UC Libraries Next-Generation Technical Services

Next-Generation Technical Services (NGTS) is an initiative developed by the University Librarians and SOPAG to redesign technical services workflows across the full range of library formats in order to take advantage of new system-wide capabilities and tools, minimize redundant activities, improve efficiency, and foster innovation in collection development and management to the benefit of UC library users.   var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-26470537-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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The University of California Libraries Council of University of Librarians has accepted the final report of the NGTS management team, with acknowledgement of impressive accomplishments and thanks to all who participated and contributed to the success of the NGTS initiatives. The NGTS Management Team established a model for cross-functional working groups and project management that will continue via the new UC Libraries Advisory Structure.

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NGTS 2013 Report & Lessons Learned

University of California Libraries NEXT-GENERATION TECHNICAL SERVICES: SYNCING UP IS HARD TO DO Martha Hruska, UC San Diego ALA LLAMA SASS Meeting June 29, 2013

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NGTS Pilot Projects and UC Libraries Digital Collection Project Now Underway

Three strategic action pilots have been launched this spring to test and expand shared collection management services. As the UC Libraries’ new advisory structure is implemented, these pilot projects will transition to the oversight of Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management.

In addition, with CoUL approval of the development of a UC Libraries Digital Collection systemwide service, including endorsement of the technical model as proposed by NGTS POT 1, that project will also be transitioned into the new structure. The California Digital Library (CDL) will assume immediate responsibility for creating an implementation project team with oversight under Strategic Action Group 2: Access, Discovery & Infrastructure.

Pilot Project 1: Systemwide Consortial Shelf Ready Plan

UC Riverside is leading a pilot to investigate a consortial shelf ready contract with YBP Library Services (Baker & Taylor). If sufficient cost savings cannot be achieved, the team will investigate opportunities for other consortial shelf ready arrangements of print collections.

The team held a launch meeting with the NGTS Management Team in early May. They have identified campus contacts, as well as a CDL negotiator and the YBP representative to engage in discussions.

Pilot Project 2: Cooperative Cataloging of Non-print Formats (Audio CDs)

UC San Diego is leading a project to investigate the cost effectiveness of consolidating the cataloging of audio CDs at a single campus, as compared to the costs of vendors’ cataloging services.

The team has announced the project to UC music librarians and catalogers. They are currently developing a vendor proposal, including draft standards for catalog records.

Pilot Project 3: Expanded UC Shared Cataloging of Electronic Resources

UC Irvine is leading a pilot to extend the workflows employed by the Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) at UCSD to other UC campuses for selected Tier 1 or Tier 2 resources. The project team will also develop mechanisms to identify common locally licensed resources and to test the application of the SCP workflows and processes to resources which are licensed by more than one UC campus.

Thus far, the UCI team has reviewed and adapted current SCP workflows and procedures for use at UCI and begun processing one file of records.

UC Libraries Digital Collection: Project Team Launched

The implementation team has been launched and project plans for the major components of the service are being developed. Information about the implementation is publicly available at:

https://wiki.library.ucsf.edu/display/UCLDC/UCLDC+Implementation.

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NGTS Update: February 2013

POT 1 Build the system-wide infrastructure for digital collections

The Systemwide Operations Planning and Advisory Group (SOPAG) has endorsed two reports that are components of POT 1 work on developing a proposal for a systemwide infrastructure for the UC Digital Collection:

The Lightning Team 3B report evaluates the ability of four existing systemwide access systems to meet the discovery and display requirements of the UC Libraries Digital Collection: WorldCat Local, Calisphere, UCSD Digital Library Collections, and the UC Office of the President's online digital image repository. The team found that no one system meets the majority of the requirements, but that each has strengths that could be referenced in the design and development of the UC Libraries Digital Collection access interface. The team also recommends that because WorldCat Local is explicitly a discovery system and not a display system and because it is so widely used across the UC campuses, it should be used in concert with the final digital collection system. Attention should be paid to ensuring that metadata records can be efficiently ingested into WorldCat.

Lightning Team 3C scoped out the extent and feasibility of harvesting or crawling solutions for achieving the discovery and display requirements identified through the work of previous Lightning Teams. The team aimed to identify reasonable mechanisms for getting new collections included in the UC Libraries Digital Collection service’s earliest incarnation, even if that first incarnation just attended to discovery and display services. The LT3C report presents a scope of work estimate for developing an initial, basic access interface for the UC Libraries Digital Collection with a combination of harvesting, crawling, and a registry. The registry would be designed both to alert the service of new collections and provide a means for capturing collection-level metadata.

POT 1 has developed a proposed model for a systemwide digital assets management system with discovery and display capability. The proposal is being submitted to SOPAG and will be presented to the Council of University Librarians (CoUL) at the February CoUL meeting.

