Action for Libraries
Rethinking Resource Sharing
A Growing Movement in Response to Change
By Heather Clark
As the landscape of the library world becomes more mountainous with new technologies and increasing user expectations, resource sharing
librarians are realizing the need to strap on their mountaineering gear and scale the challenging heights.
The self-described Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative (RRSI) began just over a year ago with the release of a white paper that stimulated discussion of innovations in the world of resource sharing. Since then an RRSI group of librarians has met twice to grow ideas and develop smaller working groups. The result has been the development of new models that seek to shape a new future for interlibrary loan.
With members from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, the RRSI examined the frontier of resource sharing, comparing the current library culture to current technology and the resulting user expectations. The group has developed an emphasis on the need to sreamline fulfilling information requirements on a global scale without the barriers that have developed in traditional library service models.
Through these meetings, the group shaped a response to these trends by establishing the following three working groups — user needs, cultural and policy issues and interoperability frameworks.
User Needs
As with any project, the goals should be guided by those most readily affected. In the past, innovations in resource sharing have often
been focused on the staff who fill requests. However, the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative has placed the focus of change on the
users. The User Needs working group has identified key user studies already in place and is identifying any gaps in these studies that
might need to be filled. The group will then develop use cases and personae to be used to craft a service framework. This framework can
then be used by the two other workgroups to guide their decision making.
Cultural and Policy Issues
This working group recognizes that one of the biggest barriers to freeing access to information is local policy restrictions and as a result
wrote a manifesto to encourage libraries to revisit their interlibrary loan policies and consider a more open model of sharing. The
manifesto makes some of the following suggestions: eliminate late fines and replacement fees, digitize on demand, lease books from
vendors, purchase on demand and establish "floating stock" models that leave the item on the shelf of the library that borrowed it rather
than returning it to the lending source.
Interoperability Framework
Another hindrance to the seamless acquisition of materials is the communication problem between fulfillment systems. The
"discover-locate-request and deliver" model
Resource Sharing
is moving to a "find it-get it" model. The creative thinking in the interoperability work group has developed the functional requirements
for a Get-It button that could be embedded into your Web browser. The button allows the user to auto-fill an ILL request to his/her
favorite local library from the metadata present on the page, whether it be an Amazon record, a library OPAC display or just a regular old
Web page with the reference to a book of interest. This plug-in would be independent of any other software application and developed as
open-source software.
Details of the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative and its working groups are available in blog at blog.aclin.org/index.php. Registration is required to access the full documents of the forums.
Join this innovative group in rethinking your library's practices.