Purchasing Agreements - Electronic Products
What is COOL?
The idea of a province wide consortium
of libraries was originally discussed at OLA (Ontario Library
Association) in 1996. An OLA Task Force was established in 1997
to examine the possible creation of a provincial consortia. The
Task Force set about reviewing various models implemented across
the continent. It also organized a series of forums with both
database vendors and representatives of current database users
and regional consortia.
The OLA Task Force sought to launch a pilot project
for the Fall of 1998. At the same time as the Task Force was working on
this initiative, the Toronto Library Consortium was exploring the
purchase of electronic products for libraries in the Toronto area. The
two groups decided to merge when it became obvious there was growing
support for a province-wide consortium. COOL (Consortium Of Ontario
Libraries) was officially created in July 1998.
Current COOL membership includes
libraries from the following sectors: universities, colleges,
public, and schools. Information for public libraries
on products, pricing, and how to subscribe are listed in the navigation
bar on the right. For all other libraries,
please contact
your sector representative. For information on other consortia,
please see our
brief list of library consortia.
