12 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
The two surveys included both attitudinal ques-
tions about the perceived roles and responsibilities
of ARL libraries in long-term print retention, as well
as data-informed questions about actual retention
rates and investments. Information about actual in-
vestments and perceived value can further shape the
development of current and emerging programs.
Sixty-two of the 125 ARL member libraries (50%)
responded to the member survey and 23 of the shared
print programs (61%) responded to the managers/
coordinators survey by the June 9 deadline. Because
many more programs are currently in development,
data was collected from shared print programs in any
stage of planning or maturity. Actual print retention
statistics and investments were reported for a subset
of shared print programs (10 of 23), which tended to
represent programs that have been operational for
several years.
Definitions
For the purposes of this study, shared print program is
defined as a concerted effort among a group of librar-
ies to collaboratively collect or retain print collections
and provide access to them.
A shared print coordinator is any person who coor-
dinates a shared print program, whether or not that
is an official job title. Such individuals often organize,
advise, or support some form of multi-institutional
governance group(s) and provide strategic, policy,
analytic, or cross-institutional management support.
An archive holder refers to an institution that as-
sumes long-term responsibilities for print retention on
behalf of a broader group it is generally construed as
the location that retains materials and dedicates on-
going staff and space to manage and house the print
collection. An archive holder may be a storage facility
or a full-service library that retains materials in place.
We acknowledge that the term “archive” is not used
in its strictest technical sense, but to refer generally to
items brought together physically or virtually in an
intentionally retained and shared collection.
An institution that contributes items but does not
house them is a contributing library, and while impor-
tant and essential in many programs, these libraries
are not counted as archive holders. Some libraries
may contribute holdings to a stored collection and
also retain some holdings in place these libraries are
counted as archive holders by virtue of their retained
collections held in place.
Every shared print collection program is different,
representing a variety of stakeholders and coordina-
tion methods. In particular, each program has a dif-
ferent perspective on what it means to move materials
elsewhere, to cede some level of collection manage-
ment responsibility to a collective, and to be account-
able to the collective for retained holdings as they
become scarcer. A common vocabulary to describe
the various roles does not yet exist, which was occa-
sionally noted in some responses to survey questions.
When statistics are reported regarding numbers of
institutions serving as holders, shared storage facili-
ties or storage facilities that house some shared col-
lections are counted once and identified as “ARL” or
“non-ARL” based on the entity that administers the
facility. The authors acknowledge that this approach
may undercount the number of institutions that con-
tribute holdings in programs where holdings are ac-
tively consolidated from multiple institutions into
storage facilities (e.g., CIC, CRL JSTOR, WRLC, UC
Shared Print, WEST, Five Colleges, MLAC, FLARE),
but it fairly accurately counts the institutions that ded-
icate staff to the long-term management of such col-
lections. When non-archive holders are reported, they
are institutions that explicitly identified in that role
or that program coordinators identified in that role.
Scale and Scope of Shared Print Collections:
Archiving Progress
Shared print arrangements have certainly achieved
large scale in terms of quantity of print resources re-
tained and distribution of responsibilities. Shared
print programs are observed now across the spectrum
of libraries in higher education. Most shared print
programs that responded to this survey are focused
on cooperative collection management, not collec-
tion development. Most are focused on journals and
monographs, though some other physical formats, like
microforms, were reported.
Approximately 6.1 million print volumes1are sub-
ject to some form of explicit shared retention agree-
ment. The aggregate shared print resource for jour-
nals is estimated at 27,180 titles (including duplicates),
The two surveys included both attitudinal ques-
tions about the perceived roles and responsibilities
of ARL libraries in long-term print retention, as well
as data-informed questions about actual retention
rates and investments. Information about actual in-
vestments and perceived value can further shape the
development of current and emerging programs.
Sixty-two of the 125 ARL member libraries (50%)
responded to the member survey and 23 of the shared
print programs (61%) responded to the managers/
coordinators survey by the June 9 deadline. Because
many more programs are currently in development,
data was collected from shared print programs in any
stage of planning or maturity. Actual print retention
statistics and investments were reported for a subset
of shared print programs (10 of 23), which tended to
represent programs that have been operational for
several years.
Definitions
For the purposes of this study, shared print program is
defined as a concerted effort among a group of librar-
ies to collaboratively collect or retain print collections
and provide access to them.
A shared print coordinator is any person who coor-
dinates a shared print program, whether or not that
is an official job title. Such individuals often organize,
advise, or support some form of multi-institutional
governance group(s) and provide strategic, policy,
analytic, or cross-institutional management support.
An archive holder refers to an institution that as-
sumes long-term responsibilities for print retention on
behalf of a broader group it is generally construed as
the location that retains materials and dedicates on-
going staff and space to manage and house the print
collection. An archive holder may be a storage facility
or a full-service library that retains materials in place.
We acknowledge that the term “archive” is not used
in its strictest technical sense, but to refer generally to
items brought together physically or virtually in an
intentionally retained and shared collection.
An institution that contributes items but does not
house them is a contributing library, and while impor-
tant and essential in many programs, these libraries
are not counted as archive holders. Some libraries
may contribute holdings to a stored collection and
also retain some holdings in place these libraries are
counted as archive holders by virtue of their retained
collections held in place.
Every shared print collection program is different,
representing a variety of stakeholders and coordina-
tion methods. In particular, each program has a dif-
ferent perspective on what it means to move materials
elsewhere, to cede some level of collection manage-
ment responsibility to a collective, and to be account-
able to the collective for retained holdings as they
become scarcer. A common vocabulary to describe
the various roles does not yet exist, which was occa-
sionally noted in some responses to survey questions.
When statistics are reported regarding numbers of
institutions serving as holders, shared storage facili-
ties or storage facilities that house some shared col-
lections are counted once and identified as “ARL” or
“non-ARL” based on the entity that administers the
facility. The authors acknowledge that this approach
may undercount the number of institutions that con-
tribute holdings in programs where holdings are ac-
tively consolidated from multiple institutions into
storage facilities (e.g., CIC, CRL JSTOR, WRLC, UC
Shared Print, WEST, Five Colleges, MLAC, FLARE),
but it fairly accurately counts the institutions that ded-
icate staff to the long-term management of such col-
lections. When non-archive holders are reported, they
are institutions that explicitly identified in that role
or that program coordinators identified in that role.
Scale and Scope of Shared Print Collections:
Archiving Progress
Shared print arrangements have certainly achieved
large scale in terms of quantity of print resources re-
tained and distribution of responsibilities. Shared
print programs are observed now across the spectrum
of libraries in higher education. Most shared print
programs that responded to this survey are focused
on cooperative collection management, not collec-
tion development. Most are focused on journals and
monographs, though some other physical formats, like
microforms, were reported.
Approximately 6.1 million print volumes1are sub-
ject to some form of explicit shared retention agree-
ment. The aggregate shared print resource for jour-
nals is estimated at 27,180 titles (including duplicates),
