[Libs-Or] Statewide Database Licensing Advisory Committee recommends Gale

Tue May 15 10:40:41 PDT 2018

Dear Oregon Library community:

After months of dedicated work by the Statewide Database Licensing Advisory Committee (SDLAC), Gale/Cengage Learning was selected as the successful proposer to the statewide RFP for online library databases and resources.  The SDLAC submitted its recommendation to the LSTA Advisory Council for its May 9-10, 2018, meeting.   LSTA Advisory Council approved the recommendation.

While receiving proposals in the Lifelong Learning and Skills Courses and General Online Encyclopedias categories, they were dropped from further consideration due to budget constraints.

A full report<http://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/technology/sdlp/SDLAC-2018%20Recommendation.docx> of the evaluation process and results is available on the SDLAC web site.

Here are all the SDLAC's recommendations to the LSTA Advisory Council and the LSTA's actions/responses:

1.      The Committee recommends that the State Library move forward with negotiating a contract with Gale for the Statewide Database Licensing Program.

The LSTA Council approved this recommendation, and State Library staff will move forward with contract negotiations. The new contract will be effective August 1, 2018.

2.      The Committee recommends that additional money be allocated to the Orbis Cascade Alliance EBSCO/ProQuest group subscription subsidy. The State Library should work with the Orbis Cascade Alliance and the nonparticipating colleges to determine a subsidy amount that would bring all public academic institutions into the group subscription.

The SDLAC acknowledges that some in the academic library community do not feel that Gale resources meet their unique needs. The recommendation to continue providing statewide access to Gale content represents the SDLAC's best attempt to serve the greatest number of constituents with a single contract that fits the available budget. The Orbis Cascade Alliance EBSCO/ProQuest group subscription subsidy remains a viable method for mitigating the costs to academic libraries for academic-focused resource content. Increasing the subsidy amount will hopefully lower the barrier for those libraries currently unable to participate.

The LSTA Council approved this recommendation and State Library staff will work with the Alliance and nonparticipating libraries to determine a feasible subsidy amount.

3.      The Committee recommends that the LSTA Council provide guidance on the scope of the SDLP and how it prioritizes resources for the different types of Oregon libraries. The Council should also examine budget priorities to determine if an increase to the SDLP allocation to support an online encyclopedia product is desired and feasible.

The Committee further recommends that State Library staff continue to explore partnerships with the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and other funding options to procure a general encyclopedia product for the K-12 library community.

The SDLAC learned through this procurement that a general online encyclopedia product subscription could be fully funded by the State Library if there was a reallocation of LSTA funds to the SDLP. The committee has previously identified this type of product as a high priority for the K-12 library community but continues to struggle with balancing the distinct content needs of all Oregon libraries (academic, public, K-12). The Committee feels more guidance is needed from the LSTA Council on how to define the scope of the SDLP and address these concerns.   In addition, there continues to be the possibility that the State Library could partner with ODE to fund K-12-oriented resources, especially since Statewide Databases tend to be the only databases to which most K-12 schools have access.

The LSTA Council encouraged the State Library to pursue potential partnerships with ODE and agreed to further discuss the scope of the SDLP at its September 2018 meeting.

Feel free to contact me (lrirons at pacificu.edu<mailto:lrirons at pacificu.edu>) or Arlene Weible (arlene.weible at state.or.us<mailto:arlene.weible at state.or.us>) if you have further questions about this procurement or the SDLP.

Lynda Irons, Chair
Statewide Database Licensing Advisory Committee

Lynda Irons | MLIS | Associate Professor | Research and Instructional Services Librarian| Pacific University Libraries | 2043 College Way | Forest Grove, OR  97116 | lrirons at pacificu.edu<mailto:lrirons at pacificu.edu> | 503-352-1409

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