91´«Ã½

CHICAGO—Christine N. Turner, electronic resources librarian at University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been awarded the 2015 Edward Swanson Memorial Best of LRTS Award for the article, "E-Resource Acquisitions in Academic Library Consortia," published in Library Resources & Technical Services (LRTS), volume 58, number 1, January 2014, pages 33-48.

The Edward Swanson Memorial Best of LRTS Award is given to the author of the best paper published each year in LRTS, the official journal of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS). The author receives $250 and a citation in recognition of her work.

Electronic resource acquisition is a modern activity, but sharing to attain a common goal is a historically intrinsic library value. As Turner notes, “Library consortia have long been viewed as a means of increasing purchasing power and reducing costs.” However, an important aspect of this article is that she questions whether consortial arrangements are always beneficial, specifically in the e-resource arena. Turner thoroughly describes the history of shared arrangements through a well-written, detailed literature review, coupled with comparisons of current examples and the difficulties and benefits encountered in each. She is aware of the challenges of the e-resource environment, stating, “The complexity and volatility of the scholarly publishing market place, the strength of individual institutional interests, and financial constraints have created a potent brew.” Given these competing factors, Turner’s article is very useful: she examines the purchasing of e-resources by consortia and shows ways to determine the benefits versus the costs of consortial purchasing versus individual library purchasing. This article presents evaluation of e-resource consortial acquisition in a way that is relevant now and for the foreseeable future.

The award will be presented on June 27, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2015 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference and Exposition in San Francisco.

The (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats. ALCTS is a division of the 91´«Ã½.