Collaborative Librarianship

Focus and Scope

Increasingly, libraries are moved to seek partnerships with other libraries, with other organizations in the information and technology fields, with other entities in our institutions, and with other groups and enterprises in our communities. While partnerships of all sorts have had a long history in the field of librarianship, today, as never before, there is greater urgency to develop and exploit library partnerships, and to think widely and creatively on new types of, and potentials for, partnerships.

Published materials appear from time to time on library cooperation and partnerships. Most recently, the America Library Association produced the volume, Burgett, James, John Hear and Linda L. Phillips. Collaborative Collection Development. A Practical Guide for Your Library (Chicago: ALA, 2004), 211 p. From time to time, articles appear in various library journals. These welcomed items provide insightful analyses of cases and opportunities of cooperative librarianship. At present, to my knowledge, there is no journal dedicated to the topic of cooperative librarianship, or dedicated to any aspect of resource sharing or coordinated library services.

As the issue rises in importance and urgency, perhaps now is the time to create an organum for treating consistently and comprehensively the matter of cooperative librarianship.

Mission

Such a journal on cooperative librarianship would meet, in part, some of the goals identified at the June CALC General Meeting as important to academic libraries. These include:

• “To improve access to and delivery of information resources. Promote knowledge infrastructure for Colorado.”
• “To develop a system of sustainable ongoing resources to maintain and develop an excellent library system for Colorado.”
• “To enhance human resource development at CALC Libraries: … Publish an academic online journal.”
• What is good for Colorado in this regard may also be good for the wider library community in the United States and elsewhere.

http://www.collaborativelibrarianship.org/index.php/jocl/index