Charge to the Steering Committee on Implementing Shared Collections of Government Information

The Report of the SOPAG Task Force on Government Information received wide discussion on campuses, among All Campus Groups, LAUC, and SOPAG. Feedback was primarily positive toward the goals and objectives of shared collections. Strong concern has been expressed by the Regional Library Facilities, and by UC Berkeley, about the support necessary to create and maintain shared collections as weighed against the benefits that might accrue. Subsequent discussion of the Collection Management Planning Group (CMPG) Shared Collections Papers has raised a number of the same support issues. With the approval of the University Librarians, SOPAG is appointing a Steering Committee to develop a pilot project that can be used to assess and evaluate the costs, procedures, and policies involved in implementing a shared collection for a limited number of government information titles.

1) Membership:

The membership of the Steering Committee has been selected with the intent to represent a broad spectrum of expertise, knowledge, and perspectives, including:

  • Collection development expertise in government information
  • Collection Development Committee (CDC)
  • Cataloging expertise, particularly in the area of government information
  • Public services expertise in the area of government information
  • Interlibrary Loan expertise
  • Regional Library Facility expertise
  • California Digital Library expertise
  • Preservation expertise

The members are as follows:

Sherry DeDecker, Chair (UCSB)

Colleen Carlton (SRLF)

Kris Kasianovitz (UCLA)

Becky Culbertson (UCSD, SCP)

Tammy Dearie (UCSD, SOPAG)

Roselie Lack (CDL-Manager of Public Content)

Lucia Snowhill (UCSB)

2) Responsibilities/Assignments

Identify and implement a pilot project of limited scope with the goals of

  • Identifying the costs and benefits of implementing a program of shared collections in a specific area, with particular attention to those costs or benefits that may be idiosyncratic to government information materials, and not generally applicable to shared collections of other types of materials.
  • Developing policies and procedures for identifying, creating, delivering, and maintaining shared titles.

Select a small number of representative government information titles, such as low-use extensive serial runs or monographic sets. Candidate titles may be presently housed in an RLF, or may currently reside in a campus collection.

  • Identify the issues that need to be considered in creating a complete and high quality shared set and draft appropriate procedures. Working with CDC and the RLF’s, identify policies and procedures for 1) designating existing stored collections as part of the shared collection, and 2) processing new transfers from campuses into the shared collection. Estimate costs at the campus and RLF level.
  • Working with the Heads of Technical Services, evaluate the adequacy and consistency of the bibliographic records for the government information materials to be included in the UC Libraries Shared Collection, and identify any necessary changes or enhancements to provide users reliable access to these materials. In the context of and consistent with other shared collection projects, identify the means for indicating in the bibliographic record that a title is part of the UC Libraries Shared Collection.
  • Recommend policies and procedures to ensure the retention of a systemwide, shared copy that cannot be discarded or returned to exclusive campus governance.
  • Working with campus libraries, the Resource Sharing Committee, and the RLFs, develop policies and procedures for the delivery of shared materials that will rely primarily upon electronic delivery mechanisms to 1) enhance speed of delivery and 2) preserve the print collection. Identify options for preserving the integrity of print when electronic delivery is not possible. Estimate the costs at the RLF and campus level for equipment and personnel.
  • Working with the Heads of Public Services, the Resources Sharing Committee, campus government information librarians, and the RLF’s, recommend collection access procedures to ensure that federal and state government information titles processed into the shared collection remains accessible to the public and can be delivered to public users at campus libraries upon request in a timely fashion.

3) Consultation

The Shared Collection Implementation Steering Committee is empowered to work directly with SOPAG, to seek advice and assistance from the All Campus Groups, and to consult with interested parties such as the directors of the RLFs, UC Government Information Librarians, and other interested parties.

4) Completion of report; Timeline

Following collection of the pilot program data, summarize the cost data, and evaluate the costs of maintaining a shared collection of these titles with respect to the campuses and the RLFs. Please forward your assessment to SOPAG within six to nine months.

Revised by SOPAG 12/8/03