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About BC ELN

The British Columbia Electronic Library Network (BC ELN) is an award-winning consortium of 35 public and private post-secondary libraries in BC and the Yukon. BC ELN's purpose is to develop and support system-wide mechanisms that allow post-secondary libraries to meet the expanding information needs of learners, educators, and researchers at the lowest possible cost. These mechanisms ensure learners in British Columbia have equitable access to resources and services that support their academic success.

BC ELN achieves this by:

BC ELN operates with core funding from the Province of British Columbia, with additional project funding and staff time contributed by partner libraries.

Key Partnership with eHLbc

BC ELN is the Administrative Centre for the Electronic Health Library of BC (eHLbc). eHLbc provides the academic and health care community of British Columbia with easy access to online health library resources. The purpose of eHLbc is to support and improve practice, education, and research in the health sciences.

History Highlights

From the outset, BC ELN’s mission has been “to extend the collective resources of the province's post-secondary libraries, to make these resources available to students and researchers regardless of their location in the province, and to enhance resource sharing among libraries through the innovative application of technology” (DeBruijn, 1995).

1989 

BC ELN emerges from the “Access for All” education strategy introduced by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Job Training. The strategy expanded open learning opportunities, created partnerships across sectors, and fostered innovation through the use of new technologies. BC ELN was the mechanism through which the “Access for All” strategy was implemented in post-secondary libraries. 

1990s

1990-1992

  • Coordinates the development of the serials and media databases, as well as Outlook database (a union database representing the combined collections of 53 BC public and post-secondary libraries) in partnership with PLSB and Auto-Graphics Inc., partners with UBC for hosting and makes all three available to post-secondary students, faculty, and staff throughout British Columbia

1993-1994

  • Begins coordinating consortial licenses for index and abstract databases 
  • Assumes responsibility for the Online Journal Access (OJAC) service, which permits users at 20 post-secondary libraries to search databases, retrieve citations, and request documents in one online session

1995-1997

  • Assumes management of the B.C. Post-Secondary Interlibrary Loan Network (NET) and administration of the Media Exchange Cooperative (MEC)
  • Implements FileServer ILL Management service
  • Licenses CBCA FT, the consortium’s first full-text database
  • Joins inaugural meeting of the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC)

1998-1999

  • Implements GODOT link resolving service, part of the open source reSearcher suite of services developed by SFU Library
  • Launches OutLook OnLine, hosted by Auto-Graphics, a hybrid virtual / union portal to the public and post-secondary library catalogues of BC with integrated item requesting and tracking
  • Reconstitutes BC ELN Advisory Committee as the BC ELN Steering Committee
  • Begins licensing an average of 5 new databases a year
  • Becomes founding member of Consortia Canada

2000s

2000-2001

  • Launches BC ELN Resource Forum and Ranking Survey, allowing partner library staff to nominate and rank resources they feel should be considered for licensing by the consortium
  • Launches GODOT full-text linking
  • Launches web-based BC ELN ILL Statistics Module
  • Hosts 8th meeting of ICOLC

2002-2003

  • Receives funding from Ministry for special projects: Ariel document delivery initiative, and licensing of ebook Business Collection and Health Sciences Databases
  • Implements live look-up of Serials database
  • Co-chairs Consortia Canada

2004-2005

  • Moves to new Host Institution Simon Fraser University 
  • Releases Database Licensing Framework
  • Receives project funding for Provincial Virtual Reference, Ariel upgrade, Hospitality & Tourism Index & CBCA Business 

2006-2007

  • Begins role as Administrative Centre for newly launched Electronic Health Library of BC (eHLbc)
  • Launches AskAway provincial reference service
  • Co-sponsors the Library 2020 Symposium: Envisioning the BC Library

2008-2009

  • Introduces the Undergraduate Foundation Collection (UFC), a multi-sector core suite licensing initiative
  • Pilots membership of private post-secondary associates 
  • Co-organizes the BC Digitization Symposium
  • Releases first Innovation & Success report
  • Revises BC ELN Model License, signed by all major BC ELN vendor partners