POT 7 Transform collection development practices

The UC Collection Development Committee (CDC) has agreed to oversee the activities of POT 7, "to identify roles and responsibilities for UC subject specialists/curators," given alignment with CDC activities. A POT 7 lightning team has been collecting information regarding duties, skills, knowledge and abilities for a UC subject specialist/curator. The task force is expected to forward its recommendations via CDC later in the spring. CDC will also review the remaining POT 7 tasks for prioritization: a) determine the need for a licensing expert pool or service; b) develop a means to assess the effectiveness of UC shared collection development policies and practices; and c) develop a proposal to assess next-generation subject specialist/curator models.

Strategic Action Projects for 2013

SOPAG is currently identifying campuses to participate in five strategic action projects:

Investigate the cost-savings of a consortial shelf-ready contract based on the RFI elements developed by POT 2.

Assess the effectiveness of system-wide implementation of the Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing developed by POT 3 and test a cooperative strategy for eliminating archival backlogs.

Develop and assess shared cataloging arrangements to eliminate the backlog of Chinese language monographs (20,761 volumes).

Develop and assess workflows for cooperative cataloging of campus audio CD backlogs.

Test the effectiveness of extending the workflows employed by the Shared Cataloging Program at UCSD to other UC campuses for commonly licensed electronic resources: both Tier 1 or Tier 2, as well as identified Tier 3 resources.

A designated campus will serve to take the lead on each of the projects and assign a project lead. A project analyst from the Project Management Working Group will be assigned to each project to support the effort's progress and help assure a consistent approach to assessment and reporting.

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NGTS Update: December 2012

The NGTS Management Team and the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) continue to develop the slate of action projects which will begin in 2013 and build upon the work of the Power of Three groups (POTs).

POT 1 - Build the system-wide infrastructure for digital collections

Lightning Team (LT) 3B was charged with evaluating selected systemwide access systems that could potentially meet the discovery and display requirements of the UC Library Digital Collection (UCLDC), as defined by the work of POT 1 Lightning Teams 1A and 3A. To conduct its evaluation, LT3B created a heuristic that combined widely accepted web usability standards with the discovery and display requirements drafted by LT1A and LT3A. Working in small groups, the team evaluated each system against the requirements. The groups organized data into requirements categories and then analyzed the findings by a differing combination of team members. The team's overall findings were that no one system met the majority of the requirements, but that each had areas of strength that could be referenced in the design and development of the UCLDC access interface.

Lightning Team 3B has submitted a draft report of its work to POT 1, which will review and provide feedback before the end of December.

Lightning Team 3C is charged with exploring the amount of effort required to implement a crawling and/or harvesting access system that can provide a springboard for a future UC Libraries Digital Collection (UCLDC) access system.

To fulfill the charge, LT3C developed an experimental system that combines harvesting and crawling strategies to build a very basic discovery and display system. It also developed a prototype of a registry concept designed both to alert the UCLDC of new collections and to provide a mechanism for capturing collection level metadata. The experimental system was evaluated against a refined list of discovery and display requirements and assessed in terms of the relative worth of such an effort. The registry concept (supported by the previous work of POT1 LT3A) has been vetted through a survey of collection owners.

POTs 3, 4, and 5 conclude work

The NGTS Management Team has thanked and discharged POT 3 for its work to accelerate the processing of archival and manuscript collections. SOPAG has asked the Heads of Special Collections (HOSC) to implement the Archivists' Toolkit Recommendations produced by POT 3. POT 4 has also completed its work on simplifying the recharge process and the Acquisitions Common Interest Group (ACIG)  will continue to monitor the process for scheduled recharges for CDL co-investments. SOPAG has forwarded the final report of POT 5 evaluating the decision-making process for Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) cataloging priorities to the Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC) for adoption of its recommendations.

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NGTS Update: October 2012

In September, the NGTS Management Team proposed a slate of 2012-13 projects focused on implementing, further developing, and assessing various models of UC Libraries’ shared technical services operations to the Council of University Librarians. The Council of University Librarians (CoUL) has discussed and responded to the proposal. The Management Team is currently reviewing next steps and developing details on proposed items approved by CoUL.

POT 1 Build the system-wide infrastructure for digital collections

POT 1 has created an inventory of current Digital Assets Management Systems (DAMS) with discovery and display technologies utilized on the campuses. The inventory is one step in identifying potential models for a systemwide DAMS and determining if there is an existing product that meets the requirements. POT 1 delivered a gap analysis of the Merritt system to the Management Team conducted by Lightning Team (LT) 1B. The LT1B report concludes that Merritt would be an effective preservation repository for a UC Libraries systemwide DAMS. While many campuses utilize Merritt for ETDS, few currently use the service to manage or preserve other digital collections. Given that most of the campus libraries do not have a local solution in place for the long-term preservation of digital content, nearly all showed interest in utilizing a centrally deployed system. The report notes potential barriers to moving to a centrally supported system as well as desired enhancements in order for Merritt to meet campuses' requirements.

POT 1 LT3A was charged to identify and analyze existing digital collections in the UC Libraries for inclusion in the future UC Libraries Digital Collection (UCLDC). To accomplish this task, LT3A undertook the following:

Developed guidelines for collections to be included in the UCLDC and a way to publicize resulting decisions.

Identified existing UC Libraries digital collections with potential for inclusion in the UCLDC, including both collections in need of a hosting solution and those ready to be harvested for discovery/display.

