About ERA
Electronic Resources Australia (ERA) is a direct result of the work done by a group of Australian library sectoral representatives who have been striving for national licensing since 2003.
This work has been done in response to recommendation 9 of the Senate’s October 2003 report on Libraries in the Online Environment, and aims to provide Australians with easy access to a variety of trusted subscription information online sources via their library.
In an era of the Internet and ever-expanding electronic services, direct and immediate access to online information is fundamental to a well-informed, educated, economically competitive and democratic society. Libraries must compete not only for funds but also significance and anything that can assist with savings and bringing authoritative resources to their customers is both extremely important and highly appealing.
On 9 May 2007 in the nation’s capital not only was the town abuzz with the budget news but all eyes were turned towards the National Library where another historical event was occurring. Thirty six librarians from various library sectors across Australia met for a national forum to launch Electronic Resources Australia.
In its first year (2007-8), ERA focused on delivering content to libraries through selecting, through a tender process, products which are of interest to many libraries. Nine products in the three categories of 'Australian News & Business Information, 'General Reference' and 'Health Information' were selected. In 2007, approximately 6,750,000 Australians were served by libraries that subscribe to resources through ERA.
In March 2009 the ERA product panel was expanded from nine to 25 products in the areas of 'Australian News & Business, 'General Reference', 'Health Information', 'Humanities & Social Sciences', and 'Science & Technology'. These products are available to Australian libraries from 1 July 2009 on an opt-in / opt-out basis.

