Reflections on trends in library big deals, consortiums and how it might apply to Singapore? | Musings about librarianship

"The news that University of California system cancelled their deal with Elsevier seemed to have caused a bit of a stir all over the world, including here in Singapore and I was asked to do a talk to brief faculty on the latest trends in this area.

The more I researched the more interested I got. What were institutions and consortiums doing to better their bargaining position with the big publishers?  Was it all about reducing costs for the "big deals"? How successfully were they?  Lastly to really negotiate with any credibility, you had to be prepared to walk away from the bargaining table and cancel and indeed some consortiums and institutions have done so, how were their users coping?..."