electronic Information For Libraries MAKING DIGITAL RESEARCH MATERIALS

electronic Information For Libraries MAKING DIGITAL RESEARCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE IN DEVELOPING AND TRANSITION COUNTRIES by HELENA ASAMOAH-HASSAN e. IFL-net COUNTRY COORDINATOR-GHANA & UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN, KNUST, KUMASI, GHANA WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria www. eifl. net

The e. IFL. net organisation e. IFL. net is a not-for-profit organisation legally registered in the Netherlands, its office in Italy. q. A global coalition of 50 national library consortia in transition and developing countries. q Membership driven programmes and services. q Negotiations and advocacy for access to affordable e-resources in member countries q Supports the creation of sustainable library consortia. q WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net governance q e. IFL. net is an NGO with Statutes and a Management Board (Board of Trustees). q Member consortia are represented through an elected Advisory Council, advising on policy. q Annual General Assembly of all national e. IFL consortia coordinators confirms policy. q Director and central team manage services, activities, website and electronic discussion lists, negotiations with vendors and funders, partnerships with related Projects and Bodies. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net’s beliefs q Access to information is essential for education and research, the economy, institutional and personal development. q The empowerment of citizens depends on equal access to information worldwide. q Financial and other barriers hinder this access. e. IFL. net’s mission is to lower these barriers for libraries and their users in poor, developing and transition countries. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

The changing information environment q Production of current information is changing fast from print to electronic. q Distribution of information is changing from many copies of a printed journal sent to many libraries to one electronic access point for many users. q 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. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net’s approach q e. IFL. 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 and - because the consortium structure is a proven model of managing resources in a more costeffective way. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net aims To q unite purchasing power of a large number of institutions through national library consortia. q create and sustain a global infrastructure for central negotiations, administrative and technical support, educational services and issues pertaining to the provision of electronic content. q advocate for the needs of member consortia with information providers, policy makers, funding agencies, international fora. q provide a capacity building, knowledge and resource sharing network for member consortia. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net operations Delivery of programs through q Training workshops. q Awareness raising seminars. q Specialist meetings. q Annual General Assembly. q Small grants for focused projects. q Web-based resources, guidelines, manuals. q Knowledge sharing through website, newsletter, discussion lists. q Representation of members’ interests at the international level. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net programmes 1. Licensing electronic commercial content. 2. Building sustainable Library Consortia. 3. Supporting Institutional Repositories’ and Open Access activities. 4. Lobbying and awareness raising in Intellectual Property issues. 5. Giving Information Technology support. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

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

Electronic commercial content q e. IFL. net does NOT pay for the content, or only in very special cases for a short time, to ensure sustainability. q Central negotiations on behalf of all or a group of member countries. q Model license available for members to use. q Access to legal advice. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

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

Consortia in the e. IFL network There is not one format for all countries – the best and most sustainable solution depends on the situation in-country. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net member Consortia - 50 EUROPE -13 Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Estonia Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Poland Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net member consortia FORMER SOVIET UNION - 11 Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Tajikistan Ukraine Uzbekistan WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net member consortia ASIA AND SOUTH EAST ASIA - 4 Cambodia China Laos Mongolia MIDDLE EAST - 6 Egypt Iran Jordan Lebanon Palestine Territories Syria WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

e. IFL. net member consortia SOUTHERN AFRICA - 9 Botswana Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Swaziland Zambia Zimbabwe WEST AND EAST AFRICA- 7 Cameroon Ghana Mali Nigeria Senegal Sudan Uganda WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Institutional Repositories q e. IFL. net has from the beginning aimed at assisting to make available electronically, content produced in e. IFL countries. q Assistance with the selection of IT tools and technical help and support to build IR. q Pilots have started in some e. IFL. net countries. q This programme area is new and just starting to produce results. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Open Access q Partnership with OAI to facilitate and support publications of authors from e. IFL countries in alternative and OA journals. q Promotion of Open Access journals (DOAJ). q Awareness raising workshops (SA, Ukraine, Lithuania, China, others planned) about principles and business models. q Advocacy about the importance of OA with research funding bodies and policy makers. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Intellectual Property q Creation of a network of experts. q Awareness raising and training workshops. q e. IFL accreditation and participation in international fora - such as WSIS and WIPO. q e. IFL. net statements and advocacy on behalf of developing and transition countries regarding digital rights aimed at Fair Use for all members. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Information Technology q International request for information on portal technology. q Many libraries can ill afford proprietory sofware. q Just completed a survey of Open Software for library applications which is available on the e. IFL. net web. q Talking with OSS and proprietory providers about portal solution. q Advice on IR software tools. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Membership survey q Survey on-going, 32 consortia respondents out of 50. 18 being expected. - shows 2, 285 Libraries (all types of libraries) are represented in the 32 consortia - shows that end users served are 4, 226, 308 The beliefs and mission of e. IFL. net are being realised. WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria

Thank you for listening!!!! www. eifl. net WSIS pre-Conference Alexandria