New acquisition with new partners: are we ready yet?

Abstract

The quantity of information purchased by libraries has been declining in recent years due to the price escalation of scholarly publications. Libraries are exploring new ways to provide more information with less budget. In the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics, many of the journals have made a significant departure from the traditional publishing model. The availability of electronic format of these journals has facilitated the librarians to adapt to the new technology driven-media. While trying to accommodate the changed information format they have encountered the necessity for additional funds and the required infrastructure to access the information. Libraries in India are no exception to experience this metamorphosis of information. Librarians have the additional responsibility to take care of the economics part of the expensive information they buy for their users. FORSA ( Forum for Resource Sharing in Astronomy) is an informal group consisting of 8 astronomy libraries in India. It has the potential to become a “ Consortium”, by sharing the access to a few electronic journals. Publishers and Vendors have been cooperative, by offering alternative business models suitable to libraries. They encourage the libraries to form “Consortium” to bargain with them for a better deal in pricing. It is a convenient situation for the publishers also to communicate to a group collectively rather than transacting with individual libraries. Can FORSA consortium model be a forerunner for other groups of libraries, which are in the preliminary stages towards getting converted as formal Consortium? In this paper we have tried to identify the various offers made by different publishers for getting access to electronic journals. We have also attempted to analyze the suitability of these offers for developing future consortia keeping in view the requirements and use of the digital information in India. Some of the challenges could be sorted out with the help of governments’ participation in bridging the Digital Divide within the country.