[In a reversal of our usual policy, the response is presented first and the
original posting is reproduced second, due to length. The original
Questions were posted in COLLDV-L no. 1556. and are reproduced in part B of
the posting.]
From: "Carol Chamberlain" <c.chamberlain_at_nunet.neu.edu>
I would like to offer a clarification concerning the recent posting from
Charles Willett. In his message he includes quotes from a letter I wrote. I
include here a copy of that letter for the listserv. The letter was written
last June 6 with the purpose of informing other ALA divisions and members of
ALA Council of ALCTS' roles regarding outsourcing. From a reading of the
full letter, I hope that readers can gain a complete and balanced perspective.
Carol Chamberlain
Past-President, ALCTS
June 6, 1997
To ALA Division Presidents:
ALCTS, the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, is the
ALA division most closely involved with outsourcing issues and vendor
relations. ALCTS provides leadership to ALA and the library community in
these and other areas including the acquisition, selection, description,
organization, and preservation of information resources. My purpose in
writing to you is to both clarify and to contribute to a greater
understanding of ALCTS roles regarding outsourcing and recent developments.
Through programs, discussion forums and publications, ALCTS fulfills an
important educational role. As the recent developments in Hawaii became
known, ALCTS moved quickly to initiate two very successful forums on
outsourcing at the ALA Midwinter conference. These latest efforts build on
our other initiatives. In 1996 the Commercial Technical Services Committee
held a conference program on current outsourcing projects, and the
Acquisitions Section conducted a highly successful preconference on
outsourcing technical services functions. The other ALCTS sections
(Collection Management and Development, Cataloging and Classification,
Serials, and Preservation and Reformatting) develop discussion groups,
conference programs and regional institutes which continue to address
contract services. ALCTS has several publications on outsourcing, including
Outsourcing Library Technical Services Operations, published in 1997.
Another important role for ALCTS is to develop and promote constructive
relationships among librarians, vendors, publishers and other producers of
information resources. The Publisher/Vendor Library Relations Committee
plays this role, serving as the review and advisory committee. Their work is
highly regarded in the association, particularly for the effective resolution
of complaints, for the development of fair and balanced guidelines, and for
the mutual respect they engender in the conduct of their work.
Outsourcing and other contract services for libraries are and have been an
integral part of librarianship for many years. Cooperative cataloging,
retrospective conversion, approval plans, binding and preservation are
leading examples. Today new models of contract services can be as
successful, with effective planning and implementation strategies, and with
open channels of communication among all participants. ALCTS is committed to
meeting the needs of its members, including those needs related to the
outsourcing of collections and technical services. Our members are
librarians, vendors, publishers and other individuals who are not only
working in libraries, but also are working in the publishing and supplier
communities. We recognize and celebrate this diversity of membership.
Through ALCTS, ALA achieves its goal of assisting librarians in providing
services responsive to the changing needs of society.
Sincerely,
Carol Chamberlain
ALCTS President
cc: ALCTS Board of Directors
Received on Tue Aug 26 1997 - 16:12:20 EDT