLC). Dong & Zou (2009) attribute the rise of library consortia to the information explosion, escalating costs of reading material, severe budget allocations, and the increasing demand for improved service. Nfila & Darko-Ampem (2002) state that library consortia operations encompass co-operation, co-ordination and collaboration between and amongst libraries for cost reduction through shared information resources.…”

Adjusting the library performance standards for consortia services: a case study

“…Modern consortia offer resource sharing of print collections via InterLibrary Loan, and/or e-content through licensing and “big deals”; they provide shared print storage and/or digital repositories; they share staff expertise and human resources by enabling communication between libraries and/or by organising training programmes; they build new infrastructure, new services, or import new technology. Three major surveys conducted between 2006 and 2015 (Davis, 2006, 2009; OCLC, 2012; Horton and Provenitz, 2015) and previous studies (Dong and Zou, 2009; Machovec, 2013) focused on listing the most common consortia services; Gonda and Papatheodorou (2021) summarise these findings as follows: Collaborative Collection Development : the coordination of libraries for their collection development is a self-evident activity for consortia. As an umbrella term, it includes cooperative purchasing of print material, electronic content licensing and shared storage facilities of print collections. Consortium Management : the term might seem to refer more to an in-house operation than to a service offered to the participating libraries, but it includes the management of shared human resources, assistance in library assessment, collective budgeting and financial management, and lobbying and public relations. Cooperative Digitisation Services : many consortia engage in digitisation initiatives, building digital libraries and developing union catalogs, thus preserving special, rare collections or archives. Institutional Repositories : the software and hardware infrastructure for collecting the intellectual output of a research institution is primarily an activity for academic library consortia. Programmes for Users : several consortia organise summer reading campaigns, offer seniors’ technology education or STEM programmes and exhibitions. Resource Sharing and InterLibrary Loan : one of the pillars of library cooperation, the sharing of print materials and more recently, of e-content; the term could refer to physical delivery services, loaning from library to library, document delivery, and licensing that allows the distribution of digital material. Shared Integrated Library System and Collaborative Cataloguing : collaboration between libraries started with the sharing of bibliographic records and naturally progressed to include union catalogues and shared systems. Staff Training and Consulting : the consortium may provide or facilitate the sharing of personnel that includes specialists in specific areas, consultants, trainers and event organisers.…”

“…Modern consortia offer resource sharing of print collections via InterLibrary Loan, and/or e-content through licensing and "big deals"; they provide shared print storage and/or digital repositories; they share staff expertise and human resources by enabling communication between libraries and/or by organising training programmes; they build new infrastructure, new services, or import new technology. Three major surveys conducted between 2006 and 2015 (Davis, 2006(Davis, , 2009OCLC, 2012;Horton and Provenitz, 2015) and previous studies (Dong and Zou, 2009;Machovec, 2013) focused on listing the most common consortia services; Gonda and Papatheodorou (2021) summarise these findings as follows:…”