Identified mechanisms for continual discovery of additional materials.  

LT3A developed and applied a set of criteria to approximately 750 digital collections stewarded by the UC Libraries. Using this process, they identified sixty-four collections across the UC Libraries that if ingested to the UC Libraries Digital Collection could be considered a significant achievement. Ultimately, the cost of contributing existing collections will depend on the workflows developed and how they will minimize the need for extensive technical skills and staff resources. The final report from the lightning team has been approved by the Systemwide Operation and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) and distributed to the Collection Development Committee (CDC) as a resource for planning collaborative digitization strategies.

Currently, POT1 LT3B is evaluating the ability of selected existing systemwide access systems to meet the discovery and display features and requirements of the UC Library Digital Collection, as defined by the work of POT 1 Lightning Teams 1A and 3A. Systems to be evaluated include: UC’s Melvyl version of WorldCat Local, Calisphere, UCSD Digital Library Collections (DLC), and the UC Office of the President's online digital image repository.

Based on the discovery and display requirements from Lightning Teams 1A and 3A, LT 3C is developing a scope of work estimate for building an access system based on OAI-PMH harvesting and/or crawling of identified collections.

POT 2 Transform cataloging practices

The NGTS Management Team has thanked and discharged POT 2.1 and 2.2 teams upon the completion of their charges. Final deliverables from POT 2 are available on the NGTS Power of Three Groups page.

POT 3 Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections

SOPAG has endorsed the Archivists' Toolkit Recommendations produced by POT 3 LT 1 and has asked Heads of Special Collections (HOSC) to take responsibility for implementing the recommendations. Lightning Team 2 has completed and published the "Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries," which includes the recommendation to use the "Single-Level Minimum" guidelines of the Society of American Archivists' Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) to create brief collection-level records in MARC and/or EAD.

UC Irvine Special Collections and Archives recently announced the completion of a major project to promote the discovery of all of its archival holdings by following these practices. Researchers can now search the Online Archive of California, Antpac, or Melvyl to find information about both processed and unprocessed holdings. Procedures are in place to allow access to unprocessed collections. The project surfaced 219 previously hidden archival collections to the public, comprising over 1,250 linear feet of material. 

POT 4 Simplify the recharge process

POT 4 has vetted the "Library Financial Data Best Practices" document with library business officers and delivered the final document to the NGTS Management Team for review. The task of conducting a brief follow-up survey on the scheduled recharge process for CDL co-investments (formerly referred to as the "deposit system") will be transferred to the Acquisitions Common Interest Group (ACIG) as POT 4 closes out its work.

POT 5 Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging

POT 5 has delivered a final report evaluating current SCP priorities to the NGTS Management Team. The report is currently being reviewed by SOPAG.

POT 6 Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations

The NGTS Management Team has thanked and discharged POT 6 upon completion of its charge. POT 6 presented the findings from its final report to the Council of University Librarians, which have served to inform next steps and models for implementing shared collections services operations.

POT 7 Transform collection development practices

POT 7 has developed a consultation plan to gather input from major stakeholders on the evolving role of the bibliographer or subject specialist and will continue implementation of the consultation plan. POT 7 Lightning Team 2 will be seeking input from various UC stakeholder groups: CoUL, Heads of Public Services (HOPS), CDC, Heads of Technical Services (HOTS), HR officers, bibliographer groups, CDL Licensing, CDL Publishing & Access, UC3, as well as faculty, graduate students and undergraduates. In addition, LT 2 selected six academic libraries outside the UC system with whom they will consult.

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NGTS Update: August 2012

UC Libraries Next-Generation Technical Services Transitions to 2012-13

Over the summer, the NGTS Management Team and the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) have been reviewing the work of the Power of Three (POT) groups with an eye towards transitioning to focused projects that will implement, further develop, and assess various models of UC Libraries' shared technical services operations in 2012-13. While POT 1 is on a different timetable with a projected completion date in spring 2013, the other Power of Three groups have largely wrapped up their work and will be phased out this fall. The NGTS Management Team has proposed a slate of projects for the Council of University Librarians to review and decide upon when they meet in early September.

POT 1 Build the system-wide infrastructure for digital collections

The overarching charge of POT 1 is to build the systemwide infrastructure to support digitized and born digital UC collections. POT 1 Lightning Team 1A assumed responsibility for identifying the critical functional requirements of a system-wide DAMS with a discovery and display system that will meet the needs of those UC campus libraries that do not yet have one. The Lightning Team has completed its work and the NGTS Management Team has approved its deliverable: a requirements document for a systemwide DAMS with a discovery and display system.

In total, seventeen individuals from each of the ten UC campus libraries were interviewed by lightning team members, with the goal of understanding current workflow, assessing need, and identifying critical service and system requirements. A defined set of questions were explored and interviews lasted for approximately one hour. Interviewees were provided an opportunity to respond to the draft document before it was finalized.

