Seminar Kebangsaan Sumber Elektronik di Malaysia : 5-7 Dis 201212 years of MOLEC : MOLEC dalam masa 12 tahunNor Edzan Haji Che Nasir

Consortium• Library consortium/consortia – has been around

since the 1960s

• Now – library consortium/consortia centers around electronic information sources

• Academic libraries– Users - demand access to a wider spectrum of information

sources– Budget – either shrinking or static– Information sources – migration to digital, faster access,

increasing cost

• Defining consortium– A collectivity of any group of libraries towards a

common goal ~ Prakash, 2005.– Two or more institutions or organisations that have

formally agreed to cooperate or consolidate certain functions to achieve mutual objectives ~ Moorthy, 2009.

– The collaborative acquisition of access rights to electronic databases and journals ~ Varaprasad and Madhusudhan, 2010.

Consortium• Primary aim of a consortium –achieve as a group

what a member cannot achieve individually

• Involves homogenous institutions with a common focus

• Formation can be local, regional, functional or subject based

• Types – Open consortium, Closed consortium, Centrally-

funded, Shared budget, Publishers’ initiative, National consortium, International consortium

• Management of a consortium – the presence of a committee that links consortium members to vendors/ publishers and deals with financial and legal aspects

Consortia in Asia Pacific• Involving academic libraries + electronic content

licensing + participating consortia in ICOLC :

– Australia – CAUL (Council of Australian University Libraries)

– India – UGCINFONETDLC - UGCINFONET Digital Library Consortium

– Japan – JUSTICE - Japan Alliance of University Library Consortia for E-Resources

– Korea – KESLI - Korean Electronic Site License Initiative

– New Zealand – EPIC - Electronic Purchasing In Collaboration

– Taiwan – CONCERT - CONsortium on Core Electronic Resources in Taiwan

MALAYSIA• The National Library & academic libraries – have

been sharing resources since the 1960s – NUC, ILL, DDS, library usage

• PERPUN - Persidangan Perpustakaan Universiti dan Negara

• Now - consortium looking after commercial databases

MOLEC• JKK PDK (Jawatankuasa Kecil Pangkalan Data

Komersil = Commercial Database Sub Committee) set up in 2000 under PERDANA (Sistem Perpustakaan Digital Negara = National Digital Library System)

• Main function – coordinates pricing of commercial databases since there were obvious differences in pricing of commercial databases offered by publishers/vendors to academic libraries

• 1st meeting – 21 March 2000 held at Tun Seri Lanang Library, UKM in Bangi

• 12 public and private university libraries

MOLEC• Changed name to JKPDK (Jawatankuasa

Pangkalan Data Komersil = Commercial Database Committee)

• Changed name again in 2010 – Malaysian OnLine E-Resources Consortium = MOLEC– National Library, 20 public university libraries, 5

GLC university libraries, 6 government/non government agency libraries = 32

– Current Chair & Secretariat = UM Library

• Objective of the consortium – Establishes the concept of resource sharing of

commercial databases– Subscribes to commercial databases as a

consortium

• Scope – all commercial databases

Why a consortium?• Shrinking/static budget

• Increasing number of journals

• Increasing cost of journals

• Increasing demand from users for more resources

• Research-based universities – access to more sources to support their research activities

• Requirements set by publishers/vendors

What do we do?• Identify, study, evaluate & manage negotiations

for subscription to commercial databases

• Identify ways to address various Government policies & regulations with regards to subscription of non-Malaysian commercial databases

• Source for funds from MOHE

• Conduct workshops/courses/seminars – sharing of experiences & ideas

• Invite publishers/vendors for product presentations

• Meet once every two months or when necessary

12 years of MOLEC• Developed the Garis Panduan Perolehan Sumber

Maklumat Elektronik = Guidelines for the Acquisition of Electronic Information Sources

• Obtained funding from MOHE for subscription to online databases and one time purchase of electronic books– 2010 to 2012 : ProQuest Dissertation & Thesis Fulltext

• Bernama Library & Infolink Service (BLIS)• Scopus• EBSCO Academic Source Premier and Business Source

Complete • IEEE• NetLibrary EBooks

– 2013 to 2015 : have applied

• Every member has to provide a listing of all their subscribed databases & all freely available databases & e-journals on their website

12 years of MOLEC• Workshops and documentation usage,

negotiation skills, ROI, evaluation of vendors

• Maintains – MyULIS (Malaysian Union List of Serials)– Master List of Commercial Databases– Master List of Backfiles/Archives

Future plans?• Register as a participating consortia in ICOLC

• Increase membership especially from private higher education institutions to strengthen the consortium

• Collective negotiations with publishers to curb spiraling price increases

• Explore other existing electronic resources consortia to benchmark for best practices

• Develop new consortial models incorporating new pricing models and licensing practices

• Formation of a national consortium with government funding for country wide access to electronic resources

ReferencesFrancis, A.T. 2005. Library consortia model for

country wide access of electronic journals and databases. Int Conf on Multilingual Computing and Information Management in Networked Digital Environment, 2-4 February 2005.

International Coalition of Library Consortia. 2010. ICOLC. http://www.icolc.net

Moorthy, A.L. 2009. DRDO e-journals consortium. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 29(5), 18-23.

Ossai, N.B. 2010. Consortia building among libraries in Africa, and the Nigerian experience. Collaborative Librarianship, 2(2) : 74-85.

Parkash, A. J. 2005. Role of e-journals consortium in 21st century. 3rd Convention Planner, 10-11 November 2005.

Varaprasad, S.J.D. and S. Madhusudhan. 2010. E-journal consortium: is it a success story always? Journal of Library & Information Technology, 30(2), 92-96.

Thank You

edzan@um.edu.my