Strength in Numbers: Building a Consortial Cooperative Cataloging Partnership

Abstract

In April 2014, eight institutions from the Big Ten Academic Alliance began a one-year pilot study to track costs, workflows, challenges, and opportunities associated with sharing cataloging expertise for languages and resource formats needed across the participating libraries. Data was collected on the levels of staff performing the work (student, staff assistant, librarian), shipping costs, scanning costs, and cataloging costs. In many cases, the overall cataloging costs incurred by participating institutions were less than costs currently associated with options for vended outsourcing. The cost findings were particularly encouraging for textual materials (monographs and serials), which continue to form the bulk of collections. This paper outlines the pilot’s major findings and describes the subsequent implementation of a robust multi-institutional partnership program for sharing cataloging expertise across the consortium.

Borrowing Latin American Materials in the Big Ten Academic Alliance: A Case Study for Consortial Data Analysis

“…2 More recently, BTAA ILL directors collaborated with other BTAA colleagues to provide shipping for a new cooperative cataloging program; to develop a vision for next-generation discovery to delivery systems; and to draft protocols for interlibrary lending of special collections materials. 3 In May 2017, the BTAA hosted its annual library conference, for which the theme was the consortium's collective collection. The conference's stated goal was to "explore how member research libraries can move from legacy cooperative collection development activities to a more holistic environment that leverages robust discovery, digitization, delivery, and shared service environments to advance and shape the collective collection."…”