ANKOS

What ANKOS does

ANKOS (Anadolu Üniversite Kütüphaneleri Konsorsiyumu / Anatolian University Libraries Consortium) is a Turkish non-profit association founded in 2000 and formally registered as a dernek on January 27, 2012, headquartered in Istanbul's Kağıthane district. It operates as the largest academic library consortium in Turkey, serving 198 member universities and research institutions across Turkey and Northern Cyprus. The organization negotiates and manages collective subscriptions to electronic academic databases, currently administering 1,440 active license agreements covering 88 databases from over 40 international publishers, including standardized Turkish National Site License (TRNSL) arrangements. Membership has grown from 12 founding institutions subscribing to 3 databases in 2000 to 198 institutions today.

ANKOS's technology stack consists of internal web-based management systems built and operated for member and publisher use: KİTS (Kütüphaneler Arası İşbirliği Takip Sistemi) for interlibrary cooperation tracking, the ERM (Electronic Resource Management) Portal for subscription and license management, a Member Portal for institutional access, and a Publisher Application Portal (yayinci.ankos.gen.tr) through which publishers submit consortium pricing proposals. ANKOS supplements these systems with structured working groups (License Agreements, Statistics, Database Evaluation, Cooperation, Academy) and, since 2024, a dedicated AI Research Group producing a bi-monthly AI Bulletin and convening annual AI workshops. The organization is internationally recognized through memberships in ICOLC, SPARC Europe, SELL, UKSG, DOAJ, and COUNTER.

ANKOS generates revenue through three streams: (i) consortium subscription fees flowing from member universities for negotiated database access, (ii) individual association membership dues for the ANKOS Derneği (100 TL entry fee, 100 TL annual), and (iii) conference and event sponsorship from publishers participating in ANKOSLink, regional meetings, and workshops. The organization maintains a lean staff of approximately 40-50 personnel supplemented by volunteer working-group members, and distributes services exclusively through direct consortium membership to universities, with no retail or marketplace channels.

Name

ANKOS

Legal name

Anadolu Üniversite Kütüphaneleri Konsorsiyumu Derneği

Website

https://ankos.org.tr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ANKOS is Turkey's largest academic library consortium, serving 198 universities and research institutions by negotiating bulk subscriptions to 88 electronic databases from 40+ publishers. Founded in 2000, it operates KİTS, ERM, and member/publisher portals to deliver coordinated electronic resource access and interlibrary cooperation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Library Consortium Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Procurement Helpdesk & Stakeholder Support (BPAAAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB)

Keywords

• Library consortium services
• Electronic resource management
• Academic database subscriptions
• Interlibrary cooperation
• Consortium procurement

Headquarters

HQ city

İstanbul

HQ country

Türkiye

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consortium Subscription Fees: ANKOS negotiates and manages subscription agreements with electronic database publishers on behalf of member universities. Universities pay consortium fees for access to databases. The consortium also collects subscription fees for 88 databases from 40+ publishers across 198 member institutions, resulting in 1,440 agreements.
2. Association Membership Dues: ANKOS Derneği (ANKOS Association) collects annual membership dues from individual librarian members who join as association members. Entry fee is 100 TL (one-time) and annual fee is 100 TL per year.
3. Conference and Event Revenue: ANKOS organizes the annual ANKOSLink international conference, workshops, and training programs. Sponsorship revenue is generated from publishers and industry vendors who participate in these events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

ANKOS is a nonprofit library consortium that negotiates collective electronic database subscriptions on behalf of 198 Turkish university and research institution libraries, leveraging pooled purchasing power to secure favorable pricing from 40+ international publishers across 88 databases under 1,440 active agreements. The consortium operates web-based portals (KİTS, ERM, Member Portal, Publisher Portal) for managing subscriptions, usage statistics, and interlibrary cooperation, and supports members through working groups, training programs, and the annual ANKOSLink conference.

Product overview

ANKOS (Anadolu University Libraries Consortium) is a consortium organization, not a single software product. It provides a suite of interconnected platforms and services for managing electronic resource access for Turkish universities. The core offering consists of internal management systems including KİTS for interlibrary cooperation tracking, ERM for electronic resource management, and dedicated portals for members and publishers. These systems work together to enable collective subscription negotiations with over 40 publishers for access to 88+ databases. ANKOS also organizes the annual ANKOSLink conference, facilitates working groups for license agreements, statistics, and database evaluation, and recently established an AI Research Group exploring AI applications in academic libraries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Consortium Electronic Database Subscriptions Negotiated collective subscriptions to 88 electronic databases from 40+ international publishers on behalf of 198 member universities and research institutions in Turkey and Northern Cyprus.
• KİTS (Kütüphaneler Arası İşbirliği Takip Sistemi) Online system for tracking interlibrary resource sharing and cooperation processes among ANKOS member universities. Accessible at kits.ankos.org.tr.
• ERM Portal (Electronic Resource Management) Online portal for managing electronic resource subscriptions, license agreements, and database relationships with publishers. Accessible at online.ankos.org.tr.
• Publisher Application Portal Dedicated portal for publishers to submit consortium pricing proposals and product information to ANKOS. Accessible at yayinci.ankos.gen.tr.
• ANKOSLink Annual International Conference Annual international conference bringing together information professionals, publishers, and library technology providers to discuss developments in academic libraries. Features exhibition space and sponsorship opportunities.
• ANKOS Personnel Exchange Program (APDP) Staff exchange program enabling librarians from member universities to gain experience at other member institutions.
• ANKOS Association Membership (Dernek) Individual membership options for librarian professionals joining the ANKOS Association (Dernek), with 100 TL entry fee and 100 TL annual fee.

