This presentation discusses inter-institutional collaboration in the Higher Education sector in Ireland with a particular focus on academic library collaborative initiatives and networks. It begins by asking ‘what is collaboration’? and where collaboration sits within a continuum of partnership. It highlights that true collaboration requires invested parties to relinquish a certain degree of autonomy in order to achieve a common goal. Key collaborative networks and initiatives within the sector are listed with a particular focus on the history of collaboration between academic libraries. Collaboration between private higher education institutions is discussed with particular emphasis on perceived barriers and changes that are bringing about increased collaboration. Cooperative and collaborative exchanges between DBS and NCI are also discussed as well as opportunities for future collaborative projects.

1. The Benefits of Cross-
Institutional Collaboration
Maria Rogers, DBS and Keith Brittle, NCI
DBS Annual Library Seminar
13 June 2014

2. Collaboration
Coordination
Cooperation
What is
Collaboration?
(Gadja, 2004 cited in Kaufman, 2012; Shepard, 2004)

3. A collaborative relationship…
 shared commitment
 clearly articulated goals, roles & responsibilities
 workload balance
 leadership – fair & equitably distributed
 accountability
 shared “resources and rewards”
 open communication
(Shepard, 2004)

4. Selection & Benefits of Collaborations
Networking is the first step
 building relationships
 identifying common goals / specific areas of expertise
Meaningful collaborations take “time and energy, and money to establish
and sustain…” (Kaufman, 2012, p. 57).
Why bother?
“Benefits are not only economic; they are also related to the
information, education, cultural and social needs of the clientele.”
(Shepard, 2004) – University ofWaterloo, Canada
“To make big improvements in productivity and customer service,
people in an organization must collaborate across corporate hierarchies,
functions, companies, and geographies” (Power, 2011).

5. Collaboration in
Higher Education
“Academic development has a
history of meaningful, intentional
collaboration and partnerships that
reflect the values of the academic
community.”
(O‟Farrell, 2014, pp. 244-245)
http://www.successfulworkplace.org/2012/10/27/new-ways-to-collaborate-for-process-improvement/

6. International and National Networks & Projects
 International
◦ International Consortium for Education Development (IECD)
◦ European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU)
 Ireland
◦ HEA 2013 Report on „system reconfiguration, inter-institutional
collaboration and system governance’
◦ All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE) - society member
of IECD
◦ Educational Developers in Ireland Network (EDIN)
◦ National Forum for the Enhancement ofTeaching and Learning
◦ TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance
◦ RIAN

7. Collaboration in Academic Libraries
 Long tradition
◦ ILLs
◦ shared catalogues / catalogue records
◦ “consortia to leverage negotiating power”
◦ shared storage
◦ active participants and proponents of the open-access movement
◦ advocacy
◦ training and CPD
 Dedicated Journal: Collaborative Librarianship
http://www.collaborativelibrarianship.org/
“…the ways in which libraries work together must deepen, and
the partners with whom they choose to work must broaden.
Libraries and their partners must get cozier than they have ever
been before.”
(Kaufman, 2012, p. 54)

8. Collaborative Initiatives & Networks
Copac

9. Collaboration in the Private College
Sector: from competitors to collaborators
Perceived Barriers to Collaboration
◦ Smaller scale
◦ No access to public funding
◦ Traditionally seen as competitors
Changes within in HE / Private Colleges
• Primarily QQI Accredited Programmes
• Private colleges now have access to public funds via
Springboard and Momentum programmes
“Nearly 40% of Springboard provision and 25% of ICT conversion
places are in private colleges.” (HEA, 2014, p. 85)
“The potential for developing the role of private providers, both through the
allocation of public funding to private and public institutions alike and through their
increasing competitiveness as student contributions in public institutions increase” –
in maintaining and advancing diversity in the HE sector in Ireland. (HEA, 2014, p. 80)

10. Higher Education Colleges
Association Ireland (HECA)
◦ Formed in 1991.
◦ HECA members must currently deliver a Level 7 (upwards)
degree suitably aligned with the Irish National Framework of
Qualifications.
◦ Central voice for Private Colleges on a national level.
◦ Members include:
 DBS
 Griffith College
 Hibernia College
 IBAT
 Institute of PhysicalTherapy & Applied Sciences

11. New Opportunities for DBS Library
 Networking
◦ HECA, LAI, CILIP, NPD, etc.
 „Open Source‟ software implementation
◦ Loughborough University: LORLS
 Staff Exchange / SiteVisits
◦ NCI
 Annual DBS Library Seminar
 Research & publishing opportunities?

12. DBS Library – innovations & aspirations
Lone Rangers
 RFID
 Koha
 Institutional Repository
 Embedding IL
Collaborations
 Reading List software
 eSubmissions?
 Staff Development / CPD?
http://jerryshollywoodland.blogspot.ie/2013/06/full-classic-film-original-lone-ranger.html
Alone we can do so little;
together we can do so much.
- Helen Keller
http://www.therural.co.nz/country-living/win-the-original-lone-ranger-seasons-1-2

13. Why DBS & NCI?
 Similarities
- student population numbers
- wide demographic of learners
- course delivery, holdings
- evolution
- programme development
- location
- subject areas

14. Beginnings & Staff Exchanges
 Original contact – RFID Project
Since then….
 Ongoing informal contact
 Reciprocal staff visits – January 2014
 Equivalent staff liaison
 Ongoing contact – remote and on-site

15. Common Areas of Interest
 The institutional repositories (principally
the issue of e-submissions)
 The sharing and comparing of our
information literacy programmes
 Library Management Systems (Koha in
DBS)
 The sharing and comparing of our
respective desk & stock procedures