The requirements document reflects the critical functionalities that should be met in the initial phase of building a UC Libraries systemwide DAMS, including discovery and display. A system that meets the proposed requirements will fulfill the essential needs of those campus libraries that do not yet have a DAMS / discovery and delivery system. The requirements document will continue to evolve and inform the ongoing work of POT 1.

Next, POT 1's Lightning Team 1C will model and propose a DAMS technology stack based on the requirements document. It is performing a gap analysis of the Merritt repository and developing an inventory of current DAMS technologies used by campuses. The amount of resources required to implement the proposed DAMS technology stack cannot be estimated until the work of POT 1 LT 1C is complete.     

POT 2 Transform cataloging practices

POT 2 has completed the "UC Bibliographic Standards for Cooperative, Vendor, and Campus Backlog Cataloging" and the deliverable has been approved by NGTS Management Team and the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG).

The "UC Bibliographic Standards" provide the UC Libraries with guidance on consortial and vendor cataloging for bibliographically controlled materials, and define reasonable alternatives to full-level cataloging for reducing backlogs of both bibliographically and archivally controlled materials.

The document was vetted extensively with HOTS, HOPS, CDC, POT 3, POT 5, and POT 6. The Standards will be a living document owned and maintained by the Heads of Technical Services (HOTS) advisory group.

POT 3 Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections

POT 3 has reviewed a draft of the "More Product, Less Process (MPLP) Implementation Manual" with key stakeholder groups such as the Heads of Special Collections. POT 3 is incorporating feedback into the draft manual. It is also investigating existing processing metrics programs in order to develop a methodology for assessing implementation of the guidelines.

POT 4 Simplify the recharge process

POT 4 is vetting the "Library Financial Data Best Practices" document with the Library Business Officers. The POT will finalize the document in August. It is also developing a plan for evaluating implementation of the best practices.

POT 5 Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging

The final report of POT 5 Lightning Team 1, "Assess the Benefits and Risks of Stopping the Distribution of Bibliographic Records to the Ten Campuses for their Local OPACs" has been posted. The POT will complete its evaluation of current Shared Cataloging Program cataloging priorities and make recommendations by the end of summer.

POT 6 Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations

The NGTS Management Team has reviewed the comprehensive information gathered by POT 6 on technical services expertise and needs across the Libraries, including the Study of Shared Collections Services Projects report by Lightning Team 1A, to develop the slate of NGTS pilot projects proposed for implementation in 2012-13.

POT 7 - Transform collection development practices

POT 7 Lightning Team 1 has completed an analysis of a sample of 2011-12 job postings for librarians with collection development responsibilities. The analysis to determine desirable qualifications is one step in POT 7's work on redefining the role of the bibliographer. Lightning Team 2 is beginning to develop a consultation plan to gather input from stakeholders on this issue.

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NGTS Review, June 2012

Six of the Power of Three groups (POTs) have been charged and actively working since August 2011. Due to the complexity of "Developing policies and practices to implement a technical infrastructure for collaborative UC digital services," POT 1 did not begin until January 2012.

To date, the groups have continued to build on the work of the earlier phases of NGTS as directed by the priorities set in the Council of University Librarians (CoUL) December 10, 2010 review. The goals of these POTs are to find ways to make library technical services more efficient and to leverage expertise throughout UC.

Proposal for Financial Infrastructure to Support Collaboration

In addition, the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) submitted to CoUL a report, “Toward a Financial Model and Process in Support of UC Library Collaboration: Proposal and Planning for Implementation FY 2012-2013." The proposal recommends a well-defined financial structure to support non-collection collaborations and includes funding model criteria and a model decision-making process that would align funding with the UC Libraries Systemwide Plan and Priorities.

CoUL has formally acknowledged receipt of the report and will be discussing the report’s recommendations over the coming months. As Ginny Steel, chair of CoUL, notes, “The document is a useful overview of previous and existing financial arrangements and also presents a helpful outline of issues related to our financial infrastructure—or lack thereof.” The report underscores the need for a stable financial structure as paramount for the success of current and future collaborative activities such as Next-Generation Technical Services.

POT 1 Build the system-wide infrastructure for digital collections

POT 1 has been working on a requirements document for a system-wide Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) with Discovery/Delivery and is conducting follow-up discussions to test and confirm the findings of the first phase of requirements gathering. Once there is agreement on requirements, the POT will submit the document to the NGTS Management Team and SOPAG for sign-off. Lightning Team 1.B has begun to perform a gap analysis of the Merritt repository for use as a systemwide DAMS. Lightning Team 1.C has been charged to develop potential technical models for a system-wide DAMS with Discovery/Delivery. Lightning Team 5.B has drafted a rights management framework document that is being reviewed by UCLA collections staff.

POT 2 Transform cataloging practices

The POT has submitted a report to the NGTS Management Team with shelf-ready recommendations. The Management Team will ask POT 2 to recommend a Strategic Action Pilot to be incorporated into next steps for NGTS and will include a Chinese shelf-ready materials pilot on the list of projects for next year. The POT will complete its work on a Bibliographic Record Standard by July.

