Verso le collective collections

Abstract

The development of digital publishing and the progress of major reconversion projects and network services are transforming the methods of management and preservation of library collections. This article provide a review of the international debate on shared print collections over the last ten years, focusing on several ongoing programmes in United States and Europe. Recent experiences show that an evolution of co-operation models is underway: from models based on a central off- site storage, to the distributed ones. The objectives themselves are also evolving: it is no longer a matter of sharing a warehouse but of building collective collections on a larger scale (and in a national perspective) for long-term preservation and access. New collection management tools in a network context, based on the analysis of large data aggregates (data driven decision a making for preservation), are also discussed.