Library consortium: IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria
experience
Titilayo Comfort Ilesanmi
Kenneth Dike Library (KDL), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to describe the library consortium experienced at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.
Activities involved improving researchers’ timely access to resources for research for development.
Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken was a librarian interview and observation of library records.
Findings – The consortium involves agricultural libraries in both developing and developed countries. Using the library software Inmagic database
enhances the web-based centralized online public access catalogue of all the participating institutions, the CGV Library. This enabled access to their
comprehensive collections, promoting better library services to agricultural researchers. Hence, it bridges the digital gap between developing and
developed countries. They are involved in joint acquisition of electronic journals and timely response to sharing their independent collections through
electronic document delivery services.
Practical implications – The paper recommends that Nigerian libraries, especially agricultural research institutes, could emulate the IITA library
consortium.
Originality/value – The paper provides recommendations to libraries wishing to form consortia in Nigeria and notes the positive impacts that this
would have on national development.
Keywords Consortium, Libraries, Nigeria, Resource sharing, Agricultural institutions, Resource allocation
Paper type Case study
Introduction that the concept of library consortium was used to
characterise libraries cooperating as a group to:
Libraries in many countries, especially developing countries . negotiate with providers of information services;
like Nigeria, are under-funded. It therefore becomes difficult . partner to share resources and services; or
to meet basic needs and provide adequate information access . lobby their government for better funding.
that will help improve economic development in these
countries. Even where a library has the necessary financial This was supported by Ngwira (2003), Bashirullah and Jayaro
backing, it is not possible to be self-sufficient. Membership of (2006) and Anwar and Al-Jasem (2001). In their article on
a consortium can be one approach to addressing the problem the development of consortia, Nfila and Darko-Ampem
of accessing information, compensating for under-funding, (2002) reviewed developments in academic library consortia
cost avoidance and preventing unnecessary duplicate literature from the 1960s through 2000 and reported that “the
collections among libraries. Consortia enable libraries to be current trend is sharing integrated library systems and
connected to one another for resource-sharing and attaining a computer databases, collection development, purchasing of
stronger position in the national/international information electronic journals, and staff development”. Their report
network. Cost avoidance, improved access and increased posits that consortium have been effective at extending
resource sharing experienced by the IITA library in Nigeria is resources and, improving service to users and per-unit costs
an example of the significant improvements that can be and are now expanding the role of consortia to shared
realised by libraries in developing countries through technologies and more formal agreements (Nfila and Darko-
membership of a consortium. Ampem, 2002).
Historically libraries have used interlibrary loan and union
Library consortium catalogues as the foundation for successful library consortia.
In addition to the now common academic consortia model,
(Kopp, 1998) traced the origin of the usage of the word subject-specific library consortia, such as agricultural
consortium and stated that it first began to appear in the consortia, also aim at ensuring satisfaction of their
library literature as well as in the field of science and specialised researchers’ information needs. Library consortia
education during the 1950s and 1960s. The author concluded can be practised at regional, national and international levels.
