Collective Collection
Libraries are embedded in an increasingly complex network of information supply and demand. Our goal is to provide evidence and insight to libraries as they organize collections and services within this changing network environment.
Our research agenda aims to improve our understanding of the factors that guide institutions in their sourcing and scaling choices as they seek maximum impact and efficient provision of library collections and services. Our work explores three related areas:
Publications
Reflections on Collective Collections
16 January 2020
Brian Lavoie, Lorcan Dempsey, Constance Malpas
Collective collections are the combined holdings of a group of libraries, analyzed and possibly managed as a unified resource. Constructing, understanding, and operationalizing collective collections is an increasingly important aspect of collection management for many libraries. This article presents some general insights about collective collections, drawn from a series of studies conducted by OCLC.
Operationalizing the BIG Collective Collection: A Case Study of Consolidation vs Autonomy
20 August 2019
Lorcan Dempsey, Constance Malpas, Mark Sandler
The proposed framework recommends strategies for advancing the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s (BTAA) collective collections toward a more purposeful coordination of their print collections. It defines four traits of a purposeful collective collection that can also apply broadly to other consortium settings.
What Collaboration Means to Me: Library collaboration is hard; effective collaboration is harder
19 March 2019
Lorcan Dempsey
Dempsey argues that library collaboration is important—especially in a network environment, where scale is key for efficiency and impact—and must be a strategic focus for libraries and partners. Library collaboration is hard; this paper analyzes why and offers suggestions for improvement.
University Futures, Library Futures: Aligning library strategies with institutional directions
18 October 2018
Constance Malpas, Roger Schonfeld, Rona Stein, Lorcan Dempsey, Deanna Marcum
This report proposes a new library services framework for academic libraries in place of a collections model. This report studies the relationship between emerging library service paradigms and different university settings and surveys the importance of library service areas according to library directors.
An Exploration of the Irish Presence in the Published Record
20 February 2018
Brian Lavoie, Lorcan Dempsey
OCLC Research identified more than 1.6 million distinct Irish publications using library collections data in WorldCat and mapped this information with DBpedia to trace shifting cultural patterns over time. This report analyzes distinctive features of Irish publications to examine the Irish influence on the collective public record.
The Emergence of the Collective Collection: Analyzing Aggregate Print Library Holdings
12 December 2013
Lorcan Dempsey
Understanding the Collective Collection: Towards a System-wide Perspective on Library Print Collections
12 December 2013