Group Purchasing by a Regional Academic Medical Library Consortium: How SCAMeL Made It Work

Cooperative academic library organizations have existed in the United States at least since 1933. Many of these organizations which formed prior to the advent of electronic resources have added group negotiating, licensing, and purchasing to their activities. One of those consortia is the South Central Academic Medical Libraries (SCAMeL). The steps this organization took to succeed in collaborative electronic resource collection development and the possibilities for its future are discussed.