Access to Scholarly Publications through Consortium in Sri Lanka A Case Study

Pradeepa Wijetunge

doi:10.14429/djlit.39.1.13718

Pradeepa Wijetunge University of Colombo

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/djlit.39.1.13718

Keywords: Consortium, CONSAL, Scholarly publications, Sri Lanka, State universities

Abstract

This paper illustrates the complicated process of formulating a library consortium in Sri Lanka, and the process of preliminary activities, selection of databases, awareness raising and training and the later developments are presented as a case study, using appropriate Tables, Figures and textual discussions. Insights are provided to the factors that contributed to the slow but steady establishment and development including the support of the top management of the University Grants Commission, participation of as many academics as possible and the collaborative nature of the implementation process. This is the first ever paper written on the formulation of the Sri Lankan consortium and the publishing will help many researchers to gain firsthand information about its beginnings. Also, the library leaders from other countries where the socio-economic and attitudinal conditions are similar can use the lessons learnt from this initiative for their benefit.

Author Biography

Pradeepa Wijetunge, University of Colombo

Dr Pradeepa Wijetunge holds BA (Peradeniya), MLib (Wales), PhD (Colombo), MIS (Canberra) and MA (Colombo). She is also a Fellow of ciLiP, Uk and SLLA. currently works as the Librarian of University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and as the Coordinator of the Consortium of the Sri Lankan Academic Libraries (CONSAL). She has published over 75 research articles, conference papers, book chapters and books. Her areas of specialisations include; Information literacy, information seeking behaviour, and knowledge management.

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