Quantifiable outcome

• 198 universities and research institutions served through consortium subscriptions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SPARC Europe (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002ANKOS joined SPARC Europe in 2002, the same year the European branch was established. SPARC was founded in the USA in 1999 to break commercial publisher monopolies, reduce journal price increases, and create competitive market conditions. ANKOS supports the Open Access and Open Archives initiative championed by SPARC.
• SELL (Southern European Libraries Link)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2001ANKOS has been a member of SELL (Southern European Libraries Link) since 2001. SELL is a consortium of library consortia from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. ANKOS participates in annual SELL meetings to share experiences and best practices with Southern European library consortia. The 2009 SELL meeting was hosted by Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey.
• ICOLC (International Coalition of Library Consortia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000ANKOS is a member of ICOLC (International Coalition of Library Consortia), the global coalition of library consortia. ICOLC sets international standards and procedures for library consortia. ANKOS adopted ICOLC procedures and practices. ICOLC meetings bring together library consortia from around the world.
• COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000ANKOS is a member of COUNTER, the international organization that develops standards for electronic resource usage statistics. COUNTER standards ensure consistent and reliable measurement of database usage across institutions and publishers.
• DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000ANKOS is a member of DOAJ, which promotes open access to peer-reviewed academic journals.
• UKSG (United Kingdom Serials Group)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000ANKOS is a member of UKSG, which brings together people and organizations involved in scholarly communication.
• ULAKBİM EKUAL ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerANKOS supports the ULAKBİM EKUAL (Electronic Information ULAKBİM) project domestically. This project addresses the archiving and preservation of electronic scholarly information in Turkey, aiming to make electronic resources permanent national assets through e-archives. ANKOS provides technical and financial support recommendations to ULAKBİM for creating a national e-archive infrastructure.
• AMEA Merkezi Bilimsel Kütüphanesi (Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Central Scientific Library)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerANKOS President İsmail Çetinkaya met with MEK Director Hüseyn Hüseynov to explore ANKOS membership for AMEA and discuss cooperation in library and information services, international experience sharing, and electronic resource access. Potential future membership is under discussion.
• Maltepe Üniversitesi (Maltepe University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerANKOS held its 2023 Library Administrators Workshop and Ordinary General Assembly at Maltepe University's Marmara Hotel facility in Istanbul on June 3, 2023. Maltepe University serves as an event host for ANKOS activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• ULAKBİM EKUAL: Turkish national electronic information consortium operated by TÜBİTAK; addresses overlapping national-level licensing and e-archive needs for Turkish universities — domestic peer with national-scope mandate.

Direct peers

• Bibliotheksverbund Bayern (BVB): Regional library consortium for Bavaria, Germany — provides shared cataloging, licensing, and resource-sharing infrastructure analogous to ANKOS's KITS and ERM systems.
• OhioLINK: Ohio academic library consortium negotiating shared electronic resource access for member institutions — directly comparable sub-national library consortium model to ANKOS.
• LYRASIS: US-based non-profit technology and content services organization serving academic and public libraries; offers shared licensing, preservation, and discovery services — directly analogous to ANKOS's GPO-style procurement model for libraries.
• CONSORT (Founded by COPPUL, OCUL, CAUL-CBPA): Consortium of Canadian academic libraries negotiating affordable licensed e-content for members; mirrors ANKOS's collective licensing negotiation model.
• CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries): Canadian consortium of research libraries that negotiates licensed content and shared services for member universities — directly analogous academic library consortium structure.
• JISC: UK not-for-profit providing digital solutions, negotiated content licensing, and shared infrastructure to universities and colleges — the closest large-scale European analog to ANKOS.
• SELL (Southern European Libraries Link): Consortium of Southern European library consortia (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece); ANKOS is a member but SELL operates as a peer consortium at the meta-level with directly comparable functions.

Others

• SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition): International alliance of academic and research libraries supporting open access; ANKOS is a SPARC Europe member but SPARC operates more as an advocacy/enabling organization than a procurement GPO.
• ICOLC (International Coalition of Library Consortia): International coalition of library consortia setting standards; ANKOS is a member. ICOLC is an ecosystem/standards body rather than a direct competitor, but the two share the same constituency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ankos

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ANKOS