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Community colleges serve a large and diverse student population. Vendors and community colleges would be well served by smaller database packages with focus on non-traditional studies. Untapped key elements vendors should consider in promoting sales with community colleges include: timely responses, practical license structures, and consistent database offerings. Fostering positive vendor/ community college relationships is assisted by strategies to address current economic realities, customizing database contents, focus groups and other forums to communicate mutual needs and capabilities. Proactive librarians should assist vendors in understanding the unique needs of community colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Anatolian University Libraries Consortium (ANKOS) was formally created in 2001 following joint licensing projects by four libraries in 1999 and twelve in 2000. The consortium has grown to encompass eighty-nine libraries in 2005, and the number of its contracts has increased to twenty-five. Members include Turkish university libraries and research libraries attached to hospitals and government offices. A voluntary association, ANKOS is run by a Steering Committee composed of the directors of nine member libraries with the help of staff members from those libraries. The first agreements were for print+e-access for journals and for an aggregator database, and these were mostly informal subscription arrangements. An early activity was the development of a model Turkish National Site License. That license now forms the basis for negotiations with vendors, which culminate in formal license agreements. Beginning in 2004, ANKOS contracts are for electronic-only access and are often for multiple years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relations between libraries and vendors which need to have an open communications to better provide services to end-users. The author points out that if there is relationship, there is dependence. The library employees are providing a service to their customers which can be improved if the working relationship between library staff and the vendor can also be enhanced. The author points out that the open lines of communications and the sharing of information are the key points of library and vendor relations.