CAVAL

Future of Consortia Workshop

Held at the CAVAL Collaborative Solutions, Victoria, 9 & 10 August 2004

Summary

1. Introduction

On 9 & 10 August 2004, a two-day Future of Consortia workshop was conducted at the CAVAL CARM Centre in Australia. This workshop followed on from a Consortia conference that was held in late 2003. Attachment 1 contains key outputs from the 2003 conference.
The 2004 workshop was attended by Australian, New Zealand, US and UK based senior information professionals, including consortia managers and operators, library managers and information industry vendors
The workshop was sponsored by library and information industry suppliers including YBP, EBCSCO, Emerald, iGroup, Thomson Gale and SWETS Blackwell.

The purpose of the 2-day workshop was to:

  • Review the trends in consortia from a global perspective ie UK and Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
  • Consider the similarities and differences of current consortia models.
  • Consider the strengths and weaknesses of current consortia models.
  • Consider future consortia and their:
    • Reason to exist
    • Strategic focus
    • Products and services.
  • Consider Australian/New Zealand cross consortia awareness and participation.
  • Consider a multi-coalition agenda.

The summarised output from the 2-day workshop is found in Sections 2 and 3 of this document.

Current Consortia

2.1 Some Common Local and Global Themes

Papers from both the overseas and local speakers were made available as either PowerPoint presentations and/or Word documents. The papers focused on "recent developments with consortia, where things are now, and what is emerging".

The papers were presented by:

  • Catherine Nicholson (Europe focussed)
  • Kate Nevins (North America focussed)
  • Sue Henczel (Asia focussed)
  • Sue Pharo (New Zealand focussed)
  • John Binnion and Richard Sayers (Australia focussed)

Some of the key points that arose from the review of global consortia included:

  • Operating as "true" consortia to operating as formal and informal networks and loose commitments of libraries
  • Consortia are both incorporated (minority) and non-incorporated (majority) - consortia as "businesses" expect a return-on-investment (ROI)
  • Different funding models and governance structures exist for consortia
  • Sustainability of current consortia given some overlaps and potential rationalisations
  • The "drivers" for establishing and maintaining consortia include "cost" drivers
  • Leadership: strategic direction, focus and guiding principles required for consortia
  • The varying phases of maturity of consortia, that is: emerging, developing, maturing and transforming
  • People involved in consortia need to display trust, willingness and cooperate.

2.2 Consortia Similarities and Differences

The similarities between consortia include:

  • Common aims
  • Collaborative benefit
  • Multiplicity-benefits purpose
  • High expectation of benefits
  • Below zero budgets
  • Access to project and/or capital funds
  • Marketing to members.

The differences between consortia include:

  • Size
  • Level of maturity
  • Purpose
  • Governance structures
  • Funding and resource levels
  • Pricing models
  • Composition (including different library and information sectors).

2.3 Consortia Strengths and Weaknesses

The strengths of current consortia include:

  • Political benefit
  • Knowledge sharing
  • Skills development
  • Single sector/type
  • Members
  • Lobbying power
  • Purchasing power
  • Benefits to user communities
  • Negotiation capability
  • Potential to leverage investment.

The weaknesses of current consortia include:

  • Single sector member
  • Loss of perceived autonomy of libraries
  • Speed of response
  • Negotiating skills and capacity
  • A cottage industry approach
  • Inappropriate organisational and governance arrangements
  • Lack of marketing and the promotion of benefits
  • Unable to quantify benefits and ROI.

2.4 International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC)

Information on ICOLC was provided as background to assist in the thinking of establishing a similar model in Australia/New Zealand, or more broadly in the Asia-Pacific region. Characteristics of ICOLC include:

  • Outcome - Professional Consortia Management
  • Coming together of the leadership of consortia
  • Any consortia can join
  • Education focus
  • Explore product opportunities ("the grilling")
  • Explore cross-consortia opportunities
  • Builds relationships for future opportunities
  • Convenor administration
  • Committee for each meeting agenda
  • Volunteer services eg travel, hosting website
  • Input to vendors.

