Avoid the pitfalls in consortium planning with this down-to-earth advice This practical book addresses the specific tasks of planning, organizing, and administering a successful library consortium. Teamwork and Collaboration in Libraries: Tools for Theory and Practice surveys a number of resource-sharing schemes, including digital libraries and cooperative purchasing schemes. Thoughtful analyses discuss the perils and benefits of consortia, and a thorough bibliography reviews the available material on planning a consortium. This comprehensive book provides all the information you will need before undertaking a library collaboration.Teamwork and Collaboration in Libraries: Tools for Theory and Practice presents discussions and case studies of cooperative purchasing and resource-sharing in several library environments, including:

within university library systems

between libraries with shared special interests

between academic and public libraries

the proposed national law library consortium

Ten chapters focus particularly on collaborations among law libraries, collective licensing of electronic resources, and the benefits of resource sharing. Some of the projects discussed include a proposed National Law Library Consortium, the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLM), the Chicago Legal Academic System (CLAS), the University of Pittsburg Digital Library, and the Association of Boston Law Librarian's website . Other topics include collaborating with public librarians, law schools, and bar associations; the Aberdeen Woods Conference and law library cooperation; and a survey of AALL chapters. The final chapter presents an annotated bibliography of instructional sources. Silverman is assistant director for public services at the University of Pittsburgh's Barco Law Library. This work has been co-published simultaneously as Legal Reference Services Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 3, 2001.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes bibliographical references (123-132) and index.