2010s

2010-2012

  • Coordinates feature film public performing rights licenses previously administered by the Advanced Education Media Acquisition Centre 
  • Develops Benefits and Responsibilities for BC ELN members, outlining the value of BC ELN services and responsibilities for full and associate members
  • Expands licensed content to online streaming video and ebook collections
  • Begins coordination of WriteAway pilot, a new online writing support service for BC learners
  • Welcomes sixth private institution to join BC ELN membership

2013-2015

  • Implements a system-wide restructuring of BC’s post-secondary resource sharing system; migrates to new OutLook OnLine interface 
  • Celebrates BC ELN’s 25th Anniversary!
  • Transitions AskAway to entirely self-funded, self-sustaining service 
  • Launches WriteAway as a provincial writing support service after successful proof-of-concept pilot
  • Secures funding from Post-Secondary Administrative Service Delivery Transformation program and Ministry of Advanced Education to launch Arca, an open network of post-secondary digital repositories

2016-2019

  • Celebrates AskAway’s 10th anniversary with an in-person event at the BC Library Conference
  • Goes live with new refreshed BC ELN website
  • Launches Arca to the post-secondary and library communities and invites new institutions to join
  • Coordinates the selection and licensing of a province-wide common suite of electronic resources (the Common Suite) that all BC ELN members have access to, fostering equity across the sector
  • AskAway and WriteAway continue to grow in membership size
  • Arca migrates from Amazon Web Services to SFU state-of-the-art cloud hosting
  • AskAway and WriteAway both undergo software selection processes.
  • Hosts the North American meeting of the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC), which attracts over a hundred individuals from consortia around the world
  • OutLook OnLine, the technical and support infrastructure that underpins resource sharing, rebrands as Illume

2020s

2020

  • BC ELN licensing renewals continue apace to ensure uninterrupted access to online resources through the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Both AskAway and WriteAway see considerable increases in student usage after COVID-19 related institutional closures; Participating  libraries respond with increased staffing and broader hours of service
  • The BC History Digitization Program (BCHDP) – Arca Hosting Initiative secures a continuation of funding to 2025 from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC) at UBC Library, ensuring uninterrupted BC ELN-Arca support and hosting for BCHDP grant recipients, and furthers a mutual goal of enhancing access to British Columbia’s digital assets
  • Works closely with other Canadian consortia to strategize around pricing in light of impending economic challenges exacerbated by COVID-19
  • As libraries re-open to varying degrees in the second half of 2020, the Illume Administrative Centre provides guidance around restoring ILL services

2021-2022

  • BC ELN partner libraries collectively decide to renew the Common Suite for a final three-year period (2021-2024).
  • Works with DataBC to make BC ELN Assessment data sets available to partner libraries
  • Launches the BC Historical Newspapers Collection across public, post-secondary, and K-12 library sectors.
  • Both AskAway and WriteAway continue to reinforce their services with increased hours to support institutional COVID-19 responses, and to meet student need
  • Illume completes the Union Database Clean-up Project, an initiative to refresh all BC Union Catalogue records and holdings, resulting in more streamlined service
  • Completes the project to eliminate ILL fees for non-returnables between BC ELN partner libraries
  • Arca aids 19 GLAM institutions seeking help with their BC History Digitization Program (BCHDP) grant applications through the BCELN-BCHDP Support Service
  • AskAway launches proactive chat to reach out to more students at their point of need
  • Develops a proposal for an Arca Shared Site that will offer smaller GLAM organizations facing financial, staffing, and collection limitations the option to share an Arca site with another organization at a reduced cost
  • Begins working on an Undergraduate Resource Bundle (URB), a new opt-in multi-year collection bundling Academic Search and Business Source that will commence after the Common Suite sunsets

2023-2025

  • Negotiates a new 5-year Auto-Graphics SHAREit license and hosting support agreement for Illume to March 2028; annual increases were maintained at 2% and negotiation also included long desired features at no cost
  • Secures $500,000 in capital funding from the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills to migrate Arca to Islandora 2
  • AskAway and WriteAway receive Ministry 2-year funding years to help remove barriers for participating and prospective partner libraries
  • WriteAway celebrates its 10-year anniversary