1. RESTRUCTURING NATIONAL COLLECTION
POLICY – AN EXERCISE BY A WORKING
GROUP
Pentti Vattulainen
National Repository Library
Oslo 16.10.2014

2. POSSIBILITIES OF COLLECTION CO-
OPERATION IN FINLAND
Anna Karenina
All happy families are all alike; every unhappy
family is unhappy in its own way

3. COLLECTION POLICY WORKING GROUP FOR
LIBRARY SECTORS
 Planning of the New Library System
 Joint project for all library sectors
 What to do with NLS; what is the added value?
 Meeting for library directors of all sectors
13.11.2012
 ad hoc –working group led by Pentti Vattulainen
 Four library sectors
 Council for university libraries
 Polytechnic libraries
 Council for public libraries
 Council for special libraries

4. WORKING GROUP ON COLLECTION
COOPERATION
The aim was to map the needs, views and problems
of library sectors on collection cooperation. This
includes:
 Discovery and availability of resources
 The need for centrally provided services,
organisation
 Logistics and interlending
 Acquisition cooperation
 Electronic resources

5. COLLECTION COOPERATION
 Resource sharing
 Interlending
 Discovery, logistics (how resources move)
 Shared resources
 National Repository Library, legal deposit libraries,
National Central Library for public libraries, other
 Local libraries
 ”Political” decisions
 Expenses: how to share and organise

6. TOPICS
 Terms
 Need for the survey
 Division of labour, duties of libraries
 New challenges of library sectors
 History of the national collection policy: how did we
come here
 Cooperation in practice
 Obstacles of cooperation
 Technical requirements of cooperation
 Acquisition cooperation

7. NEED FOR THE SURVEY
 World is changing outside libraries:
 imperatives of economy
 the change of library paradigm. Library is not the same
for patrons as it used to be as a monopoly of collections
and collection services.
 Even though each library and library sector aims at
best possible resource provision for its users and
the frame organisation, the collective collections as
a total should serve the needs of the nation
 No coordination

8. NEED FOR THE SYRVEY
 We do not live alone in this world
 Need for national self-suffiency?
 International cooperation
 E-resources change the situation
 An example of the difficulties in collection
cooperation: National Collection Map project to
describe collections of university libraraies by the
council for university libraries 2008 - 2010

9. FUNCTIONS AND DIVISION OF LABOUR OF
LIBRARIES
 Public libraries
 Research libraries
 University libraries
 Polytechnic libraries
 Special libraries
 Centrally provided services
 The National Library
 The National Repository Library
 Celia

10. PUBLIC LIBRARIES
 Central library for public libraries
 The Helsinki City Library functions as the national
central library for public libraries. It also maintains joint,
centrally produced services, such as public library online
services, develops the classification system and
functions as a multilingual library
 Provincial libraries
 support the information and interlibrary lending services
of public libraries in their region; develop information
services and introduce library personnel to new forms of
library work and development projects

11. RESEARCH LIBRARIES
 University libraries
 offer free access to everyone, not only university
students and staff.
 Polytechnic libraries
 have their own libraries and information services.
Teaching-related information services are provided and
financed by the local education authority
 Special libraries
 in different administrative sectors and in the private
sector include the Library of Parliament, the Library of
Statistics Finland, libraries in government agencies,
museum libraries and the libraries of private enterprises

12. UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
 Structural development of universities
 Mergers of universities
 Internal structural change
 Funding model
 Diminshing acquisition of print materials
 Space costs in the budgets of the libraries
 Special problems in legal deposit libraries

13. CHANGING COOPEARTION BETWEEN
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
 Legal framework: not anymore institutions of the
state
 Changes in funding
 Decision making process: e.g. the role of the
National Library
 Need for other structural changes: discusssion
about all centrally provided services (NL / NRL)
 Need to maintain the ”long tail” and need for
collection cooperation

14. POLYTECHNIC LIBRARIES
 Structural development, centralised services
 Physical collections will not grow any more
 Libraries have to trust on availability of resources
from other libraries
 Growing need for resource sharing

15. OTHER LIBRARIES
 The National Library
 is responsible for the acquisition, description, preservation and
availability of the national published heritage and collections.
 The library coordinates and develops joint services for libraries,
notably the research libraries. The mission and operations of the
National Library have extended to cover the needs of polytechnic,
public and special libraries
 The National Repository Library
 receives and stores material transferred from academic and
public libraries, lends it to those in need of it, as well as
participates in the development of interlibrary operations and
advancement of collaboration between libraries.
 Celia
 state-owned special library which produces and provides
literature in accessible formats for people who are unable to read
standard printed books – including visually impaired persons,
persons suffering from dyslexia and learning disabilities,
developmental disabilities and muscular diseases.

