US:PA-4: Opinion about Bob Carlitz's notion of consortia as provider/vendors
Opinion about Bob Carlitz's notion of consortia as provider/vendors
L Tynan, Montgomery Cty-Norristown Lib (ltynan@mclinc.org)
Thu, 9 Oct 1997 16:36:36 -0400
I wanted to react to Bob Carlitz's suggestion about
defining consortia as providers of service as contrasted
with consortium members who could be defined as customers.
I like one aspect of this. It does help clarify the roles
consortia and members play.
On the other hand, many consortia do not price out their
services the way vendors do. The MCLINC consortium, for
instance, does not specifically pass through the cost of
telecommunications to its members. Instead, it bundles all
the operating costs (telecomm, personnel, software licensing,
etc.) into one big bottom line number, then divides up the
costs using a formula that reflects members' size (in terms
of number of library branches and number of workstations
using the network). If consortia are asked to play a vendor
role, they may have to change the way they determine
membership fees.
Such changes might not be in the best interests of the
consortium. There may be policy reasons behind setting up
consortium fees along a more "cooperative" theme rather than
a "commercial" theme.
Laurie Tynan, Executive Director
Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library
1001 Powell St., Norristown, PA. 19401-3817
voice tel: (610) 278-5100, x 37
fax: (610) 277-0344