BC Library Conference 2020

In light of ubiquitous electronic collections and space pressure in their buildings, many libraries are actively weeding print collections. Yet preservation of the cultural and scholarly record is essential to a healthy democracy, and libraries have a critical role to play here. How do we manage the collective collection in Canada to ensure we do not lose unique content? How many copies of each work need to be kept, and which libraries should be responsible to hold these?

Members of the Canadian Collective Print Strategy Working Group, active since 2018, will outline the progress of this group as they work to coordinate shared print archiving among Canadian libraries. Hear what we have learned so far about the characteristics of the collective collection in Canadian libraries, and how your library can get involved in shared efforts to preserve it.

In addition to learning about a national retention strategy for shared collections, you will hear about the national overlap study for federal government publications that is currently underway and that includes several BC libraries. The session will also include the opportunity for discussion about how BC libraries can contribute to this national effort.