The Promise of Collaboration

1
The Promise of Collaboration

• Jordan M. Scepanski
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina U.S.A.

2
Our ambivalent attitudes toward library
cooperation
3
Recognized Successes of Library Cooperation

• Interlibrary Loan Structures
• OCLC
• Joint Licensing of Electronic Databases

4
Access, Service, Cooperation

• more than any other segment of higher education
  , libraries have regarded the twin goals of
  access and service as guiding principles in
  day-to-day decision making.
• Its only because libraries have tapped into a
  long tradition of cooperation that theyve found
  a way to deal with practicalities without giving
  up on principle. Theyve discovered that a sharp
  focus on public mission can indeed translate into
  muscle, even economic muscle.
• --Jeffery Kittay in University Business

5
Bibliographic Empire Builders?
6
Barriers and Bottlenecks

• Not technological, but cultural, social, and
  political

7
Barriers to Cooperation

• Distance
• Service Orientation
• Sources of Funding
• Types of Clienteles
• Individual and Institutional Rivalries
• Inertia

8

• Librarians have something to teach ushaving
  made the technology transition a generation ahead
  of most of us they redefined themselves.
  Librarians have long been in the information
  business and they point out that with the
  explosion of information, critical thinking
  skillshave become paramount.
• --Nan Keohane, former president of Duke
  University, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A.

9

• Successful collaboration requires leadership from
  influential individuals at institutions seen to
  be most prestigious or central.

10
Technological Collaborative Possibilities

• Automating Operations
• Sharing Systems Staff
• Storage of Materials
• Digital Projects

11
Other Collaborative Possibilities

• Centralizing Technical Processing
• Joint Appointments of Staff
• Distance Education
• Shared Use of Library Buildings
• Conservation Preservation Services

12

• the consortium as a great leveler--an
  arrangement that improves information access at
  every participating library.
• --Samson Soong

13
Fulfilling the Promise

• We must be willing to
• surrender some of our autonomy in the interest
  of a greater good, one of better and more
  comprehensive services.
• Think broadly, viewing our clienteles as more
  than those in our immediate constituency.
• Engage governing authorities and funding sources
  in a conversation about the importance of
  collaboration.

14

• to raise education broadly to the next level is
  something no institution, no matter how powerful,
  rich, or competitive, will accomplish on its
  own.
• --Jeffery Kittay