3. Future Consortia

3.1 Future Consortia - why will they exist?

The rationale for the existence (relevance and value) of library consortia includes:

  • To assist with the long term sustainability of libraries and library services, and contribution to the library's parent organisation
  • To benefit library and information service users ie easy and fast access to information via a multitude of channels. With both local and global focus
  • To benefit the consortia members eg low cost access to resources
  • To develop new products and services
  • To lobby
  • To deliver education and training. It was commented that vendors should be part of consortia (Australia/New Zealand) given their key role in the information value chain.

3.2 Future Consortia - their strategic focus?

The strategic focus of future consortia will embrace:

  • Content management that includes access, new products, timeliness and efficiency
  • Market relevance - create and anticipate demand; create an identity
    • Innovative partnerships include those beyond library boundaries
    • Capability including governance, funding and staffing.

3.3 Future Consortia - their products and services?

The products and services of future consortia will include:

  • Virtual reference services eg 24x7 services
  • Training program for users and consortia members
  • Resource sharing
  • Lobbying
  • Electronic and non-electronic resources
  • Digital products.

3.4 Cross Consortia Awareness

There was agreement to pursue the establishment of a cross consortia "model" for the Australia and New Zealand regions. In principle, it will be similar to ICOLC, but will include vendors to the library and information services industry.

To pursue the establishment of such a model, several short term actions were agreed and are tabled below.

Development of Cross Consortia Model

What needs to be Done? By When? By Whom?
1. Compile a document with ideas and guiding principles for the establishment of a cross consortia model 31 August 2004 Steve O'Connor coordinating, with assistance from Fran, Sue, Jay and Karen
2. Compile a list of stakeholders (Australia and New Zealand) - existing consortia plus information industry stakeholders

3. Contact ICOLC and E-ICOLC to inform them of the direction being taken in Australia and New Zealand
31 August 2004


31 August 2004
Deidre
Julie Stevens



Karen Vitullo
4. Develop a communication plan and determine a date for the 1st meeting of the initial cross consortia group
Note: NLA - 8 December 2004 and the "National Site Licence Summit"
31 August 2004 Richard Sayers
Julie Rae
Fiona

The workshop participants from this 9 & 10 August 2004 workshop will form the initial Steering Group for the cross consortia model.
Part of the role of this group will be to provide comments on any documents provided.
All ideas on this model can be forwarded to Steve O'Connor (CAVAL Collaborative Solutions).

3.5 Multi Consortia Agenda

It was agreed that a multi consortia agenda is relevant and should be pursued. Points for further consideration include:

  • A common need for information
  • National access eg site licences
  • Content and infrastructure
  • Partnerships
  • One Stop Shop" for information
  • Remote access.

Attachment 1 - Future of Consortia 2003 Conference Output

Opportunities for Consortia

  • To motivate libraries to remain relevant to patrons and users
  • To leverage off vendor experiences
  • To influence government and funding bodies
  • To purchase well
  • To go beyond the sharing of resources and content
  • To create commercial ideas and concepts
  • To develop library staff and information professionals
  • To better understand users' needs and expectations
  • To help libraries deliver their primary goal (for their parent organisations)
  • To establish "guerilla" consortia - specific needs in time

Challenges for Consortia

  • Sustainability
  • Chasing the very big deals
  • Fracturing the market with too many consortia
  • Duplication of effort and resource utilisation
  • Keeping fresh - not fading nor lurching
  • Maintaining flexibility
  • Resources required for consortia operation
  • Roles and responsibilities of consortia member organisations
  • Volunteer nature of participation - sustainable?

Consortia relevance, value, purpose and outcome

To provide libraries and information services from various sectors (eg corporate, government, community, education and cultural) and regions the opportunity to collaborate and network, to achieve an outcome that enables their users and clients to access a wide, competitively acquired range of relevant information and related services.

Scope, strategic focus, characteristics and mode of operation for future consortia

The scope and strategic focus of future consortia will be centred on sector specific needs eg for public libraries, university and government libraries. These needs might address government lobbying, the development of information professionals, digitisation, creation of aggregated data and information, access to electronic resources, and the creation of virtual libraries. Consortia will be flexible, self-funding, with specific needs at a point in time, relationship oriented with vendors and other key stakeholders in the information chain, and will require trust between participating libraries and their managers.

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