Shared print partnerships

Shared print is “the practice whereby a group of libraries share responsibility for managing print materials. This will include a commitment to retaining specific materials for an agreed upon period of time”. (1)

Shared print programs can take different forms. In a distributed program, libraries commit to retaining items on their shelves, ensuring long-term access. Alternatively, a centralized program involves libraries sending materials to a shared storage facility for preservation.

Ultimately, shared print is “the collaborative effort of libraries, institutions, centers, and consortia to document, preserve, and provide long-term widespread access to their print collections. Shared print work also aims to reduce duplication across collections, resulting in more manageable collection sizes for participating members” (Shared Print Partnership).2

In alignment with our strategic objectives, the University of Ottawa Library participates in multiple shared print programs dedicated to preserving the Canadian scholarly record, as outlined below.

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Shared print
What is Shared Print

Why are we investing in shared print programs?

Collaborative management of collection growth: The exponential increase in publishing outputs over the past century has made it increasingly difficult for libraries to maintain comprehensive print collections. Shared collections enable library networks to broaden their holdings without relying on for-profit partners.

Long-term preservation of scholarship: Shared print programs establish retention commitments, to ensure that participating libraries uphold their responsibility to preserve materials for future access.

Adherence to international bibliographic standards: OCLC’s Detailed Metadata Guidelines clarify how partner retention commitments are documented and shared with the global library community, reducing the risk of loss due to uncoordinated weeding.

Working together to mitigate risk: Through active participation in Canadian and North American consortia, partners foster responsible stewardship of academic library collections and prevent costly duplication. They collaborate on policies and best practices for collection analysis, scarcity management, discovery, disclosure, preservation standards, assessment, resource sharing, and access.

Seamless access to important collections: Shared print initiatives expand the number of items patrons can request through the library’s catalogue, with materials delivered either electronically to a patron’s device or physically to a specified library location.

Equity of access: Integrating shared print into the lifecycle of library collections enhances accessibility, enriches the scholarly record, and increases opportunities for research and teaching.3

Our shared print programs

  • Keep@Downsview (K@D): is a collaboration between the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, McMaster University, Queen's University, Western University, and Memorial University. This initiative preserves library materials in a centralized, high-density storage facility located at the University of Toronto's Downsview campus. Established in 2014, K@D aims to safeguard and maintain valuable collections built over time, ensuring their availability for future generations.

  • North/ Nord: is a pan-Canadian collaboration that coordinates shared print initiatives of national significance across public, academic, and government libraries in Canada. The University of Ottawa participates as a member of K@D.

  • Membership led programs: The University of Ottawa contributes to several membership-led programs, both nationally and internationally, including the Centre for Research Libraries and HathiTrust. These programs support shared print initiatives by developing database and registry infrastructure, hosting forums for collaborative learning, collecting and digitizing materials, and establishing standards and governance. Our library remains committed to supporting these programs by contributing expertise and materials to address gaps in these collections.

How can I discover and borrow shared print items?

K@D items display in our library catalogue, Omni, for seamless borrowing. Users can request complete volumes or monographs to be sent to a library location of their choice for pick-up by clicking the “place a hold” button, or have an article or chapter scanned and sent via email by clicking the “scan on demand” button.

Retention commitments for items from other shared print programs are recorded in WorldCat as shared print retention commitments and can be explored using FirstSearch.  

A screenshot from the library website, showing how to request documents for pick-up or scan on demand

Frequently asked questions

Acknowledgment: We thank McMaster University Libraries and the Keep@Downsview coordinating committee for granting permission to adapt their original communications material for this page and FAQ. 

1 - Partnership for shared book collections (2023). Shared print 101 for new program officers. 

2 - Shared print. In Shared Print Glossary, Shared Print Partnership.

3- Keep@Downsview Coordinating Committee (2025). Strength in Sharing: The Keep@Downsview Shared Print Program Partnership. [Webinar]. Keep@Downsview.

4- Stearns, S., Weltin, H., Wohlers, A., and Wood, A. (2021, March 22). Inclusive Models to Sustain Shared Print and the Future of Print Collections. [Webinar]. Inclusive Models to Sustain Shared Print and the Future of Print Collections. 


 

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