Effective central procurement for online educational resources
JISC Collections was established by the UK Further and Higher Education Funding Councils to negotiate with publishers and owners of digital content at a national level on behalf of universities and further education colleges.
JISC Collections has licensed a vast range of journals and databases from over 65 publishers and suppliers, and 100% of universities and over 85% of further education colleges now take advantage of the agreements.
JISC Collections' central negotiating role means that universities and further education colleges benefit from considerable savings and generous licensing conditions. The streamlined purchasing process offered by JISC Collections has also saved institutions a great deal of time.
As a result of funding from Becta, schools across the UK can also reap the benefits of JISC Collections' national procurement role.
JISC Collections' role in JISC Collections for Schools
In view of the success oIn view of the success of JISC Collections' central negotiating and licensing initiatives for universities and further education colleges, Becta recognised that coordinated purchasing by schools would not only result in very significant cost-savings, it would also enable them to offer their staff and learners 24x7 access to trusted online resources both within the school and from home.
As a result, Becta has funded JISC Collections to develop a new consortium licensing and pricing model for schools, and to work with the community to procure a range of online subscription resources of high value to schools, and to publicise the benefits of the new deal to schools in order to maximise uptake and secure the best prices.
Becoming an affiliate member of JISC Collections
JISC Collections is a mutual trading company and organisations wishing to take advantage of services (such as JISC Collections for Schools) need to become members.
Membership of JISC Collections is free until March 2011 to:
- State-funded schools, local authorities and regional broadband consortia in England thanks to funding from Becta.
- State-funded schools, local authorities and regional broadband consortia in Scotland thanks to funding from Learning and Teaching Scotland.
Schools, local authorities, regional broadband consortia or devolved administrations in other areas, and independent schools, need to become a member of JISC Collections in order to take out a JISC Collections for Schools subscription.
Download the membership registration form.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact jcs-info@jisc.ac.uk.