Hong Kong, mainland universities in e-book sharing scheme
Hong Kong, mainland universities in e-book sharing scheme
The “Inter-regional e-book Consortium on English Academic Titles with the University Libraries in mainland China and Hong Kong” was launched in late 2009 by the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) Library, Peking University Library and China Academic Humanities and Social Sciences Library (CASHL). This collaborative project has been widely and rapidly embraced by the university communities of the mainland and
The consortium consists of 15 well-established university libraries in mainland
The consortium’s conference was held in Beijing on 27 January, with members discussing the effectiveness of the collaboration and future strategic development of the project.
The CityU Library and Peking University Library set up a working group in 2008 to explore the possibility of collaborative development of English e-titles and the consortium was officially launched in December 2009. Participating universities of the consortium are
All participants at the meeting, including the 17 library coordinators from CASHL and the management of the 15 participating university libraries, unanimously agreed that this consortium initiative marked a pioneering step in the development of a cross-border collection and inter-library loans. The consortium has brought about many encouraging new changes, including changing the acquisition and circulation models of English academic titles, restructuring the autonomous acquisition approach to a cross-border coordinated approach with an emphasis on collective collection development, and breaking the geographic boundaries on collection circulation. University libraries can also now enjoy better discounts from publishers for the mass purchase of titles. An e-book purchased within the new collaborative structure costs about a twentieth the price of a printed book acquired on an individual basis.
University libraries nowadays face the challenge presented by space and resource limitations. With book prices on the rise, every title acquisition has to be made cautiously. The consortium, by sharing resources, avoids the acquisition of duplicate copies and enables members to make good use of university resources on the mainland and in
The consortium’s acquisitions are carefully selected by library professionals with a guaranteed standard determined by their academic value and quality. Recent acquisitions have been sourced from nearly 100 respected academic publishers around the globe, such as Taylor & Francis, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and CRC Press.
The collaborative collection of electronic resources shared between the mainland and
Media enquiries: Michelle Leung, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (3442-6827 or 9050-7507).