Raising Access by Lowering Barriers: the Power of ILL and Special Collections Working Together

Abstract

Resource sharing has long been an accepted means of request fulfillment from libraries’ circulating collections, but providing digital surrogates and physical loans of special collections materials through interlibrary loan is relatively new. Library administrators have increasingly promoted consortial borrowing to supplement collection development and operationalize the concept of a collective collection. While there is great potential to include access to special collections materials in these endeavors, legitimate questions about preservation, staff resources, workflows, and long-term goals have been raised. What motivates special collections curators to overcome resistance to traditional resource sharing? Who makes the determination on what can be shared? How can a lending institution ensure the safety and security of their materials in transit to/from and at a borrowing library? How can Resource Sharing professionals become familiar with the unique issues raised with the sharing of Special Collections materials? Both interlibrary loan and special collections staff have much expertise to answer these questions and are increasingly working together at and across institutions. This panel will include members from the ILL and special collections communities who have demonstrated leadership in successfully working together to loan or provide digital surrogates of selective special collections materials via enhanced resource sharing workflows. These efforts include: · A pilot project started in 2017 to share scans from special collection materials among the Ivy Plus libraries. (http://www.borrowdirect.org/sharing-special-collections-materials-via-resource-sharing-pilot-project) · The Big Ten Academic Alliance’s framework of common expectations and responsibilities when borrowing and lending physical items and providing scans of special collections items within their consortium. (https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/library/btaa-principles-and-protocols-for-interlibrary-loan-of-special-collections.pdf?sfvrsn=9bbe4bf3_4) · The OCLC SHARES Sharing Special Collections Working Group’s survey of current ILL-Special Collections practices and promotion of additional collaboration within SHARES. (https://www.oclc.org/research/partnership/working-groups/shares-sharing-special-collections.html)