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About Us: The Consortium
- Our Mission
- Membership
- Our Plan
- Membership Fees
- Vendors and Suppliers
Our Mission
The Council of Federal Libraries Consortium was established in July 1995 to:
- use the collective purchasing potential of government libraries to realize cost savings for its members in the acquisition of goods and services, and
- promote the development of new and improved information products.
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Consortium Shared Service
Particiaption in the Consortium shared service is open to all federal government agencies and departmental libraries across Canada. Branch libraries may join directly or through the headquarters library. The Consortium is governed by an elected Advisory Committee.
More information …
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Our Plan
Current State:
The CFL Consortium has a solid foundation, built on the goodwill of the
members and their commitment to contribute to the community of federal libraries.
With a grassroots origin that was formalized with a structure supported by
membership fees and a National Library mandate, the CFL Consortium plays a
significant role in maximizing library resource expenditures and obtaining
resources that might otherwise be unaffordable by many libraries within the
government system. From an analysis of the needs assessment data, the
following opportunities were identified:
- Continued budget pressures on libraries means that collaboration on procurement to maximize cost benefits, reduce administrative duplication and leverage procurement expertise, and provide access to otherwise unattainable resources form the primary value proposition of membership and the primary goal of the CFL Consortium.
- Recognizing the rising cost of the procurement process and the need for standardized approaches that address accountability, the current climate in government suggests that a best practice model (as previously recognized by Treasury Board) like the CFL Consortium has the opportunity to be better positioned and leveraged within the federal government system.
- The transition to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) presents an opportunity to review LAC's role in supporting high-quality service delivery by federal libraries to government and citizens through cost effective procurement and expanded access to information resources - the primary focus of the CFL Consortium.
- Partially due to the lack of stability in staffing, the membership feels a lack of direction for and connection with the CFL Consortium. With a new coordinator in place, dedicated to the Consortium's success, there is a greater chance of enhancing existing offerings and expanding into new areas of information resource procurement.
- The consortium model is recognized throughout the library and information industry/vendor communities as a cost-effective way of doing business. By maximizing the consortium buying power, both libraries and vendors reduce the cost of procurement to the benefit of all parties. A consortium, acting on behalf of the federal library system, is welcomed by the vendor community as much as the library community.
- Federal government libraries, especially through subject-focused and technical expertise collaboration, belong to a variety of consortia (e.g., Council of Fisheries and Oceans Libraries, Council of Forest Service Libraries, Financial Services Librarians' Community of Practice). This collective of expertise can be leveraged by the CFL Consortium to extend its service offering within its limited staffing structure. Likewise, the considerable base of knowledge and experience resident in the regions can be tapped to greater advantage, engaging libraries beyond the NCR more fully in CFL Consortium activities.
Strategic plan for 2005-2006
Keeping to a realistic horizon will help to create achievable goals for
the Consortium Coordinator. The following plans and goals have been
identified for further discussion with the Advisory Committee to shape the
upcoming year. Further plans, a vision of the long term future will be
included in the final iteration.
- Create and install a membership database - this is a key goal and achievable in the near term. The files of the consortium are not connected, are difficult to maintain and lead to mistakes being made. We cannot at present find good up to date information on our members without looking into several places. A good database can be set up so that one change will update all files. For example a contact name change in the member directory will also appear on the OCLC file or Britannica or whatever databases the library has signed on to. We have created a small Access database, but at the ICOLC conference a presentation on databases included a free shareware version from BCNET. With some minimum costs in customization we should have this up and running by the Summer or earlier. The final iteration will be posted on the Internet pages, with a password, for members to use in updating their own files.
- Create and install a vendor database - see above. A version of the membership database will include vendor information that can be updated on the fly.
- Redesign and update the Internet pages - of paramount importance. Members need better, more interactive pages to find what they need on vendors and to share information with the Consortium and one another. Funding has been requested from the LAC to pay for a study on the redesign of the pages to make them more useful and interactive. This can be achieved by Spring 2005. Money has been approved for fiscal 2004-2005.
