June 25, 2020 – Written by Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections (of which PALNI is part of)
The Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections today launched a two-minute video highlighting the importance of shared print collections in libraries as a key component to ensuring ongoing and future access to the scholarly record and to the future of research, teaching, and learning. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/Ie8qm_idkDU (or below).
“Most people access scholarly information online these days, and even more so since much of the world has been in some form of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” commented Judy Russell, Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida and Chair of the Rosemont Alliance Executive Committee. “But you can only digitize something if the original print copy has been safely retained.” Libraries have been collaborating to determine the proper level of redundancy of their print collections, ensuring that collections are protected and maintained while offering individual libraries flexibility in what to keep on their shelves. According to the Center for Research Libraries, there are currently 49 Shared Print Programs registered with the Print Archive and Preservation (“PAPR”) Registry.