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64th IFLA Conference Logo

   64th IFLA General Conference
   August 16 - August 21, 1998

 


Code Number: 164-83-E
Division Number: V.
Professional Group: Section on Acquisition and Collection Development
Joint Meeting with: Serial Publications and Publishers Liaison Committee: Workshop
Meeting Number: 83.
Simultaneous Interpretation:   No

Consortial Activities of Turkish University Libraries

Cigdem Ozbag
Middle East Technical University Library
Acquisition Department 
Inono Bulvair 06531
Ankara, Turkey
Tel: 00.90.312.210 27 90
Fax: 00.90.312.210 11 19
email: cigdem@rorqual.cc.metu.edu.tr


Paper

Turkey has a wide range of universities. There are 23 established, big state universities and 22 recently founded new state universities. In addition to these, there exists many private universities, most of them founded in the last five years. The book collections of the new universities are less than 25.000. Another characteristic of Turkish university libraries is their concentration in three big cities, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. The level of library automation and CD-ROM services also varies. Some of the old, big libraries are starting their library automation and some new libraries already have their own CD-ROM services and OPACs. The Turkish university libraries suffered from journal price increases more than their counterparts in western countries, because of the economic instability and high inflation rates in Turkey.

In 1983, "The Documentation and Information Center for Universities" was established by the "Turkish Higher Education Council" according to the model of "British Library and Documentation Supply Center." This center started with 10,000 journal subscriptions and gave printed material based document delivery services to universities and research institutes. Their annual journal subscription was now reduced to 2,900.

On the other hand, there was a rapid development in telecommunications and Internet services in Turkey in recent years. The first Internet connection was established in 1993. The number of the Internet hosts are increasing rapidly." The Turkish Scientific and Research Council", in their report on "Creation of the National Innovation System: 1993 - 2003" gave high priority to information services in science and technology. In 1996, the Turkish Higher Education Council and Turkish Scientific Research Council created together the ULAK-BIM and U-BIM "National Academic Network and Knowledge Center" with to replace "The Documentation and Information Center for Universities" in Ankara.

After connecting the new universities to Internet, the process of constructing of a university library consortium has started. Because of the very heterogeneous structure of Turkish university libraries, it seems reasonable to create regional library consortia, starting with the big cities mentioned above. The consortia activities will first start in the university libraries between higher level of library automation and electronic services. The "National Academic Network and Knowledge Center" and big university libraries will continue print and electronic ILL services to other libraries.

The geographic distribution and heterogeneous structure of Turkish university libraries enforce consortial subscription for electronic journals and databases. One of the immediate task is to build up a perspective on consortial licensing and purchasing of electronic journals.

There is now an intensive activity to try many known electronic journals services and data bases and evaluate their costs. The aim is to reduce the duplication of printed materials and to promote the joint ownership models for electronic resources.

It is very important for Turkish Library consortium to create a stable funding environment, which is not affected by the economic instabilities and political decisions. The consortium also aims to standardize the user services and simplify administration across the consortium.