Inventing the WHEEL: A collaborative approach to

electronic resource procurement

Paul RileyUWIC

WHELF (Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum)

WHEEL (Wales Higher Education Electronic Library)

A woman in Welsh national dress with a spinning wheel, c. 1885By permission of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales.

Outline

• Explain WHEEL

• Consider implications for shared services

WHELF's mission: collaboration and partnership

WHELF's mission is to promote library and information services co-operation, to encourage the exchange of ideas, to provide a forum for mutual support and to help facilitate new initiatives in library and information service provision.

WHELF actively promotes the work of higher education libraries in Wales and provides a focus for the development of new ideas and services.

E book project objectives

• Establish a WHELF NetLibrary shared collection

• Establish a WHELF Group capable of discussing consolidated ebook purchases with other suppliers

Key features• 700 titles• Titles available to all HE libraries in Wales• 2 simultaneous accesses per title• Each institution has an agreement with

OCLC/EBSCO• Supply of MARC records• Shared good practice

Barriers to expansion• Two institutions have to agree to buy the same title• This is slow• Changing any of this has proved problematic• Difficulty in selecting titles when time is limited – and

not all publishers allow their titles to be part of a consortial deal

‘Spotify’ for e-books

OCLC/Ingram short-term e-book access

‘I want it on my device’

CILIP Update June 2011

Scottish medical contract is awarded – 123library.org, an e-books aggregator

E journals• Two surveys of WHELF members• Information and analysis of deals with different

publishers• Prioritisation of publishers• Detailed discussions with JISC Collections

OUP• 3 year e only deal with price cap commenced January

2011• Deep discounts for additional print subscriptions• Contract between JISC Collections and publisher• One payment to publisher on behalf of WHELF• Sub licence between JISC Collections and each

institution• Usage statistics

Critical Success Factors – JISC Collections• Commitment to all members of the consortium to sign

up subject to certain objectives being met• Clear identification of objectives by the consortium

(which publishers, terms of agreement, financial target to achieve)

• Clear communication of objectives to the negotiation team and prompt feedback when requested

• Project timeline

Benefits• Increased access to content• Fixed prices• Basis for further developments• Political

Leadership

Innovation

Governance

Collaborative Governance• Cross boundary: organisational• Complex: interrelated set of problems• Conflicting accountabilities• Different cultures• Different roles• Different performance management

Collaborative Leadership• Complex issues: wicked• Consensus is problematic: parochial interests• Negotiations• Distributed leadership

Innovation

“Successful innovation is the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which result in significant improvements in outcomes, efficiency, effectiveness or quality.”

Mulgan, G. and D. Albury. Innovation in the Public Sector. Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office, October 2003.

Thank you

priley@uwic.ac.uk