Cohen (2002) reported that regional sharing of resources
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at made the limited resources of individual institutions into
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-1615.htm wealthy collections that could serve the information needs of
the Pacific region. Consortia can also be operated as
associations of schools, colleges, universities (whether
Interlending & Document Supply
40/4 (2012) 187–191
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0264-1615] Received 11 August 2012
[DOI 10.1108/02641611211283840] Accepted 29 August 2012
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federal or state), or research institutions or non-governmental Library consortium in developed and developing
organisations’ libraries. Consortia aim at provision of the best countries
services to patrons with minimal cost. Furthermore, such
consortia can be established on the basis of the subject The formation of library consortia is limited to any single
backgrounds of the interested bodies. However, a consortium continent or library type. This is a worldwide trend. In
with a joint subscription to electronic resources faces the developed countries for example, the budget of the Canada
challenges of fair dealing and agreement on the subjects to be Library and Archives has been downsized multiple times over
covered for the individual institutions involved (Ramos and the last 20 years, which brought about the Federal Libraries
Kamsiah, 2005). The advent of information and Consortium (FLA) (National Library and Archives Canada,
communications technology (ICT) and electronic publishing 2009). This spurred their effort to cooperate in order to
(i.e. “born digital” information resources) have made it quick rationalise services and collections to meet the challenge of
and easy to achieve the purpose of a consortium. serving the diverse user needs in the country. Membership of
Availability of infrastructure combined with sufficient FLA is voluntary and open to all Canadian federal
capacity of the staff involved can result in an extremely government libraries. The National Library of Canada gives
successful library consortium. Resource sharing in the form of its support, while funding for the consortium is provided
cooperation has been a long-standing tradition and a part of through membership fees. The consortium has grown to
libraries worldwide. One of the more well known examples of include 117 member libraries from different federal
library cooperation is OCLC, which grew from a shared- government departments and agencies. On the other side of
cataloguing consortium called the Ohio College Library the world in Turkey, the Anatolian University Library
Center. (OCLC, n.d.) In Nigeria there was the VTLS project Consortium (AULC) was formed in 2000 with 12 members
funded by MacArthur and Carnegie, and the Mortenson and has grown rapidly to 163 members in 2012 (ANKOS
Center for International Library programs, USA. It aimed at Anatolian University Libraries Consortium, n.d.).
automating Nigerian libraries’ collections, which eventually Consortium members could access electronic journals, e-
would result in improved library cooperative practices. Six references, bibliographic databases, and e-book collections. It
Nigerian university libraries (University of Ibadan, University was observed that electronic journals were used primarily by
of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, Obafemi Awolowo graduate students and academic staff of the consortium
University, Bayero University and Ahmadu Bello University) universities; undergraduates were less likely to need those
participated in the project by using Virtua. Full exploration of same resources (Karasozen, 2008). Furthermore, in the UK,
VTLS would enhance access by users and information a consortium of academic libraries called M25 has been
professionals to library collections and services of the six established to share purchase, subscriptions of resources at
universities virtually. The VTLS project could also lead to discounted rates as well as sharing of different integrated
networking of more libraries and consortium building to library systems to enhance teaching, learning and research
overcome the under-funding problems in attaining richer (M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, n.d.).
resources to satisfy users’ needs (Mortenson and McArthur, Library Consortium are also gaining ground in the
2005). developing countries because of its positive impact on the
Prior to automation, interlibrary loan transactions were teaching, learning and development. Ghosh et al. (2006), in
traditionally processed and sent to the requestor(s) through their analysis of the Indian Library Consortium (ILC),
ground postal service, airmail or through a personal contact, a posited that Indian libraries, in general, were passing through
practice now known as “snail mail”. It frequently took some a crucial period of advancement “where automation and
days or months before the requestor could receive the networking have become quite well developed in India’s
document(s). But with the advent of information and special and academic libraries though such facilities
communications technology (ICT), users get the implementation lags far behind in the public libraries”
information needed within the shortest possible time – (Ghosh et al., 2006). Moreover, Bozimo (2011) reported on
hours and sometimes minutes. This also involves the role of the formation of the Nigerian University Libraries
librarians/information professionals with the skills to perform Consortium (NULIB)[1]. The major challenge among
these functions (Ashcroft and Watts, 2005). Training and others facing its sustainability is funding. Bozimo (2011)
retraining of librarians from time to time to maintain the recommended proactive strategies for sourcing fund and, at a
relevance of their responsibilities in the digital age is essential conference on Open Access Repositories, the accelerated
(Komolafe-Opadeji, 2009). Information technology is adoption of an Open Access model for Nigeria (Open Access
dynamic in this digital era; without continual training one’s News, 2008).