POT 3 Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections

POT 3 is wrapping up this summer: it is gathering feedback on Archivists' Toolkit (AT) recommendations and has drafted a More Product, Less Process (MPLP) manual that will be reviewed by Heads of Special Collections (HOSC) in July. The Management Team will ask POT 3 to recommend a Strategic Action Pilot to assess application of MPLP and Archivists' Toolkit (AT) in the coming year.

POT 4 Simplify the recharge process

POT 4 has largely completed its charge and has gone on hiatus given the fiscal close. It has sent the Library Financial Data Best Practices Document to the Acquisitions Common Interest Group (ACIG) to be vetted by Library Business Officers after fiscal close. The POT will finalize the document by August. The Management Team recommends that monitoring implementation of the "deposit account" recharge process be included in the SPOT responsible for developing a stable funding model.

POT 5 Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging

POT 5 has completed its assessment of whether efficiencies might be gained if record distribution by the Shared Cataloging Program were eliminated. It has determined that SCP record distribution should be continued and the Management Team and SOPAG have agreed with this recommendation. Instead of pursuing this direction of "maximizing efficiency" of an already streamlined operation, the Management Team will recommend a Strategic Action Pilot be considered that would model other campuses taking responsibility for doing shared cataloging. The Management Team will ask POT 5 over the summer to complete its remaining task of evaluating current SCP cataloging priorities and to recommend a Strategic Action Pilot that could test an additional, alternative model for system-wide shared cataloging.

POT 6 Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations

All POT 6 Lightning Teams have completed their reports on current backlogs, technical services tools, and available expertise. POT 6 has extracted possible pilot projects from its analysis of the Lightning Team reports and has established a definition of a pilot project and proposal for pilot assessment. The Management Team will coordinate the review of POT 6 proposed pilot projects to be conducted and assessed in 2012-13. Assessment of the pilots will establish recommended models that will work long-term.

POT 7 - Transform collection development practices

POT 7 has completed its work building an Inventory of Cooperative Collection Development Activities and recommended a strategy for keeping that inventory up to date. The group has charged lightning teams to conduct work on redefining the role of the bibliographer. The POT will complete its work on the role of the bibliographer through the remainder of 2012; these activities will need to be tracked and carried through by the Collection Development Committee (CDC) over the long-term. Management Team will recommend that CDC prioritize proposed Strategic Action Pilots emerging from the work of POTs 2, 3, 5, and 6.

Process for POT Recommendations

As Lightning Teams and Power of Three groups have been completing their deliverables, and given the number of teams and charges under NGTS, the Management Team and SOPAG have outlined the process for handling POT recommendations. While adjustments may continue to be made to the process, the document lays out for all the expectations for response to, action on, and communication of recommendations emerging from the POTs.

Next Steps for the NGTS Implementation Initiative

This summer, the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) will work together with the NGTS Management Team to:

Revisit the Management Team and POT operating structure, including implications for project management. Refine or consolidate POTs to build on reports and surveys that will be complete by July 2012. Rethink the Management Team such that each member serves as a liaison to a Strategic Action Pilot (or POT).

Agree on strategic scenarios for the traditional technical services support models (Strategic Action Pilots) to implement and assess by end of 2013. Build on the potential pilot projects identified by POT 6.

Ask CDC to prioritize the backlogs of each campus and also to provide a list of top UC-wide priorities for backlog elimination.

Ask CDC to assess and prioritize proposed Strategic Action Pilots.

Ask CoUL to review and approve pilots.

Ask CoUL to commit campus resources (expertise) and/or financial support to the pilots.

In 2012-13, the Management Team will oversee implementation of the selected pilots along with assessment of each in order to advance Next-Generation Technical Services.

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Toward a Financial Model and Process in Support of UC Library Collaboration

The Council of University Librarians (CoUL) received from the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) a report, "Toward a Financial Model and Process in Support of UC Library Collaboration: Proposal and Planning for Implementation FY 2012-2013" in April 2012. The report is a proposal for a well-defined financial structure to support non-collection collaborations and includes funding model criteria and a model decision-making process that would align funding with the CoUL Priorities for Collective Initiatives.

CoUL has formally acknowledged receipt of the report and will be discussing the report's recommendations over the coming months. As Ginny Steel, chair of CoUL, notes, "The document is a useful overview of previous and existing financial arrangements and also presents a helpful outline of issues related to our financial infrastructure—or lack thereof." The report underscores the need for a stable financial structure as paramount for the success of current and future collaborative activities such as Next-Generation Technical Services.

