March 2021
Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections
By OCLC Research Library Partnership’s Collection Building and Operational Impacts Working Group
Developed by the OCLC Research Library Partnership’s (RLP) Collection Building and Operational Impacts Working Group, Total Cost of Stewardship is a framework that proposes 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.
This OCLC Research report is a collection of resources designed to support archives and special collections in making informed, shared collection building decisions; bring together collection management and collection development considerations; and support communication between colleagues in curatorial, administrative, and technical services roles.
The collection of materials published includes:
- An OCLC Research report: Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections
- 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.
- An annotated bibliography of related resources
Tool Suite
The Total Cost of Stewardship Tool Suite offers free, adaptable tools to support better data about collection stewardship needs as well as better communication across disparate roles and responsibilities. The tools are intended to be flexible and customizable for use by a wide range of institutions and users as well as be adaptable to local contexts and needs.
The tool suite includes the following resources:
- Cost estimation tools: The Operational Impact Estimator and the Quick Cost Estimator
- Manual: Provides guidance and instructions for using the two Cost Estimation Tools
- Communication tools: Supplies templates and guidance for use
Video Tutorials
Cost Estimator Tools:
Operational Impact Estimator
Quick Cost Estimator
Communication Tools:
Communication Tools
ERRATUM
Total Cost of Stewardship: Communication Tools, pp. 20-21 (Word .docx versions pp. 14-15), “Processing Plan Template,”
A previous version of the Total Cost of Stewardship: Communication Tools’ “Processing Plan Template” was missing the “Processing Work Plan” section and text, including “Proposed Arrangement,” “Work Plan,” and “Storage and Supplies.” The “Processing Work Summary” section header that followed was also missing. The previously missing text has been added and corrected in all file versions of the document.
Suggested Citation:
Mary Kidd, Carrie Hintz, Jasmine Jones, Chela Scott Weber, Erik A. Moore, Martha O’Hara Conway, Heather Briston, Gioia Stevens, Sue Luftschein, Audra Eagle Yun, Ed Galloway, Susan Pyzynski, Andra Darlington, and Matthew Beacom. 2021. Total Cost of Stewardship: Tool Suite. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research. https://doi.org/10.25333/4bqc-5k43.