A Study On Library Consortia Mechanism Based On Resource Effectiveness

Library consortia are necessary for international library cooperation, and are also important means for improving information resources sharing. The paper systematically studied library consortia based on resources effectiveness.Based on the reviewing different definition and development of library consortia around the world, the author defined library consortia as the alliance of libraries that have agreed to cooperate with each other in order to fulfill certain similar needs, usually resource sharing, of which the target is to maximize the effectiveness of library resources. Consortia can take many forms and go under other names, such as coalition, network, library link, library alliance, even digital libraries and so on.There are different library consortia, i.e. central consortia, local consortia, distributed consortia and special consortia. Traditionally, library cooperation meant sharing collections in some way, but it could also include sharing of services, or of processes such as joint cataloging of materials, or of staff and user training service. Reasons for development of library consortia are as follows: the conflict between publication increasing and a library's purchasing capability, the conflict between increasing in publication prices and a library's limited budget,requirement for resources sharing and resources effectiveness,the need for innovation in traditional library cooperation model, and acceleration from increasing in digital information resources.The second part discussed library consortia practice at home and abroad,mainly explores National Digital Library Federation, Digital Preservation Consortium, Coalition for Networked Information, Ohio Library and Information Network, German Library Consortia, Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance, China Academic Library & Information System, National Science and Technology Library, China Digital Library Alliance and The International Coalition of Library Consortia.The third chapter analyzed main functions of library consortia,includingcooperation in collection development, online cooperative cataloging .cooperative document delivery, online public access catalog(OPAC), cooperative digital reference service,training and user education.The fourth part probed into administrative systems of library consortia, the emphasis were played on consortia regulations, professional work cooperation areement,consortium purchasing plan in electronic journals and license agreement. Some example were also given.Finally, the author suggested some strategies for the development of library consortia in China, which include the national public policy making, regulating administrative system of library consortia,paying attention to evaluation and survey in consortium resources purchasing, enhancing construction in digital library consortia, strengthening functions of library consortia .Library consortia should focus on the maximization of library resources, which include library funding, human resources, buildings, collections.