Sharing the cost: health information licensing programmes in Canada

Increasing pressure on health libraries to provide access to electronic resources to their clientèle has witnessed the establishment of a number of initiatives in Canada's provinces.

To provide a structured and descriptive account of Canadian initiatives that focus primarily on licensing health-related information to post-secondary education institutions, hospitals, libraries and related organisations in the health sector.

Programmes were identified via communication with peers, an unpublished paper and the authors' existing knowledge. This resulted in a survey of the programmes using an online questionnaire.

A total of seven programmes were identified. A descriptive account of their establishment, aim and function, governance, funding, resource selection and licensing is provided.

Sharing out the cost of subscribing to electronic resources in the health sciences is a continued concern, as witnessed by continuing developments in this area.