Prepared for discussion by OCLC Shared Print Advisory Council, based on snapshot of data in WorldCat as of December 2014. Selections presented at OCLC Reserach Update at ALA-MW, 2 February 2015.

1. A WORK IN PROGRESS
UNDERSTANDING THE COLLECTIVE
SHARED PRINT COLLECTION
Malpas, January 2015

2. • primarily a concern for ARL institutions
• mostly focused on journal back-files
• preserving last copies for specialized audiences
• a marginal part of library enterprise
Unchallenged assumptions . . .
SHARED PRINT is
(Not so.)

3. As of December 2014:
63 registered shared print repositories in WorldCat
High concentrations in NorCal, SoCal;
other notable concentrations in Cascadia
and ChiPitts megaregions

4. As of December 2014:
1.46 million titles held in shared print repositories
High concentrations in Maine, Florida and
New York

5. As of December 2014 :
54K serial titles held in shared print repositories
Primarily archived by CIC, CRL-JSTOR,
Empire Shared Collections and FLARE
programs

6. As of December 2014:
1.4 million monographic titles in shared print repositories
Primarily archived by Maine
Shared Collections Strategy
and FLARE programs

7. 3714
6
2
2 1 1
Shared Print Repositories by Library Type
ARL
Non-ARL academic
Liberal arts
Library cooperative
Public library
IRLA
State library
N = 63 repositories
Based on WorldCat data as of December, 2014.

8. Liberal arts
35%
ARL
25%
Non-ARL academic
23%
Public library
14%
State library
3%
Library cooperative
0%
IRLA
0%
Percent of Aggregate Shared Print Resource
by Holding Library Type
N = 1.92M shared print holdings
Based on WorldCat data as of December 2014.

9. 93% 94% 95% 96% 97% 98% 99% 100%
Material Types under Shared Print Agreements
as of December 2014
book seri visu intg scor map rcrd mixd file
N = 1.47M shared print titles
>95% books ~4% serials
Based on WorldCat data as of December 2014.

10. Selected Characteristics of Aggregate Shared Print Resource
as of December 2014
Material
Type*
Count of
Titles
Count of
Languages
Count of
Broad
Subject
Areas
Avg.
WorldCat
Holdings
per Title
Avg. SP
Holdings
per Title
Books 1,401,115 209 31 260 1.3
Serials 53,610 56 31 156 1.3
Visual
Resources
8,589 56 31 77 1.0
Integrating
Resources
2,789 5 24 36 1.0
*These four categories account for 99% of all titles in the aggregate
shared print resource
Based on WorldCat data as of December 2014.

11. WorldCat Holdings Distribution:
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Shared Print Serial Titles
as of December 2014
<5 libraries 5 to 9 libraries 10 to 24 libraries 25 to 99 libraries >99 libraries
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Shared Print Book Titles
as of December 2014
44% with >99 holdings
63% with >99 holdings
Based on WorldCat data as of December 2014.

12. Bibliographic Diversity of Aggregate Shared Print Resource
as of December 2014
1,297,375 distinct creative works
embodied in 1,468,523 distinct editions/manifestations,
for an average of 1.13 editions per work
Top 5 works by number of archived editions:
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – 243 editions in shared print collections
Longfellow. Poems. – 119 editions in shared print
Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter. – 85 editions in shared print
Houseman. A Shropshire Lad. – 77 editions in shared print
Homer. The Odyssey. – 66 editions in shared print
91% of archived works represented by a single manifestation

13. ‘Most widely held’ titles in collective shared print collection
Top 5 Books
• David G. McCullough. Truman (1992) held by 4,838 libraries;
2 shared print repositories
• S. Johnson. Who moved my cheese? (1998) held by 4,803
libraries; 2 shared print repositories
• David G. McCullough. John Adams (2001) held by 4,783
libraries; 2 shared print repositories
• J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
(1999) held by 4,778 libraries; 2 shared print repositories
• Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie… (1997). Held by 4,704
libraries; 2 shared print repositories
Top 5 Serials
• Time. Held by 6,854 libraries; 1 shared print repository
• Newsweek. Held by 6,301 libraries; 1 shared print repository
• Scientific American. Held by: 5,865 libraries; 2 shared print repository
• U.S. News & World Report. Held by 5,536 libraries; 2 shared print repositories
• Psychology Today. Held by 4,948 libraries; 2 shared print repositories

14. ‘Most widely preserved’ titles in collective shared print collection
• Plan for shortening the time of passage between New York and London:
with documents relating thereto, including the proceedings of the Railway
Convention at Portland, Maine (1850) – held by 58 libraries; 8 shared print
(14%); another edition with 21 holdings retained by 1 shared print partner
(5%)
• A.J. Coolidge. A history and description of New England, general and local
(1859) – held by 76 libraries; 8 shared print (11%);
• I.S. Proper. Monhegan, the cradle of New England (1930) – held by 94
libraries; 8 shared print (9%)
• A.H. Chadbourne. Maine place names and the peopling of its towns (1955)
– held by 116 libraries; 8 shared print (7%); 13 additional editions in shared
print collections
• J.E. Mooney. Maps, globes, atlases, and geographies through the year
1800: the Eleanor Houston and Lawrence M.C. Smith Cartographic
Collection at the Smith Cartographic Center, University of Southern Maine
(1988) – held by 176 libraries; 8 shared print (5%)

15. Challenging assumptions…
with evidence
Shared print is altering the library landscape
• It affects the full spectrum of library materials
– formats, languages, audiences
• It concerns all segments of the library
community
• It is increasingly embedded in our shared
bibliographic infrastructure
• It will reshape the gamut of library operations
– cataloging, collection management,
resource sharing, public service and outreach

16. What’s next
In consultation with Advisory Council,
• Refine definitions of ‘last copy’ in context
of FRBR – last expression, manifestation,
item
• Develop statistical profile of system-wide
print collection and shared print resource,
starting with North America
• Experimental visualization, maps of
materials within and outside of shared print
collections; scaled to existing consortia

17. Explore. Share. Magnify.
©2015 OCLC. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0Unported License.
Suggested attribution:“This work uses content from C. Malpas “Understandingthe Collective
Shared Print Collection” ©January, 2015 OCLC, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/”
Please direct questions or
comments to:
Constance Malpas
malpasc@oclc.org
@ConstanceM