[FYI] ICOLC Statement on Library Purchasing of Electronic Information

[Terry Kuny]

Hello all, 

I think this is a very *important* document for the library 
community to take notice of.

I see the ICOLC document as an overdue response from the library
community to publishers and policy-makers who have been 
working to shape a very particular vision of the electronic 
environment.

To help frame what will undoubtably be an interesting debate,
I think it is valuable for librarians to read the 
International Publishers Association "Position Paper on Libraries, 
Copyright and the Electronic Environment" (22 April 1996). 

The IPA statement can be found at:

URL: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/documents/infopol/copyright/ipa.txt

Reading the two documents side-by-side is an interesting and 
illustrative exercise which pretty much draws all the important 
lines in the sand. Enjoy! ;-)

-terry

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INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF LIBRARY CONSORTIA (ICOLC)

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION - March 25, 1998

For further information about this statement, contact:

Arnold Hirshon, Vice Provost for Information Resources, Lehigh
University,
Bethlehem PA. Phone: 610/758-3025.   Email: arh5 at lehigh.edu   Fax:
610/758-3004

For further information about ICOLC, contact:

Tom Sanville, Executive Director, OhioLINK. Columbus, OH. Phone:
614-728-3600, ext. 322. Email: tom at ohiolink.edu   Fax: 614-728-3610

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The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) announced today
the release of its "Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices
for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information." The Statement
establishes for the first time an international perspective on consortial
licensing and purchasing of electronic information by libraries.

The document addresses current and future electronic information
environment issues such as the increasing expectations of library users in a
stable funding environment, fair use, archiving of information, pricing
strategies, and electronic information delivery metrics. The preferred
practices section covers contract negotiations, pricing, data access and
archiving, system platforms, licensing terms, information content and its
management, and user authentication.

The explosion in electronic licensing, the wide variance in publisher
practices, rapidly escalating prices, and a concern about the reduction in
the number of independent scholarly information providers all served as the
impetus for the statement. The Statement calls for developing multiple
pricing models, separating charges for electronic licenses from those of
paper subscriptions, and lowering the cost for the electronic information
below that of print subscriptions. ICOLC expresses its concern over the
growing practice of publishers that levy initial surcharges on electronic
information, which is compounded by significant multi-year inflation
surcharges and prohibitions against libraries canceling print versions of
journal titles. As a result, while libraries may receive access to a larger
array of titles by paying the "print price plus electronic subscription cost
plus inflation," the total base price for electronic access over the print
subscription could increase by 40% or more within as little as three or four
years.

Arnold Hirshon, vice provost for information resources at Lehigh
University, executive committee chair of the Pennsylvania Academic Library
Connection Initiative, and one of the authors of the Statement noted that
"the 'print price plus' cost model simply is not economically sustainable
for academic libraries.  We must develop alternative pricing structures
before the current pricing practices become the norm."  While recognizing
that publishers should be able to recover reasonable costs, the Statement
asserts that publishers cannot expect libraries to bear all development
costs today for incomplete product features and unstable systems.

ICOLC seeks new economic models that reduce the unit cost of information
while enabling the lowest possible cost-per-access to a journal title or
article. "We see a potential for dramatic shifts in pricing, with publishers
and libraries working together to break the current cycle in which libraries
each year spend more on serials but are able to buy fewer of them," said Tom
Sanville, executive director of OhioLINK and ICOLC convener.

The ICOLC intends for the statement to be an olive branch to the publishing
community. Ann Okerson, associate university librarian at Yale University
and coordinator of the NorthEast Research Libraries consortium (NERL), says
"through the ICOLC we want to begin discussions with the publishing
community to advance the use and availability of electronic information
resources in educational and research institutions." Elmar Mittler, Library
Director, Niedersaechsische Staats- und UniversitSigmatsbibliothek Goettingen,
adds that "the ICOLC represents a combined membership of over 5,000
libraries worldwide, which makes it an effective forum to work with
information providers to find common ground."

David Kohl, dean of libraries at the University of Cincinnati and a
statement author, stresses that the Statement is about more than just money.
"We are as concerned the quality of the content provided and the ability to
archive that content to guarantee future availability as we are about the
cost of purchasing that information today."


THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

The statement is endorsed by consortial representatives in Australia,
Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United
States, with additional endorsements anticipated from other nations.
Inspired by a previously developed statement of electronic information
principles by a group of Dutch and German universities in 1997, Hirshon
approached that group on behalf of the ICOLC to seek European cooperation on
the Statement.  Hirshon attended a meeting in The Hague in February with
representatives from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany.

"We developed an instant rapport and common views," said Fred Friend,
Director, Scholarly Communication, University College London. Hans
Geleijnse, university librarian, Tilburg University, added "Scholarly
publishing increasingly is a global enterprise, and the strength of
libraries increases by working globally through consortia to establish
mutual positions." John Gilbert, head librarian, Universiteit Maastricht,
observed that "academic librarians around the world share the same interest
in providing the maximum amount of information to our faculty and students
at the lowest possible cost."

