Within the new context in which academic libraries live, and starting with the
consideration that “there is no single best model for a library consortium” (Helmer
1999, p. 119), the purpose of the research is:
• to analyse the origins and development of which academic library consortia in
different contexts
• to evaluate which have been the advantages and disadvantages of working in
cooperative form
• to provide an overview of library academic consortia models in U.S. and
Europe, where the phenomenon of consortia creation and development is more
recent
• to identify new trends and models, based on the needs of the market (represented by the various stakeholders).
The research takes into consideration the different stakeholders involved in the
process of scholarly communication, and dwells on the impact that consortia
activities have in the wider context, represented by institutions, libraries, publishers and users