16. Institutional Repository (e-
submissions)
Tim Lawless (NCI) / Alex Kouker (DBS)
Objective – Establishment of a protocol for
self-submission to the repositories
- study of existing practice (WIT, NUIM, UCC)
- on site visit to UCC (June 2014)
Tagline - FINDING SOLUTIONSTO PROBLEMSTHAT
COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER LIBRARIES ALSO EXPERIENCE

17. Information Literacy - Integration
Keith Brittle(NCI) / Maria Rogers(DBS)
On site visits -
- shadowing classes
- comparison of information skills tuition & guides
Benefits –
- class delivery, induction process
- shared experiences, diminished isolation
- key areas of future focus: online materials (creative
commons) & student engagement in induction
- greater collaboration in the future

18. LMS, Desk & Stock Procedures,
Copyright & Staffing Hierarchy
Maeve Byrne(NCI) / Peter Fleming(NCI) / David
Hughes(DBS)
- transition process to a new LMS (Koha, in DBS)
- very informative & helpful
Maeve Byrne(NCI) / Colin O‟Keeffe(DBS)
- desk & stock procedures, rotas, staffing
- views & current practice, very helpful
Mary Buckley(NCI) / Tim Lawless(NCI) / Marie
O‟Neill(DBS) / Jane Buggle(DBS)
- copyright, staffing hierarchy

19. Staff Exchange - Inspiration
Our inspiration
- Library IrelandWeek, November 2012
- Swap jobs for a day
- Six library staff from NUI Maynooth
participated
- Bernie Gardiner visited the medical
library atTallaght Hospital

20. Staff Exchange

21. International Staff Exchanges
International Library Staff Exchange Week 2-6
June 2014
- UK universities, staff exchanges since 1990s
(Ayoubi and Al-Habaibeh, 2006)
- motivation and performance of staff improves,
good for staff development (Kidd 1995)
- Why participate? “the need to avoid stagnation,
the need to climb out of a professional rut”
(p.9)
- Hannon (1997) - broadens experience &
benefits career development

22. CILIP‟s International Job Exchange,
LIBEX
Exchange jobs with library and information staff
around the world
Benefits
- staff development
- renewed enthusiasm
- fresh look at policies & procedures

23. LIBEX Exchange Reports
Katie Swann,Assistant Curator, National Art
Library, UK – “Do I consider the whole
experience worthwhile…?Yes, absolutely…..it is
the differences that…make the whole experience
more rewarding and challenging.”

24. LIBEX Exchange Reports
Cindy May, Head of Cataloguing, University of
Wisconsin – “I returned home with renewed
enthusiasm for my job and my library, and that‟s
got to benefit the library as well as me. I sincerely
hope that our two libraries will be able to
continue these short-term exchanges in the
future, and heartily recommend them to other
institutions.”

25. The Benefits of Staff Exchanges
 See how others carry out their work
 Helps to reflect on how and why you do things
the way you do
 Can stimulate thinking about how to do tasks
differently
 Reassurance
 Networking

26. Collaboration
Coordination
Cooperation
Where are we now?

27. Opportunities for Future
Collaboration
 Calling on each other for help and advice
 Institutional repository e-submission
protocol
 Sharing training and development costs
 Possible future cross-institutional
publications
 Sharing of information literacy initiatives &
resources

28. References (1)
 Ayoubi, R.M. & Al-Habaibeh,A. (2006),„An investigation into international business
collaboration in higher education organisations‟, International Journal of Educational
Management, 20,(5,): pp. 380-396. [Online] Available from:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1558962 [Accessed 11 June 2014]
 CILIP (2013) „International Job Exchange, LIBEX‟ CILIP [Online] Available from:
http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/membership/membership-benefits/libex-international-job-
exchange
 Gardiner, B. (2013) „Library Ireland Week Staff Exchange Scheme: Diary of an Exchange‟.
An Leabharlann.The Irish Library, 22 (1). pp. 23-24
 Hannon, M.(1997) „Staff exchanges - new directions for academic libraries?‟, Librarian
Career Development, 5(4): pp.124 – 127
 HEA (2013) „Report to the Minister for Education and Skills on system reconfiguration,
inter-institutional collaboration and system governance in Irish higher education.‟
Available at: http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/report_to_minister_-
_system_configuration_2_0.pdf (Accessed: 6 June 2014).
 HEA (2014) „Higher Education System Performance First report 2014 -2016 First report
2014 -2016. Report of The Higher Education Authority to the Minister for Education
and Skills.‟ Available at: http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2014-
Press-Releases/Higher-Education-System-Performance-First-report-2014-2016.pdf
(Accessed: 11 June 2014).

29. References (2)
 Kaufman, P. (2012) 'Let's Get Cozy: Evolving Collaborations in the 21st Century', Journal
Of Library Administration, 52(1), pp. 53-69, Library & Information Science Source,
EBSCOhost. (Accessed: 8 May 2014).
 Kidd, T. (1995) „International library staff exchanges: how do you organize them, and do
they do you any good?‟ Librarian Career Development, (3)1: pp.9 – 13
 O‟Farrell, C. (2014) „ Challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning in Irish
Higher Education‟, in Loxley,A., Seery,A. and Walsh, J. (eds). Higher education in Ireland.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 233-247.
 Power, B. (2011) „New Ways to Collaborate for Process Improvement‟, Harvard Business
Review Blog Network. Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/05/new-ways-to-collaborate-
for-pr/ (Accessed: 8 May 2014).
 Shepard, M. (2004) Library collaboration:What makes it work? Proceedings of the 25th
IATUL Conference. Available at:
http://www.iatul.org/doclibrary/public/conf_proceedings/2004/murray20sheperd.pdf
(Accessed: 7 May 2014).

30. Thanks & Questions