New OCLC Research Report proposes a Total Cost of Stewardship Framework

Total Cost of Stewardship Framework for Archives and Special Collections

Developed by the OCLC Research Library Partnership’s (RLP) Collection Building and Operational Impacts Working Group, the Total Cost of Stewardship framework is a holistic approach to understanding the resources needed to responsibly acquire and steward archives and special collections. The Total Cost of Stewardship Framework responds to the ongoing challenge of descriptive backlogs in archives and special collections by connecting collection development decisions with stewardship responsibilities. 

The collection of materials published includes:

  1. An OCLC Research report: Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections
  2. An annotated bibliography of related resources
  3. The Total Cost of Stewardship Tool Suite, comprising of a set of Communication Tools, Cost Estimation Tools, and a Manual to guide end users in implementing the Tool Suite.

Download the report and resources to learn more.