eIFL Project

eIFL is abbreviation from the English name of the project "Electronic Information for Libraries".

History of development of the eIFL project:

1999 - Open Society Institute (OSI) initiated this project;
1999-2000 - the elFL project basically is coordinated by OSI;
2001 - co-ordination of activity of the project passes from OSI to local library community, local information consortia are created.

Creation of local consortia is one of the major directions of the project. Due to this the participants directly participating in development of information resources of the countries are widely involved in the project.

Major principles of elFL

Providing of access to the information as a necessary condition during education and the scientific researches, rendering direct influence on positive development of a society;
Granting by libraries an opportunity of negotiating and purchase of information resources that will give the developing countries and the countries of a transition period to have financial opportunities for steady access to the electronic information;
Granting an opportunity to the population of these countries equal rights to access to the information worldwide. The elFL project is called for to level existing position.

Participants of the eIFL project

Over 40 countries of the world already participate in the project with the total population more than 800 million. In the long term there is an expansion to 70 countries.
Participants of the project are the academic, research, national, public, parliamentary libraries and NGO, giving to the population noncommercial access to the information,
For today more than 2250 libraries and other organizations are registered, and they in common already have carried out more than 4 million research works, and this figure continues to be increased.

Process of an equilibration of the incorporated purchasing capacity of many participants has resulted to that the decision on formation of the largest library consortium in the world was accepted: eIFL.Net

eIFL.Net

eIFL.Net is the global information consortium of natiuonal associations. The basic mission is creation of the international consortium of library associations which coordinates, supports, motivates and protects free access to the information for users of libraries in countries - participants.

Goals

To unit a purchasing opportunity of huge number of libraries all over the world,
To represent libraries and their consortia at realization of negotiations with sellers and manufacturers of the information,
To expand a spectrum of offered information products,
To diversify forms and methods of granting of services and financings which would correspond most various requirements,
To increase the number of countries - participants
To expand an exchange of knowledge and resources for all participants of the project.

The management of the project, and also connection with library consortia - participants of the project all over the world is carried out by the international eIFL command, led by the head of the project. The supreme managing body of international eIFL consortium is the annual General Assembly, during an intermission of which the expert committee elected there, operates.

The headquarters of the international eIFL.net, its coordination council is in Rome, Italy. Fuller information on the project, its goals, objectives, new resources one can receive on the site http://www.eifl.net/