GUIDELINES FOR THE COLLABORATIVE ACQUISITION OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR THE LIBRARIES OF THE CIC UNIVERSITIES

Purpose:

These guidelines are intended to facilitate collaborative decision making regarding the acquisition of electronic resources for the libraries of the CIC universities. It is assumed that proposals originating from the university libraries will be consistent with the research goals and missions of our university libraries, and that each proposal will be evaluated by each library on the basis of local criteria.

The CIC is particularly interested in proposals that address the acquisition of key resources within a given discipline, and those proposals that support the development of a critical mass of important, research oriented information resources. Acquisition of all resources is self-funded through assessments on each participating university library.

Intended Audience:

These guidelines should be used by subject specialists who wish to propose the acquisition of specific resources, and by the CIC Electronic Resources Officers. EROs developing proposals will be responsible for following these same steps, using the ERO list as the "peer group".

Process of Developing a Proposal:

The process of selection and acquisition must be coordinated by one person from a CIC university library. In every case the following steps should be observed:

Phase I	Individual informs CIC office and the local ERO that they are interested in coordinating acquisition of a particular resource. If a peer email list is necessary to facilitate decision making, the CIC office will create one. Coordinator conducts a survey of peers to identify interest and conduct environmental scan.
Phase II	If there is sufficient interest from peers (based on survey responses), the coordinator develops a proposal and submits to the peer group for review. A sample proposal is available at <TBA>.
Phase III	The coordinator summarizes responses from peers, forwards proposal and analysis of peer responses to their ERO. That ERO then submits the proposal to the ERO list for final review, and indication of intent to participate.
Phase IV	The ERO and coordinator submit the final proposal and list of interested universities to the CIC Center for Library Initiatives.
Phase V	The CIC negotiates with vendor, identifies final terms, and forwards the license to the EROs for final agreement and signature.
Phase VI	The CIC signs license on behalf of participating libraries.

ERO Process for Evaluating a Proposal

Each ERO will identify a process for the local evaluation of all CIC proposals. At a minimum, the ERO should solicit comment, endorsement, and assistance from the following staff:

	Appropriate subject specialists, bibliographers and "campus library" directors and staff (content, budget)
	Library Automation Director (infrastructure, networking)
	Collection Development Officer (content, budget)
	Public Services (patron interface, user guides)
	Acquisitions (licensing, budget)
	Library Administration (agreement on strategic direction)
	Technical Services (bibliographic control)

The ERO is responsible for coordinating the decision making on each campus. The ERO is also responsible for working with local staff who are interested in coordinating a proposal process as described above.

Tracking Proposals

CICNet has established a homepage for tracking all CIC collaborative acquisitions of electronic information resources. The CIC office will work with each proposal coordinator to ensure that a proposal is properly "tracked" through Phases I-VI on the homepage. The homepage is at CIC Agreement Tracking Homepage (access restricted to CIC addresses only).

May 16, 1996

 

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Revised: April 29,2002