Information Alliance
Information Alliance Counterparts Meeting Purpose, September 2003
University of Kentucky - University of Tennessee - Vanderbilt University
INFORMATION ALLIANCE
http://www.lib.utk.edu/~alliance/
The Libraries of the University of Kentucky, the University of
Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University have embarked on a unique
alliance among the organizations to strengthen library user access
to regional information resources.
A formal agreement establishing the Information Alliance was signed
on November 3, 1994. The Alliance is governed by its constitution
and an Executive Committee appointed by the heads of each library.
The Information Alliance library catalogs can be searched simultaneously
through KUDZU, a catalog representing the holdings of seventeen
Southeastern research libraries. Faculty and students may borrow
materials from the consortium through expedited interlibrary loan.
One goal of the Information Alliance is to pool the strengths of individual collections and subject librarian expertise. Developing a robust unified collection with minimal unnecessary duplication will free funds to achieve a joint collection that is richer and deeper than any single institution can achieve. By building collections in a coordinated fashion, we increase the chances that our users will find pertinent research resources at one of the Information Alliance libraries. If we increase the number of unique program-related materials within our aggregate collections and simultaneously reduce the waiting period for delivery of these materials, we will have significantly improved the quality of the collections for our patrons. Collaboration also helps us manage more effectively the limited storage and growth space available to each institution. Further, we have the potential to share subject and functional expertise.
Collaborative collection development requires an element of trust that builds gradually. The standard of success is exceedingly high: we do not attain our goal until we become dependent on another library to build collections important to our library. The risk is that a selector at the other library may fail to acquire what we need, or worse, that a library on which we have come to depend will withdraw from the consortium. But, there is a risk in the way we build collections now. As long as we continue to practice independent collection development, we will each independently acquire a decreasing segment of the universe of scholarly publication with each succeeding year. While cooperative collection development is a difficult venture into the unknown, business as usual will increasingly be a model for failure.
COUNTERPART MEETINGS
Since 1998 the Information Alliance heads of collection development heads have organized annual meetings of librarians who select in similar subject areas at the three libraries. The meetings provide a forum where subject librarians and bibliographers share information about the programs at their institutions and the nature of the collections they build and maintain. The meetings foster an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect as counterparts become acquainted.
A desired outcome of the meetings is that counterparts will collaborate on strengthening library service through specific projects and the synergy of shared ideas. Collection projects may identify areas within disciplines where the libraries will build a strong monographic collection rich in highly specialized materials. In every subject each of the three libraries can become primary collectors in well-defined subdisciplines, enabling the other libraries to reduce their acquisition of highly specialized monographs. The result should be a joint collection featuring less duplication of little used materials (all three libraries would, of course, continue to acquire core titles) but a broader range of research level resources.
Counterpart meetings are the beginning of a process for ongoing collaboration. Once librarians have established contact, they can continue deliberations through e-mail, conference calls and other meetings. Information Alliance counterparts in the following subjects have met and exchanged information about their respective user populations, collections, and institutions:
- Anthropology
- Classics
- Education
- English
- Geology
- German
- Government Documents
- History
- Music
- Psychology
- Science/Technology
- Women’s studies
They have shared data about their respective institutions, focus
points, plans for the future, budgets, and much more. Projects
conceived in counterpart meetings are now in various stages of
development.
Rugby Agenda, September 26, 2003
Before the meeting
In keeping with our principle that collaboration should have local benefits, at a minimum, preparing for the meeting will help librarians become more familiar with local clientele and their needs. One goal of the Rugby meeting is to prepare an analytical report synthesizing the data that counterparts bring to the discussion. The report will describe similarities and differences in the counterpart collections and audiences. The audience for the report is heads of collection development and others such as subject coordinators and branch librarians who will participate with counterparts in brainstorming about collaborative projects.
September 26, 2003 Agenda
11:00 – 11:15 Introductions
11:15 – 12:15 Counterpart Group Meetings
12:30 – 1:45 Lunch at the Harrow Road Café
2:00 – 3:00 Counterpart Group Meetings
3:00 – 3:30 General Session – Group Reports
Counterparts discuss the following:
- Bring a list of journals assigned to the funds you manage for the subject area.
- What are your collection strengths/weaknesses? Bring documents such as collection policy statements, Conspectus data, North American Title Count comparisons, etc.
- What are the expenditures for materials in the subject area? Bring allocation and expenditure spreadsheets.
- What are the strongest/weakest components of the departments you serve in the subject area? (Departmental home pages may be helpful.)
- What is the size of the faculty you serve in this area?
- What subjects are the most active researchers in this area working on?
- What are the research areas of new faculty in the discipline?
- How many PhDs were awarded in the last 3-5 years, and what were the dissertation subjects?
- How many undergraduate and graduate students are currently in the program(s)?
Divide responsibility for taking notes, reporting to the group at the end of the day, completing the report for CD heads, and scheduling the first conference call.
After the Rugby meeting
Write a brief summary of the discussion at Rugby for the heads
of collection development. Hold one or more conference calls to
discuss possible projects and next steps. Goals should be kept
modest, so that progress can be made by December 2004.
Timetable
| September 26, 2003 | Counterparts meet at Rugby and share information related to the above questions. |
| November 1, 2003 | Summarize Rugby discussion in a brief report to heads of CD, subject coordinators, appropriate branch librarians. Include progress report on developments after Rugby. |
| November-December, 2003 | Counterparts hold conference call to discuss collaborative possibilities. |
| January-March, 2004 | Incorporate Information Alliance collaboration into annual goals. |
| January-March, 2004 | Select and outline a collaborative project. This process may require more than one conference call. Look at Serials Archive Titles for Consideration as a possible project. |
| June 30, 2004 | Send project description to heads of CD, subject coordinator, appropriate branch librarian with a timeline for completion. Secure necessary funding or other resource commitments. |
| December, 2004 | Each counterpart sends project progress report to heads of CD, subject coordinator, appropriate branch librarian. |
