PELICAN - Pricing Experiment Library Information Co-operative Network: final report

In recognition of the complexity of the research field, the Pelican project aims to address strategic, methodological and practical issues. The Pelican project aims to assess current practices in electronic delivery of text to students and establish existing usage patterns. It will identify models most likely to be acceptable to students, HEIs, publishers, authors and the CLA. It will act as a facilitator to provide a communication network for the development of a suitable pricing mechanism and recognise the diverse interest of all stakeholders involved in the HE/FE community. On project completion, Pelican will recommend areas for further work. The project is under the direction of Loughborough University who will work closely with its partners, Stirling University and an Independent Consultant. Pelican was developed in response to JISC Circular 5/99. It covers elements of §46 (extending the range and effectiveness of JISC projects, which are developing into services), §47 (more general proposals for extending the usefulness of JISC services in ways not specifically covered) and §71 (digital library service development). Pelican will assist the learning activities of HEIs in a number of ways: through the leadership of Loughborough, it will build on the experience and confidence building of the JISC/PA Working Parties to help develop mutually acceptable ways of charging for distributing digitised materials to students; through the participation of Stirling, which plays a leading role in HERON, close co-operation with HERON will be maintained; through an active evaluation and dissemination programme, HEIs will gain a better understanding of the issues involved, and will thus be able to plan their own provision with more confidence. The combination of these factors will lead to an environment whereby electronic texts may be delivered to students in HEIs in an efficient and acceptable manner, whilst at the same time ensuring an adequate return to the rights’ owners.