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electronic Information for Libraries Activities of the not-for-profit Organisation eIFL

electronic Information for Libraries Activities of the not-for-profit Organisation eIFL.net. Iran September 2005. Why eIFL.net?. Access to information is essential for education and research, the economy, institutional & personal development

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electronic Information for Libraries Activities of the not-for-profit Organisation eIFL

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  1. electronic Information for LibrariesActivities of the not-for-profit OrganisationeIFL.net Iran September 2005

  2. Why eIFL.net? • Access to information is essential for education and research, the economy, institutional & personal development • The empowerment of citizens depends on equal access to information worldwide • Financial and other barriers hinder this access • eIFL.net’s mission is to lower these barriers for libraries and their users in poor, developing and transition countries

  3. What is changing? • Production of information is changing fast from print to electronic • Distribution of information is changing from many copies of a printed journal sent to many libraries to one site for electronic access by many users • Access to information is changing from reading a journal issue / article when it arrives in the library to searching for articles on a specific theme across a number of journals when the information is needed

  4. How does eIFL.net exploit this changing environment? • eIFL.net exploits these changes on behalf of libraries and their users in member countries • Because access by many users does not cost the vendor all that much more per new subscriber • Because bulk access lowers the price overall • Because the consortium structure is a proven model of managing resources in a more cost-effective way

  5. Who is eIFL.net? • a not-for-profit organisation registered in the Netherlands with a small office in Italy • now a global coalition of some 50 national library consortia in developing and transition countries • runs membership driven programs and services • negotiates and advocates for the wide availability of electronic information in member countries • And offers a range of related services and activities, most importantly on consortium management

  6. What does eIFL.net aim for? • unite purchasing power of a large number of institutions through national library consortia • create and sustain a global infrastructure for central negotiations, administrative and technical support, educational services and issues pertaining to the provision of electronic content • advocate for the needs of member consortia with information providers, policy makers, funding agencies, international fora • provide a capacity building and knowledge and resource sharing network for member consortia

  7. How did eIFL.net start? • Global tender for e-journals in social sciences and humanities won by EBSCO, initially for 35 countries mostly in Central Europe and former Soviet Union • ‘Top down’ approach that needed ‘bottom-up’ mobilisation of stake-holders eg libraries • Capacity building in consortium building, management and sustainability resulted in creation of global network of national consortia united in eIFL.net • Other services and geographical areas over 5 years added by demand from members

  8. How is eIFL.net governed? • eIFL.net is an NGO with statutes and a management board (board of trustees) • Member consortia are represented through an elected advisory council advising on policy • Annual General Assembly of all national eIFL consortia coordinators confirms policy • Director and central team manage menue of services, activities, website and electronic discussion lists, negotiations with vendors and funders, partnerships with related projects and bodies

  9. How does eIFL.net operate? • Delivery of programs through • Training workshops • Awareness raising seminars • Specialist meetings • Annual General Assembly • Small grants for focused projects • Web based resources, guidelines, manuals • Knowledge sharing through website, newsletter, discussion lists • Representation of eIFL interests at international level

  10. Which programs does eIFL.net offer? • Licensing electronic commercial content • Building sustainable library consortia • Supporting Institutional Repositories’ and Open Access activities • Lobbying and awareness raising in Intellectual Property issues • Giving Information Technology support

  11. Electronic commercial content • Regular assessment of the electronic resource needs of country consortia • Negotiations with providers of electronic information in all subjects TO ARRIVE AT A PRICE AFFORDABLE TO THE MEMBERS • Talking with aggregators, big and small publishers, organisations, projects, about terms and conditions • Russian content for CIS countries

  12. Electronic commercial content • eIFL.net does NOT pay for the content, or only in very special cases for a short time • Central negotiations on behalf of all or a group of member countries • Model license available for members to use • Access to legal advice • eIFL.net assists in fund-raising in-country to ensure sustainability

  13. CONSORTIUM BUILDING A word about consortia....... • Consortia are: • Organisations formed by several institutions coming together • With some kind of formal structure • To do things which they would find difficult to do on their own • Mainly to share scarce resources!

  14. Consortium building and management • Workshops (regional and national) and GA • Knowledge network (electronic and physical) • Sharing of best practice and case studies • Online resources www.eifl.net incl. manuals, guidelines, models • Participation in national and international fora (ICOLC, IFLA, WSIS, WIPO) • Start up grants for poor countries

  15. Consortia in the eIFL network There is not 1 receipt for all countries – the best and most sustainable solution depends on the situation in-country

  16. Institutional repositories- capturing local content - • eIFL.net has from the beginning aimed to be a conduit for electronic content produced in eIFL countries • Assistance with the selection of IT tools and technical help and support to build IR • Recent call for proposals from member consortia • Pilots have started in some eIFL.net countries • This programme area is new and just starting to produce results

  17. Open access • Partnership with OAI to facilitate and support publication of authors from eIFL countries in alternative and OA journals • Promotion of Open Access journals (DOAJ) • Awareness raising workshops (SA, Ukraine, Lithuania, China, others planned) about principles and business models • Advocacy about the importance of OA with research funding bodies and policy makers

  18. Intellectual property • Creation of a network of experts • Awareness raising and training workshops • eIFL accreditation and participation in international fora - such as WSIS and WIPO • eIFL.net statements and advocacy on behalf of developing and transition countries regarding digital rights aimed at Fair Use for all members

  19. Information technology • International request for information on portal technology, BUT • Many libraries can ill afford proprietory sofware • Just completed a survey of Open Software for library applications which is available on the eIFL.net web • Talking with Google about portal solution • Advice on IR software tools

  20. eIFL.net member consortia EUROPE • Albania Serbia and Montenegro • Bosnia and Herzegovina Slovakia • Bulgaria Slovenia • Croatia • Estonia • Kosovo • Latvia • Lithuania • Macedonia • Poland

  21. eIFL.net member consortia FORMER SOVIET UNION • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Georgia • Moldova • Russia • Tajikistan • Ukraine • Uzbekistan

  22. eIFL.net member consortia ASIA AND SOUTH EAST ASIA • Cambodia • China • Laos • Mongolia Planned MyanMar (Burma) and Indonesia MIDDLE EAST kick off workshop • Egypt • Iran • Jordan • Lebanon • Palestine Territories • Syria

  23. eIFL.net member consortia SOUTHERN AFRICA WEST AND EAST AFRICA • Botswana Cameroon • Lesotho Ghana • Malawi Mali • Mozambique Nigeria • South Africa Senegal • Swaziland Sudan • Zambia Uganda • Zimbabwe

  24. eIFL.net and its members • Memorandum of Understanding between eIFL.net and member consortia • Membership fee according to tiers - first year free • Calculation demonstrates that benefits vastly outweigh fees • Terms of reference for the country coordinator • Choose him/her well, a central role!

  25. eIFL.net and its members - eIFL promises in the MoU- • provide systems and services that reduce access barriers • maintain constant communications flow about eIFL activities, relevant developments and initiatives, etc • represent and advocate for the interests of consortia in relevant international fora • negotiate effectively on behalf of all members to reduce cost of access to electronic information • provide support to creation and management of consortia

  26. eIFL.net and its members - member promises in the MoU - • create consensus for the formation of a library consortium which will sustain the initiative • ensure access to electronic content by all relevant libraries and their users through national training and promotion activities • ensure sustainability by seeking funding from government, agencies or other sources as appropriate

  27. Thank you for listening Time left for questions! Monika Segbert www.eifl.net

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