DRAFT 3 October 24, 2008
New York State Resource Sharing Guiding Principles: adapted from the “Rethinking Resources Sharing Manifesto” [http://www.rethinkingresourcesharing.org/manifesto.html] and the IDS Project Contract

Introduction:

Library systems, authorized in Education Law by the State Legislature and governed by the regulations of the Commissioner of Education, provide many services aimed at improving the quality of resource sharing in New York State. The Reference and Research Library Resources (3Rs) systems, particularly, were chartered to provide a means for the development of interlibrary cooperative plans and services. Regional resource sharing efforts comprise important elements of their work.


In addition to the funding for the general resource sharing activities of the three types of library systems - public library systems, school library systems and the 3Rs - the State's investment in regional resource sharing is evident in State-funded programs such as the Regional Bibliographic Data Bases program( RBDB), the Medical Information Services program (MISP), the Hospital Library Services program (HLSP), and Coordinated Collection Development (CCDA).


The Regents Commission on Libraries report, Meeting the Needs of all New Yorkers, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/rcols/finalrpt.htm, which has been adopted in its entirety by the Board of Regents as statewide policy for libraries, affirmed the importance of resource sharing in its first and eighth recommendations. In 2007, the Regents reaffirmed their policy commitment to implementation of the report's ten recommendations.

In June 2007, members of New York’s library community came together in Saratoga Springs for a Resource Sharing Summit to discuss and share ideas regarding the future of resource sharing in New York State. To continue the conversations, outcomes of the summit included:

• Creation of a Discovery Working Group and a Delivery Working Group.
• Plans for a second resource sharing summit, scheduled for October 23-24, 2008, at the Holiday inn in Saratoga Springs.

[Note: changes in boldface as per discussion on October 24, 2008 at the Resource Sharing Summit]

Goals:

1. Individuals can find easily identify and locate resources available from any library, library system or the State Library, in New York State.
2. Individuals can obtain access to what they find no matter where they find it.
3. Individuals can make choices based on time, format, delivery method and cost

Guiding Principles:

1. Libraries, library systems and the State Library will continue to explore the development of a rapid, effective resource-sharing system among librariesin New York State.
2. Libraries, library systems and the New York State Library will work together to implement and objectively evaluate innovative resource-sharing strategies, policies and procedures that will optimize mutual access to the information resources in libraries in the State.
3. Libraries, library systems and the York State Library will support resource sharing with the funds, staff, training, equipment, technical support, time and work space required to support the goals of resource sharing in New York State.
4. Restrictions on resource sharing shall only be imposed as necessary by individual institutions with the goal that the lowest-possible-barriers-to-fulfillment is presented to the user.
5. Library users shall be given appropriate options for delivery format, method of delivery, and fulfillment type, including loan, copy, digital copy, and purchase.
6. Rather than refuse to provide services, libraries should offer service at a fair and should strive to achieve services that are less expensive than commercial services, e.g. bookshops