16. LEGALLY REGULATED COLLECTION POLICY
BEFORE THE DIGTAL ERA
 Legal deposit libraries
 Use and preservation of the national imprint
 Scientific resource libraries (10)
 Scientific information provision
 Central library for public libraries,
 Interlending centre, speacial collections
 National Repository Library
 Tax-funded resouce sharing

17. CENTRALISED COLLECTION SERVICES NOW
 The National Repository Library
 Legal deposit libraries
 The central library for public libraries
 The remains of the national resource libraries
including the National Library (national humanities
collection)
 Special libraries
 Special collections

18. COOPERATION IN PRACTICE
 Inside the sectors and between the sectors
 E.g. changing teaching duties in polytechnics;
impact on collections
 The strong tradition of cooperation in university
libraries; less cooperation with collections
 Examples of success (better service, savings in
resources): multilingual library, joint libraries for
universities and polytechnics, logistical solutions,
regional structures

19. OBSTACLES TO COLLECTION COOPERATION
 Copyright legislation and interpretations
 Limitations to the use of collections
 E.g. due to limited resources for only own patrons and
staff
 Attitudes
 Non-book materials (E.g. music)

20. COOPERATION: TEHNOLOGY
 Resource discovery
 Union catalogue, user interface of the National Digital
Library (Finna), New Library System
 Functionality of ILL
 Recommendations of the Council for University
Libraries
 ILL report by the public libraries
 Patron involvement
 Logistics
 Resource access
 International ILL
 Products built on the new ISO ILL standard

21. RECOMMENDATON OF THE COUNCIL FOR
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ON INTERLENDING
 Resources open for all
 General (book) collections
 Loan period
 28 days; 14 days
 Renewals
 10 times
 Invoices
 1 or 2 times a year
 Fees
 Fees between libraries (9 – 6 €)
 Practical issues
 Speed, quality

22. PATRON AS THE STARTING POINT
 University libraries: support for teaching and
research of own university
 Public libraries: multilingualism, universality
 Special libraries: for own researchers, savings. Is
resource sharing allowed?
 Polytechnic universities: practical vocational
literature (agile)

23. PATRON INITIATED RESOURCE SHARING
 Change of paradigm in ILL
 A possible definition of ILL: ILL or resource sharing is
activity between libraries and their trusted patrons.
Libraries guarantee their patrons.
 Possibilities for savings in library space costs: less
need for local collections
 Patron initiated resource sharing makes service faster
 Invoicing for resource sharing can be renewed
 Part of the acquisition budget directed to resource
sharing
2.7.2015
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Fromthecentralised…

25. CHALLENGES OF THIS MODEL: TO THE
FUTURE
 Rethinking the division of labour and roles of libraries
 Resource sharing in digital world
 Printed vs digital resources
 Needs of different sectors
 International division of labour and cooperation
 Expenses: how to cover them
 Storage technology, logistics, modernisation
 Copyright vs library exceptions
 Patrons’ needs
 National collection policy or an ”agreement” of resource
sharing methods and the recovery of costs?
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26. 2.7.2015
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Fromthecentralised…
Fig. 2. Description of the traditional ILDS

27. 2.7.2015
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Fromthecentralised…
Fig. 3. Description of the patron initiated request

28.  The needs of patrons as a starting point
 National level voluntary cooperation
 Not necessary formal agreement
 Based on the collection policy of each individual library
 Areas of strenghts in collections
 Some kind of coordination to prevent overlapping collections
 Each library decides which parts of their collections are in the
resource sharing scheme
 Less-used materials for shared use
 Resource sharing software, patron involvement in ordering
and receiving materials
 logistics
2.7.2015
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AriMuhonen
NATIONAL COLLECTION POLICY

29. STRENGHTENING RESOURCE SHARING;
POSSIBLE ACTIONS
 Software
 New standard
 Already before the new library system
 Procedures
 Fees, loan period, renevals, etc
 Collections included in resource sharing scheme
 The role of the Repository Library
 Shelf space
 Personnel resources
 Overlap-analysis in the union catalogue (Melinda)
 The amount of unique resources
 The need for national self-sufficiency
 International cooperation