At various stages since 1992, higher educational consortia were formed to foster collaboration between the various previously disparate tertiary institutions. One of these consortia was the Eastern Cape Higher Education Association (ECHEA). These consortia aimed at consolidation efforts in increasing capacity and value within the regions. In this regard
academic library consortia were established, with the South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) cooperative of specific interest to the Eastern Cape region. The original consortium member institutions were the library services of the eight tertiary institutions in the Eastern Cape, including:
Fort Hare,
Port Elizabeth Technikon, Border Technikon,
Vista University,
Eastern Cape Technikon,
Rhodes University,
University of Port Elizabeth, and the
University of Transkei. Although established in 1998, the consortium was formally recognised as an academic library consortium in 1999, The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endowed funds to SEALS in 2000 to implement a single shared library management system for all member institutions within SEALS. ==References==