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Australian Library Access to Electronic Resources

Loui Seselja
Library delegates at the 3rd National Licensing Forum, 3 July 2006
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Loui Seselja
Julie Rae addressing vendor representatives National Licensing Proposal RFT information session for vendors,, 3 July 2006 in the Ferguson Room
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Loui Seselja
Chair of the National Proposal Reference Group and co-Chair of NLP RFT Panel, Ms Julie Rae speaking at vendor information session, 3rd National Licensing Forum, 3 July 2006
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The 3rd National Licensing Forum, hosted in Canberra by the National Library of Australia on 3 July, was a key milestone in realising the National Licensing Proposal’s goals.

The initiative’s genesis was in the 2003 recommendations of the Parliament of Australia’s Senate Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment, and the government’s subsequent response. Without external funding, the library sector has had to look within to find a way.

Fuelled by the feedback provided by almost 800 Australian librarians after the 2nd National Licensing Forum in October 2005, key representatives across the Australian library sector have continued working together towards making widespread and affordable Australian library access to electronic resources a reality.

The collaboration is paying off. Led by Julie Rae (Gulliver/VICLINK), the National Licensing Proposal Reference Group have developed a governance framework and agreed on a model for vendor pricing. A Request for Tender (RFT), issued on behalf of Australian libraries, will be released by early August 2006. We expect to have a panel of electronic products—in the priority areas of Australian news and business information, general reference and health information—available for libraries to select from for subscription by Christmas 2007.

At the forum, the Vendor Information session with members of the Reference Group attracted interest from approximately 20 representatives from a core set of companies who are currently providing Australian libraries with access to quality electronic resources. Answers to frequently asked questions about the RFT are available from www.nla.gov.au/nlp/faqrft.html

For ongoing updates on the progress of the National Licensing Proposal, and to find out how it will all work, why not subscribe to the NLP-L? Simply go to http://listserver.nla.gov.au/wws/subrequest/nlp-l and provide your email address.

For details of the proceedings of the 3rd National Licensing Forum, visit www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/sitelicense/3rdnlf.html or send an email to nlp@nla.gov.au.

Erica Ryan
Executive Officer
National Licensing Proposal