Library, Archive and Museum Collaboration

An investigation into the incentives and strategies for deep and transformative collaboration among libraries, archives and museums (or LAMs).

Background

Libraries, archives and museums (or LAMs) coexist in a variety of organizational settings and face increasing pressure to provide more integrated access to their collections. Universities and other large institutions have a vested interest in being able to share their holdings of unique and rare materials from their various archives, museums, and special collections in a unified way with their community of researchers and learners. Integrated access to collections is just one example of how libraries, archives and museums can maximize their efficiency and impact by working more closely together. How do these three communities respond to increasing economic and end-user pressures for greater integration? Shared data, services, technological infrastructure, staff, and expertise can unlock greater productivity within institutions, as well as create online research environments more aligned with user’s expectations.

Impact

Libraries, archives and museums (or LAMs) collect, manage and share. Although the type of materials may differ, and professional practices vary, LAMs share an overlapping set of functions. Fulfilling these functions in collaboration rather than isolation creates a win-win for users and institutions.

Details

RLG Programs conducted an investigation into library, archive and museum collaboration. This project initially focused on campus or campus-like institutions that have one or more libraries, archives, and museums. Of particular interest were data, content, or service relationships where significant savings can be realized, where content or services are made accessible to new users or where managing or using collections is made easier. Finding—and taking advantage of—synergy among the libraries, archives and museums should then allow each individual institution to focus their efforts on the unique things that only they can do.

The Smithsonian Institution, Yale University, Princeton University, the University of Edinburgh and the Victoria and Albert Museum were selected for a day-long meeting on-site with RLG staff and a facilitator. The goal of each meeting was to deepen existing library, archive and museum collaborations, and identify new areas for joint work. After each meeting, a report was prepared about the individual institution's progress and aspirations, and shared with campus colleagues and administration. The report Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and Museums (.pdf: 334K/59 pp.) compiles all five institutions' experiences, as well as findings from campuses that participated in conference calls, plus views of outside experts. It highlights the projects each partner site committed to, and extrapolates the environmental factors which can catalyse or hinder collaborative efforts.

Following up on the workshops and the publication of the report, three panels at the American Association of Museums (AAM), the American Library Association (ALA) and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) spotlighted the leadership role RLG Partners are taking in integrating their LAMs. The sessions were sponsored by the Joint Committee on Archives, Libraries, and Museums (CALM), and organized and moderated by OCLC Research staff. "Yours, Mine, Ours: Leadership Through Collaboration," a forum hosted by the Smithsonian Institution for the RLG Partnership in the Fall of 2010, continued the discussion.

Related work:

• Single Search for Library, Archive and Museum Collections
• Yours, Mine, Ours: Leadership Through Collaboration

Outputs

Publications:

• Waibel, Günter. 2010. "Collaboration Contexts: Framing Local, Group and Global Solutions." Report produced by OCLC Research. Published online at: http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2010/2010-09.pdf (.pdf: 84K/8 pp.).
• Waibel, Günter and Ricky Erway. 2009. "Think Global, Act Local - Library, Archive and Museum Collaboration." Museum Management and Curatorship, 24,4. Preprint available (.pdf: 155K/14 pp.).
• Waibel, Günter, Diane M. Zorich, and Ricky Erway. 2009. "Libraries, Archives and Museums: Catalysts along the Collaboration Continuum." Art Libraries Journal, 31,2: 17-20.
• Zorich, Diane, Günter Waibel and Ricky Erway. 2008. Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and Museums (.pdf: 334K/59 pp.).

Blog posts:

• The Future of Collaborative, part 2: Early Exemplars, Center for the Future of Museums Blog
• The Future is Collaborative, part 1: Give the people what they want, Center for the Future of Museums Blog
• Going Beyond: The Silos of the LAMs in the UK
• Tearing down LAM silos at ALA
• The Future Now: LAM @ U of Calgary
• Beyond the Silos of the LAMs – post about publication of the final report, and an update
• Libraries, Archive and Museum convergence – post about preliminary findings from the five LAM workshops
• The LAM hits the road – hangingtogether post about two early LAM workshops.
• The LAM Collaboration Quadrant – post about a tool to assess collaboration investments and rewards
• LAMS – A work in progress – hangingtogether post about analyzing LAM environments to improve integration and collaboration.
• Organizational and Service Relationships on the LAM – hangingtogether post about the convergence and collaboration of LAMS in the campus environment.
• Libraries, archives, and museums hanging together??! – hangingtogether post about the challenges and opportunities of LAM collaboration.

Events

• Beyond the Silos of the LAMs - CILIP (UK) Executive Briefing in association with OCLC Research, September 2009
• Library, Archive and Museum Convergence - CALM Events at ALA, SAA and AAM 2009
• Yours, Mine, Ours: Leadership Through Collaboration - September 2010

More Information

Conduct your own LAM workshop.

• Rationale
• Sample agenda (.pdf: 22K/2 pp.)
• Scene-setting PowerPoint Presentation (.ppt: 2,914K/19 pp.)

Lead

Günter Waibel