- Continue campaign for funding for a site license proposal - "Proof of Concept". Have requested funds from Treasury Board, and am in the process of trying to attract money from LAC.
- Work with other consortia already established in Canada and outside. Consortia Canada is a good source of information and agreements.
- Work with upcoming and new types of consortia such as E-science and CSSL.
- This year the Consortium is increasing the number of centrally signed invoices, which cut costs to members. For example by signing one invoice for Canadian Almanac and Infodesk, there is an immediate 10% saving to all members. The Consortium will bill back to members.
- Negotiate larger vendor agreements - Such as Lawsource; Lexis Nexis; Gartner; Springer. Have a look at OPAQ vendors and Federated Search Engines. Members identified a desire for the big deals to increase the value of their membership. These are the deals that add value and often are out of reach for small libraries.
- Maintain vendor agreements already in place and improve upon them.
- Create a relationship with FEDLINK USA.
- Hold a vendor fair for the first time since 2001. Vendors and members have been asking for this. Money is available and it can be done in the Spring or Fall.
- Work to create relationship with PWGSC. We need a closer relationship, so that they can better understand our needs and we can understand what it is that they want. A PWGSC staff member will be invited to a seminar on writing RFP's to be held next year.
- We have been successful at bringing in vendors to display new products and services. The plan for next year is to identify trends of interest (ie Federated Search Engines, ILL software) and follow through with specific sessions on those.
- Introduce more regional access via videoconference/Webex.
- Work with the Council of Federal Libraries to create committees of subject specialists to review new products and feedback etc.
- Clarify position of Consortium within the new LAC - work to secure support and funding: with the end of the National Library and the rise of a bold new institution in its place, the Consortium finds that the informal systems of support and personnel who were available for assistance have all been removed. It is imperative the LAC, which has identified a mandate to build relationships with federal library community as a priority, become a supporter of the Consortium with funding and other assistance.
- Solidify funding for staffing - as it is there is money for one Coordinators' salary and we use some money to fund a CR-04 position on a part time basis. There is a need to be able to train someone and count on them to handle the invoicing, membership renewals and troubleshooting with the members directory, netlibrary statistics etc. on a full or part time permanent basis.
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Membership Fees
Membership fees are used to offset operating costs. They are calculated on the basis of the number of full time equivalents (FTEs) in a library:
- 1 - 5 FTE = $650
- 6 - 10 FTE = $1,500
- 11- 20 FTE = $2,500
- 21- 30 FTE = $4,000
- 31+ FTE = $6,000
Discounts are available for new members.
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Vendors and Suppliers
The Consortium staff actively negotiates with library vendors and suppliers for the best deals possible for the member libraries. We offer vendors a focal point to penetrate the government library market, expert evaluations of new products, product surveys, demonstration opportunities and vendor fairs/focus groups. Vendors are chosen based on the priorities established by the Advisory Committee, in consultation with member libraries. Inclusion in the Consortium Vendor Directory does not imply an endorsement of the supplier.
Details of agreements with vendors are made available to member libraries through the Consortium's discussion group on the Internet, and via a monthly newsletter. They are also posted in a members-only area on the Consortium website
The Consortium has agreements with the following vendors of information services and products.
List of vendors (www.collectionscanada.ca/consortium/s38-161-e.html)
Each member library is responsible for placing orders directly with the vendors, unless otherwise instructed by the Consortium Coordinator.
The Consortium keeps federal librarians informed about new trends in electronic
licensing, information products and library software development. The
Consortium concentrates the buying power of individual members from the
smallest library to the largest department.
Join today!
For more information, please contact:
Consortium Coordinator
Council of Federal Libraries Consortium
Library and Archives Canada
550 Place de la Cité
Gatineau, Québec K1A 0N4
CANADA
Telephone: 819-934-4358
Fax: 819-934-7534
TTY: 613-992-6969
E-mail: consortium@lac-bac.gc.ca
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