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NGTS Update: May 2012

Power of Three group activities are being reported as they align with the strategic goals of NGTS: Cooperative Collection Development POT 7 has been working on recommendations to manage and communicate all of the existing cooperative collection development activities within UC. The group is drafting charges for lightning teams to work on the evolving role of the "bibliographer," "subject selector," or "curator." Collaborative Collection Services POT 2 is continuing work on a tentative shelf ready plan. The team has selected promising shelf-ready vendors and is defining criteria for evaluating vendors. POT 3 has documented principles and approaches for "More Product, Less Process" (MPLP) in development of a manual for efficient processing of archival collections. POT 3 is also documenting best practices from UC case studies and defining MPLP baselines for all collection types. The group has charged a lightning team to identify a methodology for capturing processing rates and assessing processing benchmarks. POT 5 submitted its final recommendation regarding Shared Cataloging Program record distribution to the Management Team. The Management Team reviewed the report with the POT members and has forwarded it to the Systemwide Operations and Planning Advisory Group (SOPAG) for consideration. Three lightning teams working under POT 6 have completed their information gathering on current and projected campus staffing needs; existing and needed tools that support collection services operations; and existing backlogs, including special collections. The POT is identifying potential pilot projects based on the information gathered and on existing or recent collection service arrangements. Collaborative Digital Initiatives POT 1 currently has seven lightning teams up and running. The teams are working on development of requirements and technical models for a system-wide Digital Assets Management System (DAMS) along with discovery and delivery functions; criteria and guidelines for collections to be included in the UC Digital Collection; identification of existing digital collections to be included; identification of mechanisms for continual discovery of digital collections; a gap analysis of the Merritt repository service; and a rights management framework. Financial and Technical Infrastructure to Support Collaboration POT 4 reviewed its interim report with the NGTS Management Team. The group made the recommendation that CDL Acquisitions provide monthly reporting to allow campuses to track local expenditures predictably. It has also recommended that the campuses continue to use the recharge system as the method of co-investment. POT 4 plans to conduct a follow-up survey on the new deposit account system after all campuses have used the system for a full fiscal year. After further study on the establishment of a secure website for tracking recharge activities in real time, the POT found that the additional investment of effort to create and maintain such a site would not yield significant benefit, and that consistent monthly reporting from CDL Acquisitions appears to meet campus library needs.

SOPAG has accepted the recommendations from POT 4 and has submitted the recommendation not to pursue creation of the secure website to the Council of University Librarians for consent. POT 4 has also developed Financial Data Best Practices to guide communication between library accounting staff and campus financial staff regarding the recharge process for CDL co-investments. These will be circulated among the campus library accounting officers for review.

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Transformation and quick wins, revisited

Martha Hruska and I presented an update on NGTS to the Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC) Spring 2012 Assembly last week. The theme of the assembly was "Next-Generation Librarianship," and clearly the NGTS initiative is helping to frame thinking and discussion, given that topics examined by participants in breakout sessions included shared service models; lightning teams as a model for working together; communication models; and new skills.

So, among the questions raised at the end of our presentation, one was about what outcomes we saw or expected that would be "transformational" and one was about what "quick wins" we have attained thus far.

What Transformation?

I think the fact that people are examining shared services and lightning teams as a way of working is an indicator that transformation is already happening. Beyond the specific objectives of each of the Power of Three groups, NGTS is about working together as a system to become even more collaborative and effective in how we provide services and resources to those we serve.

Enacting change at the University of California is steering a big ship. NGTS is not just about a few people at the helm, however; thus far, it is mobilizing over 100 members of the UC Libraries' staff: from all campuses, CDL, and from a range of levels and areas of expertise.

We are figuring out ways of working together effectively. We are employing project management, and learning more about it as we go along. We are learning to make full use of online collaboration tools. We are defining new processes for getting things done, including communication and decision-making, and documenting them. We are doing this working from our eleven different locations, without new resources, without the ease of meeting in person or of a quick hallway conversation to work out any kinks or questions.

In short, we are establishing a culture of collaboration and coordination across our system as we learn to move forward concurrently on several complicated initiatives.

What Quick Wins?

At not quite one year since this implementation began, what are some of the quick wins thus far? One is implementation of the deposit system for CDL co-investments across all ten campuses. The Power of Three group 4 charged with that initiative has also identified best practices that can help streamline accounting practices.

Another is the deployment of Archivists' Toolkit across eight of the ten campuses. As we move toward a common platform for some of our operations, there are greater opportunities to share expertise and improve our effective use of tools and technologies.

Power of Three group 6 has compiled existing shared collection services arrangements among the campuses to surface potential models and examples for further development. Power of Three group 7 has compiled and posted an inventory of existing cooperative collection development activities as a foundation for further coordination.

Quick wins are important in terms of building ongoing momentum. But some of the wins are perhaps not as obvious. They include, in my mind, the "softer" but significant steps of establishing working relationships among people at different locations and from different areas of expertise that will be essential for high-functioning, next-generation libraries. —Emily Lin

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NGTS Update: April 2012

POT 1: Build the UC Digital Collection infrastructure

POT 1 has chosen to use the agile methodology for gathering requirements for the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS). The team is using Pivotal Tracker software to track team activities. Several lightning teams have been formed. One is gathering requirements for the DAMS along with digital collection discovery and delivery requirements. Another team is identifying and analyzing existing digital collections. One team will evaluate WorldCat Local for discovery and display, and another lightning team is establishing a rights management framework.

"POT 1 is a highly efficient group that has been able to put structure and specificity around what could be an overwhelming charge," says team member Lisa Schiff. "Team members share a desire to have concrete results from our efforts." Read more about POT 1.

