An international group of library consortia released a statement March 25 calling for "a significant reduction" in the cost of electronic information delivery--electronic journals in particular.
The statement from the International Coalition of Library Consortia maintains that libraries cannot bear the burden of prices rooted in a rewards system for publication in universities and colleges that has become "dysfunctional" and encourages journal publication, particularly in science, technology, and medicine, "that is redundant or repetitive." The coalition also claims that the "highly transient" nature of electronic information makes it imperative that providers enable libraries "to purchase and not just to lease or provide temporary access."
The ICOLC position has been adopted in principle by 45 of the coalition's approximately 60 informal members, including consortia in the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Posted April 6, 1998.