Friedrich-Althoff-Konsortium e.V. is a working group for and by libraries that aims to strengthen the information supply in the region and improve its members’ negotiation power. The consortium aims to facilitate access to electronic information for libraries in the region and to open up the opportunity for them to offer their own services as a virtual library according to their own service spectrum.
FAK e.V. jointly acquires electronic publications, negotiates and administers consortial license agreements, and organises the archiving of the material and making it permanently available for access.
This is done under the intensive support / maintenance of the FAK Office and in near cooperation with other institutions, in particular with KOBV.
In addition to the above mentioned aspects important work fields are: discussing market developments, networking nationwide, acquiring electronic materials, organising to index them and/or make them permanently searchable. This is done either independently or in cooperation with other libraries or consortia. FAK e.V. explicitly supports Internet-based non-commercial projects for the preparation and distribution of electronic publications and including those materials in the overall service.
It is a main goal to create the administrative basis to facilitate easy and comprehensive access for authorized users as well as remove potential access barriers, and to maintain and extend the information offered in the region.
