Library consortia and e-resource vendors/publishers

["Sloan, Bernie" <bernies@uillinois.edu>]

I've been involved with library consortia for about 25 years. For the past
10 years I've been involved with selecting and purchasing electronic
resources for library consortia.

>From my experience, e-resource vendors and publishers understand consortia
better than they did ten years ago. But I have the impression that there is
still a fair amount that vendors and publishers don't understand about
consortia. I don't necessarily mean that as a negative comment about
vendors/publishers. Consortia can be difficult to understand if you have no
direct experience in that area.

I'm doing some research into the relationships between consortia and
vendors/publishers, and I'd like to get some input from practitioners:

1. If you're affiliated with an e-resource vendor or publisher, are there
things you'd like to understand better about consortia?

2. If you're affiliated with a library consortium, are there things that you
wish publishers/vendors understood better about consortia?

Thanks!

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
338 Henry Administration Building
506 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL  61801
Phone:  (217) 333-4895
Fax:      (217) 333-6355
E-mail:  bernies@uillinois.edu