Date: Feb. 28, 2020
Title: ELUNA consortial membership for UC Libraries
Given the high amount of interest in the upcoming ELUNA (Ex Libris Users of North America) Conference (May 5-8 in L.A.), the SILS working group put together a FAQ about membership benefits and costs! Please feel free to share widely (PDF is attached, full text below).
What is ELUNA?
- ELUNA is a not-for-profit educational group for users of products licensed by Ex Libris, separate from Ex Libris itself. The organization was formed by institutions who recognized a growing need for collaboration and advocacy across the Ex Libris customer base.
The University of California has a Consortial membership in ELUNA:
- CDL has paid for a consortial membership for products: SFX (Alma and Primo pending)
- All UC Libraries staff can use benefits as part of the consortium.
- Any UC Libraries staff member may participate in ELUNA activities (product working groups, steering committees, regional user groups, etc).
- Any UC Libraries staff member may receive the discounted ELUNA rate for ELUNA meetings.
- Campuses / staff registering for any ELUNA resources or events need to identify themselves as part of the “University of California” consortium, or include the ELUNA consortial id, C-479
- Voting for product enhancements (influences Ex Libris’s decisions in building product roadmaps) and ELUNA steering committees.
- Working in product working groups (influences what goes into product enhancement votes)
- Access to product community email discussion lists.
- Discounted membership at ELUNA conference(s) (ELUNA 2020 is in L.A. on May 5-8)
Institution vs Consortium membership: Voting:
- ELUNA members can vote for product enhancements for products they license.
- Consortial members get 1 vote per consortium.
- Institutional members get 1 vote per institution.
- If you have both a consortial membership and an institution membership, you get “2” votes: one through the consortium, which is collaborative and one just for your institution, which would include any products you license which the consortium does not (e.g. Leganto, Esploro, etc.)
Should my institution get an independent Institution-level membership? Or, can my institution stop paying for our Institution-membership and just use the Consortium-level one?
- If you think you’ll want an extra vote for product enhancements, then yes, keep your Institution membership. This would include if you want to vote for anything other than SFX, Alma, and Primo VE in 2020 and beyond.
- If voting is not a particular concern for you, you can still have all the other benefits, including discounted conference registration and group participation, via the Consortium membership we already have.
Why would I want to pay for another vote? Will my Institution vote make a difference?
- The SILS team is still researching how many members typically vote in the product enhancements, and how much one vote is “worth.” This may not be a question we can answer until we start participating fully, and until we talk with other members to see how the product enhancement process works.
- More important might be the submission of compelling enhancement requests that will benefit multiple users!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email AskSILS-L@listserv.ucop.edu.
Best,
The SILS Working Group
Chris Shaffer, University Librarian & Assistant Vice Chancellor, UC San Francisco (Co-Chair)
Günter Waibel, Executive Director & Associate Vice Provost, California Digital Library (Co-Chair)
Donald Barclay, Deputy University Librarian, UC Merced
Christine Barone, Collections Project Coordinator, Southern Regional Library Facility (Project Co-Manager)
John Bono, Associate University Librarian, UC Santa Cruz
Peter Brantley, Director of Online Strategy, UC Davis
Judy Consales, Associate University Librarian for User Engagement, UCLA
Lynne Grigsby, Head of Library IT, UC Berkeley
Cathy Martyniak, Director, Southern Regional Library Facility
Erik Mitchell, Audrey Geisel University Librarian, UC San Diego
Caitlin Nelson , Product Manager, California Digital Library
Aislinn Sotelo, Program Director for Metadata Services, UC San Diego
Danielle Westbrook, Systemwide Library Planning Analyst, California Digital Library (Communications Manager)
Lena Zentall, Project & Product Manager, California Digital Library (Project Co-Manager)
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SILS mission: Transform library services and operations through innovation and collaboration
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