Shared print program

Overview

The Federal Science Libraries Network shared print program focuses on the print monograph collections held by the partner libraries. These collections include more than 1 million titles and represent one of the most comprehensive scientific print collections at both the national and international level. The network is embarking on a collaborative effort to highlight, preserve and maintain access to this unique material. The network is also participating in North, a national program that aims to coordinate shared print activities across Canada.

The shared print program includes collections from the following partner libraries:

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• National Research Council of Canada
• Natural Resources Canada

OCLC’s GreenGlass web-based analysis tool was used to analyze the participating libraries’ monograph print collections and establish commitments for collection retention. The network’s shared print program is a distributed shared print program, ensuring that each of the partner libraries retains its own collection in support of its researchers. The program does not include serials, journals, maps, microformats or audiovisual materials at this time.

Objectives

The objectives of the shared print program are:

• To coordinate the retention of important scientific print monographs as well as government documents
• To identify unique or rare titles for preservation
• To identify subject-based centres of excellence within the partner libraries

Next steps

The Shared print program will begin by developing shared retention scenarios using the holdings data gathered through OCLC GreenGlass. Print retention scenarios will be determined according to criteria decided by the partners and will take into consideration the collection size, area of expertise and distribution of titles across the libraries. Once retention commitments have been finalized, individual libraries will then be able to act independently and in response to their local requirements on other print titles.

For additional information about the Federal Science Libraries Network shared print program, please submit a contact form.