The complete Statement can be found at:

http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/statement.html

Further information about the ICOLC can be found at:

http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia

AUTHORS OF THE STATEMENT

        Arnold Hirshon, Vice Provost for Information Resources, Lehigh
University,
Bethlehem PA, and Chair, Executive Committee, Pennsylvania Academic Library
Connection Initiative. Phone: 610/758-3025. Email: arh5 at lehigh.edu
Fax: 610/758-3004

        Tom Sanville, Executive Director, OhioLINK. Columbus, OH, and
Convener, ICOLC.   Phone: 614-728-3600, ext. 322. Email: tom at ohiolink.edu
Fax: 614-728-3610

        Ann Okerson, Associate University Librarian, Yale University, New
Haven,
CT, and Coordinator of the NorthEast Research Libraries consortium (NERL).
Phone: 203/432-1764. Email: ann.okerson at yale.edu    Fax: 203/432-8527

        David Kohl, Dean, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati, and
Member, OhioLINK Library Advisory Council Coordinating Committee.
Phone: 513/556-1515.   Email: david.kohl at uc.edu     Fax: 513/556-0325

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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF LIBRARY CONSORTIA (ICOLC)

The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) is an informal
organization that began meeting in 1997. Comprising about sixty library
consortia in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,
Germany, Israel, and Australia, the Coalition represents over 5,000 member
libraries worldwide. The Coalition serves primarily higher education
institutions by facilitating discussion among its members on issues of
common interest. ICOLC conducts meetings to keep its members informed about
new electronic information resources, pricing practices of electronic
providers and vendors, and other issues of importance to consortium
directors and their governing boards. These meetings also provide a forum
for consortial representatives to meet with the information provider
community, discuss their products, and engage in a dialog with Coalition
members about issues of mutual concern. The ICOLC also maintains listservs
and web pages for the benefit of its members. Alex Klugkist, chairman, Dutch
University Library Association, and university librarian, Groningen
University notes that "the ICOLC has become a highly effective forum to
coordinate academic library efforts internationally."

Further information about the ICOLC can be found at
http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia

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ADOPTERS OF THIS STATEMENT

This statement was adopted in principle by member representatives
of the "International Coalition of Library Consortia" (ICOLC) whose
institutions
are listed below. This statement does not necessarily represent the official
views of each consortium listed. Consortia listed are in the United States
unless otherwise noted.

Adventist Libraries Information Cooperative (ALICE); AMIGOS
Bibliographic Council, Inc.; Arizona Universities Library Consortium
(AULC); Big Twelve
Plus Library Consortium; Boston Library Consortium (BLC); British Columbia
Electronic Library Network [Canada]; California Digital Library (CDL);
California State University - Software and Electronic Information Resources
(CSU-SEIR); Center for Digital Information Services [Israel]; Colorado
Alliance of Research Libraries; Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
Center for Library Initiatives; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization (CSIRO) [Australia]; Consortium of University Research
Libraries (CURL) [United Kingdom]; Council of Australian University
Libraries (CAUL) [Australia]; Council of Prairie and Pacific University
Libraries (COPPUL); Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA) and the
Florida State University System Library Directors; Gemeinsamer
BibliotheksVerbund (GBV) [Germany]; Illinois Cooperative Collection
Management Program; Illinois Libraries Computer Systems Organization
(ILCSO); Israel Inter-University Library Network; Louisiana Library Network
(LLN); MINITEX Library Information Network (Minnesota, North Dakota, South
Dakota); Missouri Research Consortium of Libraries (MIRACL); Missouri
Research and Education Network (MOREnet); OhioLINK; Netherlands Association
of University Libraries, Royal Library, and Library of the Royal; Academy of
Sciences (UKB) [Netherlands]; Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL);
New England Law Library Consortium (NELLCO); New York Comprehensive Research
Libraries (NYCRL); NorthEast Research Libraries Consortium (NERL);
Pennsylvania Academic Library Connection Initiative (PALCI); Ontario
Academic Research Libraries (OARL) [Canada]; PORTALS; Standing Conference of
National and University Libraries (SCONUL) [United Kingdom]; TexShare;
Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN); University of North Carolina
System University Librarians Advisory Council; University of Texas System
Knowledge Management Center; Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA); WALDO;
Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC); Washington State Cooperative
Library Project

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INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS FOR THE STATEMENT:

In the United Kingdom:
        Fred Friend, Director, Scholarly Communication, University College
London,
England. Phone: 0171-380 7090. Email: f.friend at ucl.ac.uk Fax: 0171-380 7043In
Germany:

In Germany:
        Elmar Mittler, Library Director, Niedersaechsische Staats- und
UniversitSigmatsbibliothek Goettingen, Germany. Phone: +49 (551) 39-5212. Fax:
+49 (551) 39-5222    Email: mittler at mail.sub.uni-goettingen.de

In the Netherlands:
        Hans Geleijnse, University Librarian, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The
Netherlands.       Phone: +31 13 466 21 46.   Email: geleynse at kub.nl    Fax:
+31 13 466 33 70
        John Gilbert, Head Librarian, Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht, The
Netherlands. Phone: +31 43 388 3404.   Email: j.gilbert at ub.unimaas.nl Fax:
+31 43 325 6932
        Alex Klugkist, Chairman, Dutch University Library Association, and
University Librarian, Groningen University, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Phone: +31 (0)50 363 50 02/3   Email: a.c.klugkist at ub.rug.nl Fax: +31 (0)50
363 49 96