Historical Timeline: evolution of a national network
April 2015
Business Case: Last Copies – Canadian Overlap Study is published by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) highlighting opportunities for collaborative conservation of print collections across Canada. It highlights the need “to reduce redundancy in… collections, thus decreasing the physical space requirements and making space available for other purposes.” This document also recommends that libraries work collaboratively on an overlap analysis to identify last copies of publications which would need to be preserved.
November 10, 2017
After the At Risk forum hosted by the Centre for Research Libraries in Chicago in April 2016, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) co-sponsored a national Canadian forum, @Risk North (Collections en péril). This event included participants from across Canada that discussed the status of Canadian shared repository initiatives and the possibilities emerging from a robust shared print infrastructure in Canada, including the future of shared print in Canada. Participants engaged in identifying next steps in national or regional coordination highlighting opportunities for collaboration.
July 2018 – August 2020
In collaboration with Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Canadian Collective Print Strategy Working Group (CCPSWG) undertakes the National Overlap Study project which is funded by Library and Archives Canada. This project is designed to gain a better understanding of the national collection of Canadian Federal government publications by conducting an environmental scan of Canadian and international shared print programs as well as developing a proposal for a national framework. The Project Charter focuses on “a national strategy of collective print preservation and access” utilizing GreenGlass to conduct this analysis.
Engaging across twenty five participants including CARL libraries, LAC, BANQ, Library of Parliament, NRC, Toronto Public Library and Vancouver Public Library, the project results in the identification of scarcely held materials and the addition of scarcity notes into local records. The Final Report includes recommendations for post-project operationalization and development of a national shared print program to support an acute need for space and preservation of scarce scholarly records across Canadian libraries.
September 2020
CCPSWG delivers its Final Report which includes a number of recommendations for the successful establishment of a national shared print network in Canada. Following this report, CCPSWG proposes that the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) assume the role of administrative host for a Canadian shared print network for preservation and access. As the library consortium with the most mature and robust shared print preservation program in Canada, COPPUL is uniquely placed to take a lead role in the creation of a national network.
May 2021
Development of the very first National Shared Print Steering Committee Terms of Reference. The North/Nord network will be governed by a national steering committee with representatives from the regional academic library consortia and shared print programs including:
Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)
Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC)
Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries’ Shared Print Archive Network (SPAN)
Council of Atlantic Academic Libraries (CAAL)
Keep @ Downsview
Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL)
Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (PBUQ)
The Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL)