This article describes the process that CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) followed from 2001-2003 in developing a new centralized model to enable more effective acquisition of its traditional information resources (print and databases). It illustrates how, at the same time, it managed the migration of its collections from print to digital. The CSIC Network, the scholarly communications background, determining factors forcing the change, the changes and solutions found, the new collection model, the technical management of resources and their access, the new collections and the investment levels required to sustain them are all discussed.Peer reviewed