Notes from WEST’s July 2021 Member Meeting
WEST’s 2021 summer member meeting was held virtually on July 29. Meeting participants included a number of returning and first-time attendees, and included staff representing Archive Builders, Archive Holders, and Non-Archive Holders as well as WEST’s Rosemont Alliance partner programs. Additionally, WEST invited non-member institutions affiliated with SCELC, the Orbis Cascade Alliance, and GWLA to join the meeting.
The agenda for this meeting was a departure from recent meetings. The WEST project team offered a brief refresher on the WEST program as well as updates on key program activities, but the bulk of the meeting was devoted to a presentation and discussion led by Roger Schonfeld of Ithaka S+R on the value and challenges of library collaboration. In his presentation Mr Schonfeld briefly discussed the history of collective collections and historical pressures that spurred new ways of thinking about inter-institutional and -organizational collaboration, as well as the tradeoffs libraries may face when considering collaborations with commercial organizations that may not be bound by the same structural impediments vs collaborations with other libraries that hold similar principled values.
For anyone who was unable to attend the meeting in person, or who wants to revisit any part of it, please see the meeting recording, presentation slide deck, and discussion document with attendee comments and questions during Mr Schonfeld’s presentation: