A Study of E-resource Acquisition Policies in Consortia : A Possibility

Abstract

Libraries of various institutes generally develop their own e-resources acquisition policies which they follow for acquisition of e-resources. The main object of evolving this policy is to provide easy access to all the e-resources, provide Authentic Information to users and availability to anywhere. The e-resource Acquisition Policy should follow the Library Standards like BSI (Bureau of Indian Standards), ISO (International Standards Organization) etc., Law of IPR and Copyrights should be applicable. For acquisition of e-resources and for its uninterrupted optimum utilization, libraries develop their own acquisition policy which provide safeguard while acquiring e-resources and also in the event of dispute or odd situation. In this paper, we discuss broad features of the acquisition policy which generally cover the e-resources to be selected, acquired, mode of acquisition, infrastructure required for its optimum use, collection development, availability of funds, priority to be given to e-resources to be acquired, intellectual access, ILL, technical compatibility, archival policy, contract negotiation and pricing policy, consortia acquisition, licensing, free e-resources, de-selection, exclusion of free e-resources, duplication, types of e-resources, digital collection, etc. To impart awareness among the learners and users located in remote areas,Government should take initiative to develop a network which provides information and other eresources up to that level.