INFORMATION FOR VENDORS

WHAT IS VIVA?

The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) is the consortium of the nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members include all of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities (the 6 doctoral universities, 9 4-year institutions, and 24 community and two-year branch colleges), as well as 34 of the independent (private, nonprofit) institutions and the Library of Virginia.

The Virtual Library of Virginia comprises two major components:

1. Enhanced support of resource sharing of Virginia's exceptional print and microform collections.
2. Shared access to online library resources and improved coordination of collection development throughout VIVA.

MISSION STATEMENT

VIVA's mission is to provide, in an equitable, cooperative and cost-effective manner, enhanced access to library and information resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia's nonprofit academic libraries serving the higher education community.

MEMBERSHIP

VIVA membership includes all of the public colleges and universities in Virginia (6 doctorals, 9 4-year colleges, and all of the public 2-year schools in Virginia). Most VIVA products are licensed on behalf of all of the VIVA public colleges and universities.

VIVA also includes most of the independent (private) nonprofit colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia meeting the Virginia Independent College and University Library Association (VICULA) membership requirements. The majority of these schools participate in the VIVA Private Pooled Funds program, using local funds to match some General Assembly funds. VICULA determines which general interest databases (e.g. EBSCOhost, Oxford English Dictionary, PsycINFO, WorldCat) to acquire with these funds. The VIVA private nonprofit colleges and universities participate in all other VIVA contracts on an elective basis, depending upon their local budget and relevance of each product to their curriculum.

There are several educational and research institutions included in VIVA that require special comment:

• The Library of Virginia is the state library of Virginia and is a full member of VIVA. It participates in selected VIVA contracts using their local budget.
• Several research and educational institutions in rural areas of Virginia (e.g. Institute for Advanced Research and Learning, Roanoke Higher Education Center, Southside Virginia Higher Education Center, Southwest Virginia Higher Educaiton Center) or facilities (e.g. State Council of Higher Education of Virginia) are included in the list of public IP addresses for access to all VIVA resources at no additional charge. They do not generate additional FTE but instead provide facilities for distance education or other demonstrations for students and faculty included by the VIVA colleges and universitites.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

All decisions about VIVA electronic resources are reviewed by the Resources for Users Committee. Suggestions or requests to consider new products should be forwarded to the RUC Committee Chair.

The VIVA Collection Development Principles & Selection Criteria are available for review.

CONTACTING VIVA

VIVA assigns a representative to each vendor. Your product's representative is listed on your Vendor/Product Information page. Please take this opportunity to check that your contact information is up-to-date.

Contact information for the VIVA Main Office, VIVA Procurement, and individual institutions is available on our Contacts page.

VIVA Vendors are also encouraged to subscribe to the general VIVA listserv (VAVIRTUA-L) but are not encouraged to use it as a marketing tool.

LICENSING

VIVA endorses the Liblicense Standard License Agreement as well as the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) guidelines and encourages vendors to follow them.