Building the VALE Last Copy Collection Poster Session

Abstract: Members of the VALE Academic Library Consortium in New Jersey reported on the innovative VALE Last Copy Collection (VLCC) project, which uses disparate integrated library systems' circulation, cataloging, and collection management functionalities to identify unique items in their circulating collections, then tag, monitor, and track them cooperatively through the single interface of the virtual VALE Last Copy Collection in the JerseyCAT Union Catalog.

Full Description: Poster session presenters described an innovative project to preserve last copy items in the circulating collections of New Jersey academic libraries using JerseyCat, the online virtual catalog of the New Jersey State Library, and define a virtual collection for collaborative item tracking of last copy items.
Background: In 2004, the VALE New Jersey academic library consortium convened a group of librarians to address the question of preservation of last copy items in their collections. The group presented their findings in a white paper,"Collections Under Stress: Developing a Coordinated Response to Ensuring Future Access to Print Holdings in New Jersey" with highlights online at: http://www.wpunj.edu/vale/conf2005/Collections_Under_Stress_files/frame.htm . One of the white paper's conclusions was: "Creating the necessary policies and procedures to retain last copy print on a statewide level is critical to New Jersey's long term access to research level resources."

The VLCC Program: The VALE Last Copy Collection Program is the outcome of this library group's investigations into existing models of virtual last copy collections, such as the ASERL Cooperative Virtual Storage Proposal (See: http://www.aserl.org/projects/v-stor-overview.htm ) and the RLG Policy Frameworks for Shared Print Collections (See http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/collectivecoll/sharedprint/default.htm .)

Presenters described their work as members of the VALE Last Copy Program, which ran an initial Pilot Project with Rutgers University Libraries and William Paterson University Library. The first task the pilot project members agreed upon was to test and document how to:

• identify last copy books in the circulating collection, establish local policies for labeling these items,
  
• edit the MARC records according to VALE Last Copy Collection Guidelines; and
  
• recruit and train new libraries to add items to the VLCC.

The VLCC Program libraries identify books for the collection using the VALE Last Copy Guidelines, which are online at: http://netdrive.montclair.edu/%7Emallerym/VALELastCopyGuidelines.html

The VALE Last Copy Collection Program presenters will show how through collaboration and the use of existing technologies, they are able to work together to identify and preserve these last copy items for continued access for researchers now and in the future.

VLCC Poster Session Learning Outcomes:

1. Think outside the box to create new methods of collaborative collection management
   
2. Identify models for virtual last copy collections
   
3. Define library and user-centered benefits for shared last copy preservation programs

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