Cost-Cutting, Nonprofit Health Sciences Consortium Expands

PRINCETON, N.J., March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As many as 1,500 hospitals and medical facilities from New York to Florida are banding together to share technology and cost savings—via a consortium designed to help hospital librarians access the latest medical books, journals and databases through shared electronic licenses.

Formed under the non-profit Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey, the Group Licensing Initiative (HSLANJ GLI) is currently embarking on its 12^th year of operation while more than doubling its geographic coverage area.  More than 100 mid-Atlantic hospitals and medical facilities form the organization's core. Expansion efforts, supported by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), are currently underway, into the southeastern Atlantic region.

The consortium can save hospitals 15-60% off the cost of medical resources; the organization is currently inviting participation through a spring 2014 offer with a deadline of April 25.

HSLANJ GLI participation is open to all hospitals and medical facilities in the NNLM's mid-Atlantic and southeastern Atlantic regions—an area encompassing 14 states; Washington D.C.; Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and representing more than 26% of the nation's hospitals and medical facilities.

"When we were evaluating organizations with which we might partner on group licensing for the southeastern Atlantic region, HSLANJ GLI was the standout group, run by health sciences librarians for health sciences librarians," said Dale Prince, Executive Director, NNLM, Southeastern Atlantic Region, Baltimore. "The clear consensus among our group was that we were putting our hospital libraries into the best hands with HSLANJ GLI."

"This innovative group is a model for the region and beyond," said Renae Barger, Executive Director, NNLM, Middle Atlantic Region, Pittsburgh. "As the price of electronic resources increases, hospital budgets are decreasing, so HSLANJ GLI offers a way for medical libraries to afford essential resources."

To learn more, visit www.hslanj.org/gli.

Founded in 1972, HSLANJ is a non-profit organization with the goals of encouraging the professional development and advancement of librarianship and improving the quality of library services provided by health care organizations in New Jersey.  

The HSLANJ Group Licensing Initiative is funded in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00003-C, University of Pittsburgh, Health Sciences Library System, as well as Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00004-C, University of Maryland Baltimore.

CONTACT: Karen Hendricks, Hendricks Communications, 717-253-3553

SOURCE Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey, Group Licensing Initiative