Abstract

The importance of academic library consortia increased due to the rapid development in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In the light of this role the study aims to investigate the establishment of four Academic library consortia in Arab countries at the national level, with analysis of the provided services on their consortia portals.  A descriptive study methodology was used to investigate and define the main features of each consortium; goals and objectives, benefits, governance, organizational management, funding and services. The following Data gathering tools are used; a checklist which was sent to the studied consortia’s directors, three of them replied (The Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian consortia directors); a content analysis method to gather information about the services available on the studied consortia websites (portals); in addition to the published research and news about the studied consortia. The results of the study show that the Ministries of Higher education in Arab countries are aware of the key role of academic library consortia and their impact on higher education. They have a strong commitment towards developing academic libraries to provide access to relevant information resources and services that meet the needs of the communities and support teaching, lifelong learning and research in this changing era. The studied consortia have similarities and differences, which will maximize the opportunity to communicate and cooperate together to form the Arabic unified Academic Libraries Consortium.

Key words: Academic library consortia, Arab countries, Egyptian University Libraries Consortium, Jordanian Public University Libraries Consortium, Lebanese Academic Libraries Consortium, Saudi Digital Library.