About the project


Guaranteeing the quality and competitiveness of Switzerland as a university and research hub via a nationwide literature supply

One basic requirement for successful research and teaching is access to e-resources for the academic community. This goes a long way towards securing Switzerland’s leading international position as a science hub.

The aim of the project is to provide Switzerland as a university and research centre with a nationwide supply of electronic journal archives from academic publishers. The areas of long-term archiving, PR, administration and statistics are also covered within the scope of the project.

The “National Licences” project is being funded by the programme “Scientific Information: Access, processing and safeguarding”, conducted by swissuniversities. Funds to the tune of CHF 7.6 million have been earmarked for the national licences to be acquired.

Programme

“Scientific Information”
Project partner
Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries
Project Head National Licences
Dr Rafael Ball, ETH-Bibliothek
Project duration
01.2015-06.2017
Funding
CHF 10.17 Mio.
Organisation chart
Download

Sub-projects


PR work

The following information and marketing channels are used to promote national licences:

  • Compiling media information for the specialist press
  • Providing information for the general public on the consortium’s website
  • Presenting the project at national congresses in the scientific and public sector
Selection and negotiations

For the negotiations, the consortium receives support from a workgroup. An evaluation committee ensures that the contracts negotiated are in accord with the specifications of the support programme. The following four specifications were negotiated successfully:

Relevant contents: national licences cover a wealth of specialist areas – from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences, technology and medicine.
Details on the contents available

Access at national level: all consortium partners, cantonal libraries and private individuals enjoy access.
Details on access

Rolling archive: thanks to an annually growing rolling archive, current publication years are rendered accessible following an embargo (moving wall).
For details on the respective embargos, see contents available

Open access: green open access was negotiated successfully for national licences.
Details on open access and national licences

Administration and provision

Technical provision and user authentication

The products are provided on the publisher’s platform. Access for institution members is possible via the institution’s location (IP addresses) and remote access (Shibboleth). The technical solution for access by private individuals is being developed in collaboration with SWITCH.

Details on access

Preparation of metadata

For the central entry and administration of the data in a central metadata pool for Switzerland, this project uses the technical knowhow of swissbib.ch. The goal is to provide library-related metadata via various technical interfaces and in different formats so newly acquired products can be recorded in the various indexing systems, such as portals and catalogues.

Details on metadata management

Long-term archiving

Ensuring long-term access to national licences is a key aspect of the permanent use of the contents.

Details on long-term archiving

Usage statistics

The usage figures for the national licences are collected from the service-providers by the consortium office once or twice a year, processed and made available to the participating facilities for analysis. The statistics are processed in accordance with the COUNTER compatibility criteria.

Any questions or feedback on the project? Contact us at nl@consortium.ch.

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