Ivan Gaetz

The Alliance Shared Purchase Plan: A New Experiment in Collaborative Collection Development

Beginning in fall 2006, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries piloted a shared purchase plan designed to manage duplication of monographs and enhance the consortial collection. The plan covered only undergraduate books in four subject areas. Two vendors, YBP and Blackwell, participated in the project. YBP covered economics and religion; Blackwell, political science and mathematics. Distribution of books was based upon individual institutional profiles, the dollar amount allocated to the project by each institution, and anticipated usage. While analysis of project data suggests that the pilot did not meet its collection goals, the project is leading to other collaborative efforts.

Collaborating to Serve Alumni with E-Resources: The Regis University Experience

Collaboration with Denver-area public libraries allowed Regis University to help local alumni obtain remote access to a number of their favorite online journal databases. The Regis librarians worked with Quipu Group, a company specializing in database solutions for libraries, to develop a searchable online database, Online Journals 24×7 (OJ 24×7). The database serves to inventory and profile e-resources available at their public libraries. This article describes the history of the Regis project, including creation of the OJ 24×7 database, marketing efforts, and future plans.