Open AccessProposing a library consortium model for national development in Zimbabwe
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of library and information services
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2475-997X
pISSN - 2475-9961
DOI - 10.4018/ijlis.20210701oa17
Subject(s) - license , negotiation , digital library , library science , political science , scholarship , shared resource , battle , resource (disambiguation) , key (lock) , public relations , business , public administration , computer science , geography , art , computer network , literature , poetry , archaeology , computer security , law
Globally library cooperation and collaboration is transforming the scholarship landscape as academic libraries battle to survive amidst escalating costs of subscriptions. Zimbabwe is no exception to this phenomenon as evidenced by the development of local consortia for resource sharing. The main purpose of the research is to gather the views of librarians on the need for a library consortium to support national development in Zimbabwe. The researcher used a mixed method approach. Zimbabwe does not have national library consortium for nationwide access to information. Such a consortium is key to harnessing the collective buying power of member institutions to negotiate and guarantee license agreements for digital content. The study recommends a federated library consortium model built on lessons learned from other countries. The model elevates library consortium principles of cooperation and collaboration into Zimbabwe’s national development agenda.