New Article: “The Pivot: Phase 2 of 2CUL Technical Services Integration”
The following article appears in the new issue of Collaborative Librarianship.
Title
The Pivot: Phase 2 of 2CUL Technical Services Integration
Authors
Kate Harcourt
Columbia University Libraries
Jim LeBlanc
Cornell University Library
Source
Collaborative Librarianship
Vol. 6, No. 4 (2015)
Abstract
The Columbia and Cornell University Libraries’ partnership (2CUL) is now in its fifth year. Its composite acronym (2CUL), which condenses a doubling of the two participating libraries’ initial letters, summarizes both vision and mission: a broad integration of library activities in a number of areas – including collection development, acquisitions and cataloging, e-resources and digital management, and digital preservation, and reciprocal onsite use of collections.A key component of the partnership is 2CUL Technical Services Integration (TSI), an initiative funded by a generous three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to plan for the merger of technical services operations. The authors reported on the first phase of this project last year in this forum (Kate Harcourt and Jim LeBlanc, “Planning from the Middle Out: Phase 1 of 2CUL Technical Services Integration,” Collaborative Librarianship 6:1 (2014)). In this paper, they draw on the existing literature on collaboration, both within libraries and beyond, to report and reflect on the second phase of the TSI project and, in particular, the decision to reconceive TSI as an evolving set of mutually beneficial initiatives rather than a more comprehensive administrative integration of technical services operations.The period covered in this article is December 2013-December 2014.
Direct to Full Text Article (9 pages; PDF)
Direct to Table of Contents For Vol. 6., No. 4
See Also: 2CUL Partnership (Columbia & Cornell) Receives $150,000 Mellon Grant for Expanding E-Journal Preservation (October 23, 2013)
See Also: Cornell and Columbia University Libraries Announce Plans to Integrate Technical Serivces Departments With Funding From Mellon Foundation (January 16, 2013)
See Also: Columbia, Cornell Libraries To Partner on Collection Development, Acquisitions, Preservation (via Library Journal; October 15, 2009)
See Also: Reports and Presentations From the 2CUL Team
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Digital Preservation, Funding, Journal Articles, Libraries, Management and Leadership, New Issue, Preservation, Reports, Resources

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.