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Library consortia have become increasingly common in recent years, and will continue to develop in the future. Many have come into existence primarily as a vehicle to obtain favourable pricing on licensed electronic resources, while others have existed for years providing members with a wide range of benefits through collaborative activities. Hospital libraries have not often been participants in consortia, but they can profit tremendously from doing so. One example is the Health Science Information Consortium of Toronto (HSICT) which was founded in 1990. This Consortium consists primarily of publicly funded hospital libraries in the Greater Toronto Area, in partnership with the University of Toronto Libraries. Members benefit from a wide variety of activities, consortial discounts and licenses, as well as collaborative efforts on strategic planning, business cases, and so on. The authors represent a Consortium hospital library member, the University of Toronto Libraries, and the Consortium management. Their view is that the future of hospital libraries will be greatly enhanced by participation in cooperative ventures such as consortia. |