From the Ground Up: Consortium Building Using Alma

Abstract

In 2018, the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) celebrated 50 years of merging information with technology as a means of broadening Ontario’s access to rich collections of knowledge and research. In 2018, OCUL began the implementation of Alma, as a means of realizing a vision to provide users with seamless access to a diverse Ontario-wide library collection, hosted and managed from a single shared Library Service Platform (LSP). The project, aptly named Collaborative Futures, will bring thirteen Ontario university libraries into a single shared Alma/Primo implementation, setting the stage for new approaches to user services, print and electronic/digital resource management, and much more.
While Collaborative Futures will use Alma as its foundation, the project will also require its members to forge a new consortium. This will require previously distinct libraries to work together in an effort to build the collective by challenging past practice, developing new ways to share information and resources, and establish multi-institutional teams to operationalize the vision.
In this session, members of the Collaborative Futures Implementation Team will highlight the practical challenges of managing large scale change, and the strategies employed to bring diverse stakeholders together. Specific highlights will include: procedures for building network and institution zone policies; embracing an integrated discovery interface; sharing resources across institutions; and collaborative systems administration. The session will include an opportunity for open discussion to share success stories from from attendees and experienced consortium-builders.