World's Largest Collection Analysis Partnership
Interface Volume 27 Number 4, Winter, 2005. Interface is the quarterly newsletter published by the ASCLA division of the ALA. ASERL recently formed partnerships with TRLN and CSUL to create the largest WorldCat collection analysis group on the planet. Members will be able to compare their library's collection data against more than thirty-eight million volumes held in the group.
Volume 27, Number 4, Winter 2005
World's Largest Collection Analysis Partnership Formed
The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) recently formed partnerships with the Triangle Research Libraries
Network (TRLN) and the Florida Council of State University Libraries (CSUL) to create the largest WorldCat collection analysis
group on the planet. With sixty academic libraries participating, members will be able to compare their library’s collection
data against more than thrity-eight million volumes held in the group. The new group will begin operations on September 15,
2005.
OCLC’s WorldCat Collection Analysis allows any of the participating library groups to compare data about their collection
against other group members. Among many options, the WorldCat Collection Analysis service permits comparisons based on the
age and subject-matter strengths of their collection to peers in the group as selected by the library. More information about
the capabilities of the collection analysis service can be found on the OCLC Web site.
“This is a great partnership among three great library organizations,” commented John Burger, ASERL’s Executive Director, who
facilitated much of the group’s logistics. “The trust and hard work of many people at each organization and OCLC has brought
an enormous benefit to our members. Our libraries will be the better for it.”
“The obvious benefits of this kind of partnership helped us come together quickly and easily,” commented Michele Newberry,
Assistant Director for Library Services at the Florida Center for Library Automation, a computing services arm of CSUL.
“I think the results will affirm joint efforts of this type as well the collection analysis service itself.” Mona Couts,
Program Officer at the Triangle Research Libraries Network, agreed, “This group capability surpasses anything we’ve had
before. This is a truly mutually beneficial relationship for us.”
ASERL is the largest regional academic library cooperative in the country, with thirty-seven research libraries and six state
libraries. Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) is a resource-sharing consortium consisting of Duke University,
North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Florida Council of State University Libraries (CSUL) is composed of the libraries of eleven universities and colleges
of the State University System of Florida. The Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA) provides automation services
that assist the libraries of Florida’s publicly funded universities in meeting their teaching and research objectives for
students and faculty. OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research
organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs.
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World's Largest Collection Analysis Partnership