Libraries, archives and museums find more in common—together

Fiona Leslie, OCLC Global Marketing Communications Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, gives her personal perspective on an Executive Briefing organized by OCLC Research

Despite the grey, wet London weather, my level of interest and excitement was high whilst attending a one-day event on library, archive and museum collaboration, sponsored and hosted by OCLC and the Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals (CILIP), the leading professional organization for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom.

Held on 15 September 2009, the briefing drew its inspiration from the OCLC Research report “Beyond the Silos of the LAMs” and brought together an eminent group of speakers from the U.K., the U.S. and Canada to share thoughts on how libraries, archives and museums can successfully work together.

No single sector, museum, library or archive had all the answers ... but they all seemed to be asking the same questions. Pooling items across curatorial, archival and bibliographic areas to meet a common informational purpose is difficult if an organization lacks vision, the conviction of its leadership and a tangible program of incentives. All three of these “collaboration catalysts,” introduced by Günter Waibel of OCLC Research, were in evidence in every presentation given.

Anne Van Camp, Director, Smithsonian Institution Archives in the U.S, and Beth McKillop, Director of Collections and Keeper of the Asian Department for the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the U.K., both identified the same business issue: how can we pull a variety of collections together physically and virtually to bring comprehensive insight to researchers? Anne shared the Smithsonian’s ambitious plans for an integrated search for all collections. Beth announced the launch of a beta version of the V&A’s online collections tool, and informed us that their new curatorial policy is to launch online versions of collections at the same time as the physical display. As digital visitors to the V&A outnumber physical visits by 10:1, it’s clear that these efforts are productive.

Fiona Williams, Chief Librarian at the City of York Libraries in the U.K., gave a frank presentation on the challenges faced by her organization to incorporate the beleaguered city’s archive into the main library. York will shortly launch its second “Explore Library Learning Centre,” incorporating the operations of library, archive and adult education centre in one space with a goal of having 1 million visits a year by 2013, which would make it more popular than York’s own National Railway Museum.

Leaving the Briefing that day, I was upbeat about the potential that greater collaboration can bring. A few weeks later I was outside the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, opposite the Birmingham Central Library. The Museum had just unveiled the largest-ever find of Anglo-Saxon gold, bringing history enthusiasts from around the world to see it. As I observed the mile-long queue, it seemed an obvious opportunity to have a sign outside the library saying “Books on Anglo-Saxons Here!” attracting some of that interest over the library threshold. After attending the Briefing, I’m optimistic that the cultural sector will be more open to embracing such ideas in the future.

The Ripple Effect | The global cooperative takes shape