After years of planning and preparation, the 23 libraries of the California State University went live with a consortial implementation of Alma and Primo in the summer of 2017. A primary goal of that project was to simplify the management and sharing of consortially purchased or brokered electronic resources. During implementation, we discovered that many of our assumptions regarding electronic resources in a shared environment did not match the reality. While the consortium was able to eliminate duplicate work in some areas, this often came with significant tradeoffs or unintended consequences.
Attendees will learn how electronic resource management in a Library Service Platform differs from a traditional ILS or ERM system. Attendees will also learn about the nature of ERM work in a consortial Alma implementation, and the interconnected issues of shared metadata, discovery, and full text fulfillment. There will be ample time for Q&A.
Chris has been working with electronic resources and collection development since 2009. He has written and presented on perpetual access, Open Access, and usage analysis.