POT 2: Transform cataloging practices

Two lightning teams have completed their work on identifying shelf-ready vendors and gathering campus processing specifications. POT 2 is developing a shelf ready proposal based on the input of lightning teams. A draft of "UC Guidelines for Cooperative, Vendor, and Campus Backlog Cataloging" is nearly ready for broader review.

POT 3: Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections

POT 3 has completed its report and recommendations on implementation of Archivists' Toolkit. The Management Team is reviewing the recommendations. Progress on the development of More Product, Less Process guidelines is also on schedule.

POT 4: Simplify the recharge process

POT 4 has completed its near-term deliverable of implementing a deposit account for CDL co-investments. POT 4 also investigated the process of Interlocation Transfer of Funds to determine if it might be a viable alternative to the recharge process for co-investment accounting. In addressing its second major deliverable, the team looked into issues related to a secure directory for tracking recharge activity in real time. The team submitted an interim report with findings as well as recommendations on best practices in campus accounting to the Management Team.

POT 5: Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging

Lightning team 1 has completed and submitted its report to the POT on Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) record distribution. CAMCIG has also completed its report to POT 5 on monetary and staffing costs of SCP record distribution.

POT 6: Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations

A number of lightning teams have wrapped up their work. One completed an inventory of existing shared staffing agreements and projects, and identified success factors for such collaborations. The other teams have completed their reports on current and projected campus staffing needs, as well as on existing and needed tools. A final team is completing its report on existing backlogs (including Special Collections). From the information gathered, POT 6 will identify possible pilot projects for collaboration.

POT 7: Transform collection development practices

POT 7 has completed charges and proposed memberships for lightning teams to address the roles and responsibilities of UC bibliographers in light of the changing landscape of collection management. The Management Team is reviewing these proposed teams and charges.

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Implementation of Archivists' Toolkit in UC to Accelerate Processing of Archival Collections

One of the NGTS initiatives has been the systemwide deployment of Archivists’ Toolkit (AT) to support efficient processing, description and overall management of archival collections. 

Archivists’ Toolkit Is Largely Deployed

Power of Three (POT) group 3 was charged with developing an implementation plan. Over the winter, a lightning team conducted an assessment of usage and needs within special collections and archives in the UC libraries. To date, eight of the ten UC Libraries have deployed or are currently using the AT. Out of the eight, two (UC Merced and UC San Francisco) are using the California Digital Library’s (CDL) hosted service; the rest have implemented a locally-hosted instance. UC Santa Cruz is planning to implement AT. UC Berkeley Bancroft Library is currently utilizing local systems that are already tailored to collection management and processing workflows.

The team estimates that costs for hosting the Toolkit are relatively low. In addition to the hardware and material costs of hosting the open-source software and back-end SQL database, initial set-up and configuration require fairly minimal IT personnel time. The ongoing maintenance cost is marginal, but the team suggests that costs would incrementally rise to accommodate upgrades, migrations, and release packages.

Given that upfront costs for the locally-hosted instances have already been encumbered, the team does not believe there are significant cost savings for institutions to embark on migrating from existing locally-hosted instances to the CDL service. Nonetheless, the team was able to demonstrate that such a migration would be relatively simple. The CDL service, which currently supports 33 institutions, manages software updates, maintenance, and data recovery processes.

Recommendations: Support Effective Use and Best Practices

In lieu of a deployment and implementation plan, the team identified a need for greater emphasis on the coordination of best practices and use of the application by campuses that have already implemented or plan to implement it in the near-term. Two recommendations to support more effective use of AT throughout the system are:

Constitute a special interest all-campus library group of knowledgeable users from across the campuses (“UC AT User Group”), to facilitate sharing of expertise and support of the application, and

Support in-person, multi-day, highly customized”train the trainer” workshops in the north and south targeted to UC-specific needs, to cultivate the formation of a cross-campus expert user community.

The UC AT User Group would serve as a locus for collaboration, where participants could share information and expertise, exchange solutions and techniques, and cultivate best practices. In addition, the group would be poised to conduct early testing of the forthcoming ArchivesSpace software. 

Training was cited as a key need, based on the team’s assessment work. While there are existing training options for AT users, a “train the trainer” approach offers a number of advantages to those options, where attendees could serve as local expert users and training resources for their local campus processing staff. 

Pending management approval, the team expects to form the UC AT User Group this summer and to conduct the training workshops in summer/fall of 2012.

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Power of Three (POT) 1 begins to build UC Digital Collection infrastructure

As the Power of Three group begins its tasks, team member Lisa Schiff (CDL) discusses the objectives, challenges, and outlook for POT 1.

What do you see to be the goal or desired impact of POT 1's work?

The primary goal of POT 1 is to develop the systemwide infrastructure to support digitized and born digital UC collections, specifically a Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) coupled with an end-user-friendly Discovery and Display (DD) layer. While this infrastructure is intended to be used by all campuses, a primary requirement is to ensure that the system meets the practical needs of campuses that don’t currently have a DAMS in place. This is an exciting effort to ensure that UC can more thoroughly attend to and make available the extensive set of valuable materials throughout the UC system. 

