The collection development staff of the US' Center for Research Libraries (CRL) recently met with senior representatives from two national site licensing organisations - the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and Joint Information Steering Committee of the Higher Education Funding Council, UK (JISC Collections). The meeting was to explore the special challenges of licensing and acquiring primary source electronic resources, and preserving those resources for the long term.
The conversation reportedly focused on major databases of government information and archives, news, financial, demographic and geospatial information, and humanities and social science materials in non-English languages. The participants discussed the respective priorities and unmet needs of the three organisations with regard to acquiring vital but costly research databases.
CRL, CRKN, and JISC Collections have agreed to combine expertise and resources to improve access to these kinds of materials, and to work together to better support their respective national and regional research priorities and strategies. The group concluded that international collaboration on licensing and on tools for related decision-making is both essential and doable. Next steps will include the mapping of common national-level needs, assessments of key major databases, and a possible pilot for joint licensing. CRL will continue to post announcements as this partnership develops.
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