skill set quickly becomes obsolete. Furthermore, individual
and centralised online public access catalogues (COPACs) of Library consortium – IITA experience
organisations, available on the internet, assist users as well as
librarians from any part of the world to search library The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)[2]
collections and make a request if need be. This could also be is a non-profit organisation established in the year 1967 with
seen as virtual service to a virtual clientele. Through self- headquarters in Nigeria serving sub-Saharan Africa with 13
service people can search libraries’ holdings remotely, stations to alleviate poverty, food security and improve the
discover the status of the materials they need, place a hold, livelihood of the citizens. (International Institute of Tropical
or request or renew materials already borrowed as the case Agriculture, 2009) It is one of Consultative Group of
may be. Users can also print, download, send links, and save International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)[3] centres
copies. This access and ease of sharing requires the aimed at taming hunger and poverty. In their article on
information literacy skills essential to ensure the ethical use consortia subscriptions Ramos and Kamsiah (2005) discuss
of library resources by researchers (Angello, 2010). the formation of the CGIAR library consortium when, in
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2002, the CGIAR centre directors signed a Memorandum of Challenges
Understanding in support of the formation of a library
As with nearly every library, dwindling budgets, the
consortium with the following objectives:
information explosion as a result of new titles, and the rise
. “share resources and knowledge”, such as joint journal
in the cost of electronic resources limits our ability to
subscriptions and document delivery;
purchase new acquisitions and support subscription renewals.
. services, content, expertise, technologies, and processes;
Hence, libraries find it difficult to meet some of the
. facilitate access to information held at all CG centres by
information needs of researchers. Libraries resort to buying
centre staff and partners, particularly those located in single articles from the British Lending Library, publishers’
developing countries where information access is limited; websites and, at times, travel to the University of Ibadan,
. contribute to the dissemination of CGIAR research some ministry libraries or other agricultural libraries in
output; Nigeria. However, we are able to find some resources freely
. implement the intended collaboration by jointly available online, which could be as a result of Open Access
developing and executing projects within the CGIAR initiatives or the author being required to include their
and in collaboration with other institutions and partners content in an institutional repository. Keeping the catalogue
(e.g. FAO, USDA-AgNIC, scientific publishers) and current is another challenge; delayed updates by the member
through other initiatives; libraries of their new acquisitions prevents discovery of those
. exchange best practices in knowledge and information resources by other members of the consortium. There are also
management” (Ramos and Kamsiah, 2005). ongoing maintenance issues such as upgrading of hardware
and software. The resulting downtime renders information
Centralizing acquisition and collection development of inaccessible and disconnects a library from other centres.
resources, maintenance and sharing of individual
independent collections has made the centre libraries a Prospects
unified entity in support of research for development and its
sustainability. As a member of the consortium, an IITA Because of the ability to see the resources held by other
library can access the full text of jointly subscribed journal member libraries, the consortium can reduce the number of
titles as well as tables of contents via Swetswise, which duplicates across libraries, allowing for more diverse
serves all the IITA stations in sub-Saharan Africa. collections and more effective use of materials budgets. The
centralised electronic databases of holdings can be accessed
Moreover, the 16 centre libraries purchased Inmagic web
and requests placed electronically, as described earlier in this
publisher, which they use to manage their individual library
article. Consortium member libraries also save time and
collections. money by eliminating the need to acquire and manage
The members’ use of Inmagic allowed them to create the individual subscriptions. Moreover, these efficiencies have
centralised online public access catalog (COPAC) called the strengthened the sense of team spirit among libraries and
CGV Library[4], which can be accessed online via the made them more committed to the vision and goals of the
internet. The effect of the integrated library catalogue of the consortium. Furthermore, information and portable
CGIAR centres was to enable the 16 libraries to search and document files can be transferred across borders
discover the resources across the collections of all libraries electronically. Users enjoy fast delivery of materials for
virtually at any point in time regardless of their location. This personal and research purposes. In addition, electronic
also facilitated effective interlibrary loan and electronic resources can be used by more than one person at a time.
