Rethinking Library Resource Sharing at CUNY and Beyond

Information resource sharing is a defining library activity, and providing access to information is certainly at the forefront of library philosophy and practice. Through online ventures, increasingly liberal circulation policies, and various interlibrary loan schemes, librarians can help patrons retrieve information not only from their own libraries but also from other libraries and information providers around the world.

Despite these advances, library efforts to help people access information remain relatively slow and costly, especially when contrasted with how quick, easy, and often inexpensive it is to buy a book online or to find free, quality information. This is why librarians, vendors, and others participating in the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative (RRSI) have been asking librarians to rethink their policies and services and to reconsider how well served patrons are by traditional interlibrary loan and document delivery arrangements.

At CUNY, for instance, through the CLICS intra-borrowing system, we are harnessing new policies, technologies, and staffing patterns to better serve our patrons. Using our circulation system instead of OCLC makes loaning books among CUNY libraries simpler and quicker for patrons, as well as less expensive, all of which is beneficial for libraries and librarians.

Librarians can also consider what we might learn from Internet businesses such as Amazon, Google, and Netflix. The RRSI is working on an online plugin that will show whether a needed item is available at online bookstores, in a local library, or through interlibrary loan. Such an option will give patrons more choices, making it as easy to order materials through their libraries as it is to do so through Amazon. There is also discussion of whether, like Netflix, libraries can successfully provide home delivery and/or do away with overdue charges. Another possibility for librarians is, instead of ordering certain books through ILL , buying reasonably priced copies instead.

There are also issues regarding how we might use our collective bargaining power to encourage publishers to charge libraries per use when patrons find something they want to see online or to allow us, within existing fair use guidelines, to use our electronic journal subscriptions for any CUNY patron. We might also use scan and/or print-on-demand services so that rare items that cannot be physically lent can be cost effectively and carefully scanned and then made available to researchers.

The RRSI has issued a manifesto (doc) to help guide the discussion as librarians work to change the way they address information resource sharing. I serve as chair of the RRSI Marketing Committee, and the group welcomes anyone interested in joining their Delivery, Interoperability, Marketing, Policies, and User Needs Committees. Upcoming RRSI events include a Spring Forum, a STARS Pre-Conference at ALA Annual, and a new prize for innovative ideas in resource sharing. For more information, see the RRSI site or contact me at bposner@gc.cuny.edu.

Beth Posner ( Graduate Center )