Describes the formation and role of a consortium for cooperative purchasing formed by the Council of Chief Librarians for the California Community Colleges in fall 1998 called the Electronic Access and Resources Committee. Its charge is to evaluate electronic, proprietary databases and negotiate prices for the community colleges as a group. (VWC)

Although spiraling costs and reduced budgets require that small academic libraries form clusters to share resources and services, consortia and library networks so far have taken only tentative or shallow steps in this direction. Real and meaningful steps can and must be taken to develop joint acquisition policies, effective and timely…

Discussion of state information networks highlights the network entrepreneurs, state network development, the third decade of networking, and six potential issues of special concern to state library networks: decentralization, standards, linkage, technical obsolescence, security, and appropriate technology for small libraries. (EJS)

The South and West Washtenaw Consortium is a group of Michigan schools that collaborates in technical areas and operates graphic arts programs in cooperation with local printing businesses. It offers students hands-on experience and exposure to current technologies. (JOW)

Includes "Keys to Successful Tech Prep Programs" (Cahill); "Tech Prep Systems for the Twenty-First Century--The Power of Process" (Key, Key); and "Indiana Tech Prep Pilot" (Hoke, Suba). (JOW)

Outlines the economic factors that influence the development of standards, noting that standards may develop through market mechanisms, organizations that combine market participants, and government guidance. Each of these mechanisms may produce desirable outcomes or distort them, depending on market structure, chance, historical events, and costs…

Common mistakes of tech prep consortia are (1) sacrificing effectiveness for efficiency; (2) poor labor market analysis; (3) superficial curriculum reorganization; and (4) no mechanism for continuity and poor communication. (SK)

This paper prepared for the Task Force on the Role of School Library Media Programs in Networking reviews the role of networking in such programs, lists the objectives of networking for library consortia, and discusses such topics as the benefits and disadvantages of participation in these organizations, prerequisites and criteria for networking,…

Identifies five institutional forms of library consortia, one of which is local consortia or proximal networks, and discusses issues that apply to local library consortia. Highlights include redefinition of the library role, appropriate technology, bibliographic control, direct access, governance, and financing. (10 references) (CLB)

Presents perspective of the executive director of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) on information networking, covering developments in the last 15 years, NCLIS activities, economic and political problems of networking, ownership and governance of networks and databases, and other difficult and challenging…

Describes the changing application of telephone conferencing technology in an effort to provide guidance for community colleges becoming involved with audio teleconferencing and statewide program planning. Looks at strategic planning factors, assumptions, goals, objectives, resources, priorities, policies, and organization. (DMM)

Networks, consortia, and coalitions among school districts are cost-effective means to provide staff development, improve instruction, and develop curriculum. This article summarizes results of two studies in Oregon that focused on cross-organizational collaboration for school improvement. Guidelines are provided for organizations and individuals…

Discusses the development of successful pricing algorithms for cooperative library automation projects. Highlights include desirable characteristics of pricing measures, including simplicity and the ability to allow for system growth; problems with transaction-based systems; and a review of the pricing strategies of seven library consortia.…

Examines the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Highlights include the standards process; voluntary standards; Open Systems Interconnection problems; Internet Protocol Suite; consortia; government's role; and network security. (16 references) (LRW)

The proportion of active foreign language teachers working in cooperative or collaborative efforts is very small. Foreign languages have lagged behind other disciplines in this area. Consortia, or groups of postsecondary institutions agreeing to work together toward specific, long-range goals, date back to medieval times, but few have emerged over…