The distinction that special collections bring to research institutions has become widely recognized, and an aggregated profile of collections, access policies, users, adoption of new technologies, and other important topics will establish norms across the UK special collections community. The data will effectively support decision-making for strategic priorities and collaborative projects. Individual libraries will be able to place themselves in the context of community norms and consider taking appropriate actions in response.
The survey population will include all Research Libraries UK (RLUK) members, as well as OCLC Research Library Partnership institutions in the UK and Ireland. The project fits comfortably into RLUK's current strategic priorities, which include a strand, Unique and Distinctive Collections, which focuses on maximizing the potential of special collections. It also extends the impact of OCLC Research’s 2009 work by facilitating comparison of responses in North America and the UK. By working together, these two organizations bring a larger reach and expertise to this project due to their confluence of mutuality and strong working relationships.
The OCLC Research and RLUK project team expects to retain most questions from the 2009 survey to enable comparisons across the two projects. The questions will be adapted or enhanced as appropriate to reflect practices and priorities of the RLUK community. A committee of experts selected by the RLUK board of directors will work with OCLC Research staff to adapt the survey to the RLUK landscape.
A report detailing the results of the survey will be published in the second quarter of 2012.
More Information
Read the Full OCLC News Release
http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2011/201139.htm
Learn More About the OCLC Research and RLUK Survey of Special Collectoins and Archives in the UK and Ireland
http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/specialcollections/default.htm
Learn More About the 2009 OCLC Research Survey of Special Collections and Archives in the US and Canada
http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/hiddencollections/default.htm
Read the Report of 2009 Survey Results: Taking Our Pulse: The OCLC Research Survey of Special Collections and Archives
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2010/2010-11.pdf
Learn More About Research Libraries UK
www.RLUK.ac.uk
For more information:
Jackie Dooley
Program Officer
OCLC Research
dooleyj@oclc.org
+1-949-295-1529
Melissa Renspie
Senior Communications Officer
OCLC Research
renspiem@oclc.org
+1-614-761-5231