Canadian Research Knowledge Network

The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) is a national consortium serving the 75 universities in Canada.  CRKN primarily conducts negotiations with publishers and vendors to license large-scale digital journal and database content on behalf of its members.  CRKN also licenses some eBook content that is of interest nationally.  As a catalyst for innovation & development CRKN achieves the greatest possible impact in support of Canadian research, scholarship, creative activity and knowledge transfer by working creatively and collaboratively with other stakeholders, developing innovative partnerships and fostering the Integrated Digital Scholarship Ecosystem (IDSE).  

CRKN members are also members of one of the four regional academic consortia (COPPUL, OCUL, BCI, CAUL) and may also be members of other consortia such as BC ELN or TAL.  

CRKN and the four regional consortia may work with the same publishers or vendors, but license different content – content that is large-scale and of national interest is typically handled by CRKN, while content that may be more complex and/or regional in nature is handled by the regional consortia.  We meet quarterly to avoid overlap and discuss common issues.