Allocation of costs for electronic products in academic library consortia

Abstract

As the prevalence of consortial licenses for electronic products increases, consortia face decisions about how to allocate costs for these products among participating libraries. Although there are a number of possible formulae for this, some are problematic in that they result in inequitable cost allocations in certain circumstances. Several methods for apportioning costs within consortia are discussed, including equal division by institution and proportional division by institutional FTE, as well as a combination of these. Other methods evaluated include proportional distribution of cost savings, a method utilizing bids, and usage-based distributions.