document delivery services. As part of this consortium
arrangement, the IITA library was registered as a member of Conclusion
the CGIAR libraries listserv. Using CGV Library for
Without doubt, the state of libraries in developing countries
discovery and verification and the listserv for
such as Nigeria leaves room for development and
communication, IITA places request(s) for journal articles improvement. IITA Library as a role model of a consortium
or book chapter(s) that are not among the jointly acquired of agricultural research institutes in Nigeria has contributed to
resources online and receives them in under 30 minutes closing the research gap between developing and developed
without additional cost whenever the need arises. The article countries and ahs made research collaboration possible.
is then passed on to the scientist or staff member who Nigerian libraries – especially agricultural libraries – can tap
requested it. While basic, this is an effective form of electronic into its world of experience to make it consortia a reality in the
document delivery. Nigerian context. Automation and networking will continue
Among the benefits derived by IITA from the CGIAR to increase among Nigerian libraries as consortia continually
Libraries consortium is enhanced access to a broader set of gain ground. Library consortia, sharing integrated library
resources, which has helped to provide timely service to our systems and databases, joint acquisition and collection
clientele regardless of their location. Our improved development of digital libraries, electronic journals, e-books
document delivery raised the visibility of the library while and staff development can all be made possible through
cooperation.
reducing the costs for purchasing content from commercial
document services. This automatically reduces demands on
the purse of the library. In addition, centralised negotiation Recommendation
and the administration of licensing content and maintenance With the present economic crisis in developing countries such
of the catalogue results in minimal oversight by individual as Nigeria, where currency devaluation and budget reductions
libraries. are an ongoing challenge, the author recommends that
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Nigerian libraries, be they university, special, research school region”, Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 30 No. 3,
or public, meet and form a consortium that best suits their pp. 107-11.
purpose. The consortium, when in place, would bring about: Ghosh, M., Biswas, S.C. and Jeevan, V.K.J. (2006),
. a reduction in the cost of subscriptions; “Strategic cooperation and consortia building for India
. an easier payments system; libraries: models and methods”, Library Review, Vol. 55
. cooperation, promotion of libraries and resource sharing; No. 9, pp. 608-20.
. optimisation and rationalisation of collection International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (n.d.), “About
development; us”, available at: www.iita.org/about (accessed 1 August
. the development of a national/centralised catalogue of 2012).
library publications with the purpose of reciprocal Karasozen, B. (2008), “Consortial usage of electronic
borrowing privileges; journals in Turkey”, Liber Quarterly, Vol. 18 Nos 3/4,
. promotion of national library networking; pp. 464-9.
. training in the form of exchange for information literacy; Komolafe-Opadeji, H. (2009), “Health information
and management skills and ICT staff training needs in a
. creating pressure on national bodies and ministries for Nigerian tertiary medical library”, Library Philosophy and
better funding allocations for libraries in Nigeria. Practice, available at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/
When adopted and implemented among Nigerian libraries, a libphilprac/291 (accessed 10 August 2012).
national consortium will go a long way towards the Kopp, J.J. (1998), “Library consortia and information
development of a more diverse and rich set of resources for technology: the past, the present”, Library Consortia and
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serving their clientele. It will also foster private public M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries (n.d.), “Welcome to
partnerships that will raise higher hopes for international the M25 Consortium”, available at: www.m25lib.ac.uk/wel
relationships among government and non-governmental come_to_the_m25_consortium_2.html (accessed 31 July
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Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
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a report for the MacArthur Foundation”, Mortenson
1 Nigerian Universities Library Consortium: see www.nulib.
Center for International Library Programs at the University
net
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
2 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA): see
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www.iita.org/home
3 Consultative Group on International Agricultural FLC”, available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/
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4 CGV Library: see http://vlibrary.cgiar.org/ Nfila, B.R. and Darko-Ampem, K. (2002), “Developments in
V?RN ¼ 915330034 academic library consortia from the 1960s through to 2000:
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Zhang, A.B. (2006), “Building and sharing digital collections Titilayo Comfort Ilesanmi can be contacted at:
in a library consortium”, Chinese Librarianship: An tc.ilesanmi@mail.ui.edu.ng
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