Electronic Resources Australia (ERA)

Electronic Resources Australia (ERA) is a national initiative that is working towards national licensing of electronic resources for Australian libraries. It is the first consortia operation that covers all libraries within Australia and offers all Australian libraries a collaborative purchasing opportunity to provide access to quality online information.
The 2009-2011 Product Panel was recently announced at ERA’s annual Members Forum on 25 March 2009 and the new product offering enables a much wider range of full text resources, including for the first time humanities and social science resources. The full list of products available to Australian libraries through ERA are listed below and you can take a look at the product offerings on the ERA website at http://era.nla.gov.au/product_list/. Free product trials are also available by direct arrangement with the participating vendors.
Libraries can opt-in at any time for either Australian financial or calendar year subscriptions through ERA. Subscriptions can be pro-rated so that you can opt in at any time during the year and your subscription end date will be synchronised to either a financial or calendar year cycle. Note that you can opt in at any stage during the year regardless of whether you completed the product poll - it's never too late to take up an ERA subscription!
By purchasing through ERA you:
· Benefit from prices negotiated for all Australian libraries;
· Benefit from conditions negotiated including remote access for your users, ability to use material for inter-library lending and virtual reference;
· Purchasing through ERA will result in greater discounts from suppliers in future years;
· Are able to participate in setting future directions for nationally negotiated purchasing.
You can even transition your existing subscriptions to ERA, allowing you to realise savings against current expenditure.
Product pricing is based on participation: the more libraries onboard, the better the prices for everyone. This is an opportunity for you to join with other Australian libraries in cross-sectoral collaboration to achieve economies of scale and savings. Key licence terms and conditions (including pricing) have been negotiated on behalf of libraries and are included in Head Deed contracts for each product. This means that libraries can subscribe to these products by quoting the relevant Head Deed in their purchase order arrangments with vendors and don't have to negotiate individually.
2009-2011 Product Panel
‘Australian News & Business Information’
ABI/INFORM Complete™ (ProQuest LLC)
Asian Business & Reference™ (ProQuest LLC)
Informit Business Collection (RMIT Publishing)
ProQuest® Australia & New Zealand Newsstand (ProQuest LLC)
‘General Reference’
Academic Research Library™ (ProQuest LLC)
Britannica Online (Encyclopædia Britannica Australia Pty Ltd) – various editions
eLibrary® Australasia (ProQuest LLC)
Macquarie Dictionary & Thesaurus Online (Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd)
MacquarieNet (Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd)
World Book Web (Forward Learning Pty Ltd) – various editions
‘Health Information’
Health & Medical Complete™ (ProQuest LLC)
Health & Wellness Resource Center (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
Health Reference Center Academic (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
Speaking from Experience (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
‘Humanities & Social Sciences’
Australian Public Affairs Full Text (RMIT Publishing)
Bloom's Literary Reference Online (Warner Books Pty Ltd)
Global Issues in Context (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
Good Reading Magazine Online (Good Reading Magazine Pty Ltd
Informit Humanities & Social Sciences Collection (RMIT Publishing)
Literature Resource Center (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
‘Science & Technology’
ProQuest Science Journals (ProQuest LLC)
Science Online (Warner Books Pty Ltd)
Science Resource Center (Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd)
Today's Science (Warner Books Pty Ltd)
Libraries interested in keeping up-to-date on ERA developments can do this by subscribing to the ERA eNewsletter and the ERAlibraries- discussion list online at http://era.nla.gov.au/for_libraries/. Alternatively, for more information, including answers to frequently asked questions, visit the ERA website at http://era.nla.gov.au/, or telephone 1800 182 937 (toll free within Australia), or email era@nla.gov.au.

Regards

Roxanne Missingham
Chair
ERA