Dear colleagues,
Sustaining Art Research Collections: Case Studies in Collaboration
is a new report from OCLC Research that offers recommendations for building strong collaborations based on real-life examples. These case studies document
the practical experiences and lessons learned from collaborations involving art and academic libraries to identify successful collaboration characteristics and typical challenges when planning, implementing, and sustaining a
partnership. The insights and lessons learned can inform any library collaboration.
I’m delighted that this work is being published while 500 or so of us have gathered at the 51st ARLIS/NA conference in Mexico City.
As art and independent research libraries face challenges from an evolving environment, repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, and static or diminishing resources, finding sustainable pathways becomes an increasing priority. Collaboration
is an important strategy for art research collections in achieving long-term sustainability.
Building on OCLC Research’s continued work on library collaboration, this report highlights important considerations for art libraries and institutions that might partner with them and provides recommendations that will be useful to
any type of library considering collaboration.
A number of you were involved in the project that produced this report,
which is the second in a two-part series describing the Operationalizing the Art Research Collective Collection project findings. This project was
supported through a grant by the
Samuel H. Kress Foundation with significant co-investment from OCLC and
got its start at a small roundtable discussion at the 47th Annual ARLIS/NA conference in Salt Lake City.
The first report,
Sustaining Art Research Collections: Using Data to Explore Collaboration,
was published in February.
Cheers,
Dennis Massie
Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research Library Partnership
OCLC Research reports are a community resource to advance library thinking and promote discussion. They are freely available to all to read, download, and share.