Library consortia are establishing the cutting edge in database licensing practices and playing an increasingly important role in IT research and development efforts. The burgeoning power of library consortia is clearly evident in the extent to which vendors are now tailoring products and business practices to meet the needs of this emerging market. For libraries, membership in a consortium is increasingly seen as the ante for participation in the game of competitive and cost-effective database licensing. There is no single successful model. Some rely on carefully crafted bylaws, memoranda of understanding, and an extensive system of advisory committees while others seem to have given no thought to governance and are completely dependent on the collaborative instincts of a few individuals.
Consortia have the potential of serving their member libraries in many ways.
Along with their strengths, consortia can develop negative characteristics that threaten to overwhelm the reasons for their existence. This, the first of two special issues of ITAL, attempts to answer some of these questions. The March issue sets modern consortia in historical context, considers what can be learned from a few noteworthy examples of consortia, and draws on a wide cross section of consortia leaders to predict and explain the issues important to consortia in the future. Jim Kopp leads off this ITAL issue with a historical look at consortia and a discussion of the factors that promote consortia formation. We next turn to Lizanne Payne and Bernie Sloan to learn from the examples of the Washington Research Library Consortium and the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization, two well-established and mature consortia.