Membership Levels

WISPALS offers three levels of membership including our new Cooperative Purchasing membership level.  As a Cooperative Purchasing member, you may participate in our group purchasing discounts for any of the electronic databases to which we currently subscribe, and we will bill your institution.  Participating members partake in our group purchasing discounts for Docutek, our electronic reserves system (ERS), and electronic databases. 

Full members purchase and license our integrated library system (ILS), Voyager from Ex Libris, as well as utilize Docutek and electronic database discounts.  Whether you would like more information regarding our membership levels, current database subscriptions, our ERS or ILS, or if you are interested in exploring discounts for products that none of our members currently purchase, please contact the Consortium Coordinator.  

Full Members

Full membership status shall be conferred upon academic institutions designated as municipalities in accordance with Wisconsin Statutes which share equally (1) all initial and ongoing costs associated with Consortium operations including purchase, operation, and maintenance of a shared library automation system and (2) liability and expenses for defense of actions brought against the Consortium. Each full member institution shall be entitled to representation on the Consortium Board of Directors and the Executive Committee and have one vote on each Governance body. Institutions seeking full membership after August 1, 1997, must be approved by both Governance bodies.

Participating Members

Participating membership status shall be conferred upon academic institutions in Wisconsin that elect to contract with the Consortium for access to its electronic reserves system and associated services. Participating members shall be assessed annual charges as determined by the Consortium Executive Committee.  Participating members are entitled to representation on the Executive Committee and Consortium Board but shall have no voting rights. Institutions seeking participating membership shall be approved by the Executive Committee.

Cooperative Purchasing Members

Cooperative purchasing membership shall be conferred upon academic institutions in Wisconsin that contract to purchase services with the Consortium for a specified fee. Cooperative Purchasing members shall be assessed a negotiated surcharge for each purchased service as determined by the Executive Committee. Cooperative Purchasing members shall not be entitled to representation on the Executive Committee or Consortium Board. Institutions seeking cooperative purchasing membership shall be approved by the Executive Committee. 

Duration of Membership

In accordance with the WISPALS Operating Agreement, Full and Participating Members are committed to an initial five-year contract. After the initial five years, membership will be automatically renewed on an annual basis for a one-year period unless notice of termination is received by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors one fiscal year prior to the date of termination. Any institution terminating membership will be liable for financial costs incurred during the period of its membership including costs for removal of its records from the database.
Cooperative Purchasing Members are committed to membership for the duration of the service agreement they purchased through WISPALS.