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Particular characteristics of electronic resources allows information in this format to be used more widely and shared. Library consortia exist to help their members to obtain better prices: buying joint access for a greater number of users. Commercial publishers, for their part, try to combine their interests with the technical possibilities and demands of the libraries. Though the pricing models and the types of licences have improved considerably since the early years, a number of the parameters used in the calculation of prices are clearly unfavourable at present for some consortia. In 2001 the Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC) distributed to the most appropriate electronic mail lists a declaration “Why some libraries and consortia are paying too much for e‐information”. This article aims to extend the viewpoints set down in this statement.

This paper seeks to analyze the different forms of library cooperation and the different types of relations that can be established for collaboration among libraries.

The paper attempts to show how cooperation as an application of the social intelligence is a tool to improve library services. For that, the paper uses the situation of Spanish university libraries between 1980 and 2005. Adopting an evolutionary approach, the study shows how cooperation has affected library organizations, and concludes that the current situation shows an intelligent adaptation to the needs of society.

Using the evolution of the academic libraries in Spain between 1980 and 2005, the paper analyzes six different forms of relation or cooperation that can be established by libraries. Those are: companionship, collaboration, association, cooperation, alliances and fraternization. The paper attempts to provide some guidelines for cooperation that may be of value to university libraries in their path towards the future. The approach is global, systemic and evolutionary. It is global in the sense that Spanish university libraries are taken as a model for exemplifying trends that are applicable to all types of libraries all over the world. It is systemic in the sense that it sees the Spanish case as one of a wide range of processes that do not occur in isolation in a world in which libraries – even at an international level – form part of a whole. Finally, it is evolutionary in the sense that it considers that the future will be built on our current achievements, which in turn depended on those of the past.

The paper is of interest because it reveals that the development of individual living beings and species depends to a large extent on their ability to cooperate. Similarly, the development of organizations and groups of organizations depends on their ability to work together and to establish a framework in which individual goals are attained thanks to external achievements or situations. Libraries are no exception to this, and may in fact serve as a paradigmatic example. Throughout history they have tended to develop powerful mechanisms of cooperation.

This study aims to investigate how the transition from print to electronic scholarly communication has affected faculty’s information behaviour and their perception of academic libraries.

An online survey was distributed among academics affiliated to the member universities of the Consortium of University Services of Catalonia. A total of 2,230 replies were received.

Journal articles are the most relevant information resource used for research and teaching purposes. Databases are the preferred starting point for bibliographic searches, although a significant proportion of scholars rely on Internet search engines. The main source for gaining access to documents is libraries, followed by free materials available online. Scholarly journals are the preferred channel for disseminating research outputs, with the open access being a factor of marginal interest when deciding where to publish.

The results of this study should be useful to guide policies regarding scientific information and research and, more specifically, policies regarding academic libraries.