What are some of the challenges that POT 1 will be dealing with?

The POT’s biggest challenge is developing a good understanding of the baseline requirements for a DAMS and discovery/delivery system. By definition, the system is intended to support a diversity of materials that will exist in heterogeneous formats, have differing types and amounts of metadata, and come with varying levels of curatorial support. Additionally, identifying collections and associated owners presents its own challenges. We are currently in the early stages of tackling both of these issues.

What are the strengths of the team or some of the positive outcomes or aspects of team work thus far?

POT 1 is a highly efficient group that has been able to put structure and specificity around what could be an overwhelming charge. Team members share a desire to have concrete results from our efforts and to build something that will solve real problems for our campus colleagues. This inclination, along with a great degree of collegial respect and support, has established a positive tone for the group and has given us momentum as we move along with our work.

What are near-term next steps that people on the campuses will be hearing about or be involved in soon?

Some of our campus colleagues have already heard about the various POT 1 Lightning Teams (LTs) that are forming to tackle specific, narrowly scoped tasks. Two of the recently formed LTs will be actively contacting collection owners throughout the system, so there will be opportunities to provide information about the kind of support needed for those materials.

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Shared Collection Services: 4 Success Factors

The NGTS Power of Three (POT) group 6 is charged with developing system-wide models for collection services operations. To do so, and as part of its initial phase of identifying and implementing pilot projects for such operations, the POT formed a Lightning Team to gather information on shared technical services arrangements involving multiple UC campuses as well as on noteworthy examples of similar arrangements outside of UC.

Xiaoli Li from UC Davis, who served as convener of the Lightning Team, James Soe Nyun (UCSD), and Manuel Urrizola (UC Riverside) identified a total of thirty-nine examples of such arrangements and then conducted phone interviews with key contacts from about half of them (listed below). They gathered information on the scope of the projects undertaken, project planning and operations, and overall evaluation—the project's strengths and weaknesses, and whether or not it was deemed successful.

Based on their interviews, the Lightning Team concluded that success of a service depends on attention to these critical factors:

planning

communication

funding

management

Sufficient planning early on is often key to a successful shared service; lack of planning usually led to pitfalls and hurdles to overcome.

Timely communication kept providers and recipients of shared services on the same page and helped to clarify reporting mechanisms; lack of communication slowed down services or brought the service to a halt.

Stable funding is necessary to the viability of any shared service, especially ongoing services; many of the shared services lacked stable funding.

Ultimately, the successful management of a shared service depends on supportive library administrations—not just economic support, but moral, cultural, and political support as well.

These success factors are neither surprising nor groundbreaking: they are bread-and-butter to the success of any project or undertaking. For shared services in particular, however, where multiple boundaries (of time, place, culture, institution, among others) must be traversed, it is essential that all involved realize and actively commit attention to these four aspects.

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The Lightning Team conducted interviews for these shared services projects:

CATALOGING

UC CONSER Funnel Project (Status: Ongoing)

A UC-wide cooperative agreement that facilitates contributions to the national CONSER database for institutions that are not full CONSER members.

Music CD copy cataloging: UCSD for UCSB (Status: Ongoing)

Catalogers at San Diego copy catalog compact discs for Santa Barbara.

Thai language cataloging: UCR for UCB and UCSB (Status: Ongoing)

One cataloger at Riverside provides regular cataloging of Thai language materials for Santa Barbara and Berkeley.

German language monograph cataloging: UCB for UCSD (Status: On Hold)

One cataloger at Berkeley cataloged German monographs for San Diego.

Electronic California documents cataloging pilot: CAMCIG initiative (Status: On Hold)

Five campuses performed original cataloging for documents issued by 28 California agencies; cataloging records were harvested and distributed by the Shared Cataloging Program (SCP).

Elsevier/ACM pilot: UCSD and UCLA cataloging for the ten campuses (Status: Concluded)

A large planning effort in 2002-3 developed workflows to process single print items received in conjunction with CDL license agreements for Elsevier journals and various physical formats for ACM Print Archive monographs. UCLA did Elsevier and UCSD did ACM titles as part of the pilot to compare the cataloging experiences at different institutions and to compare the effectiveness of cataloging at a more distant institution that didn’t have the same integrated library system (ILS) as the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).

CONSERVATION, PRESERVATION, DIGITIZATION

Management of UC shared print journal archives (Status: Ongoing)

UCLA maintains cataloging records, checks in, and processes issues of single copy of shared print journals acquired as a Tier 1 resource. Licensing arrangements include that this copy will be provided.

Management of Springer e-books shared print copies (Status: Ongoing)

Merced receives, processes and houses shelf-ready print versions of Tier 1 Springer e-books on behalf of UC. Springer finances shelf-ready physical processing through YBP while Merced covers incidental local processing costs. Processing mirrors local workflows and is totally successful.

SILDRN [San Diego and Imperial County Libraries Disaster Recovery Network] (Status: Ongoing)

In the area of disaster preparedness, UC San Diego is the lead institution in the 16 member organization. This group maintains a mutual aid agreement in case of disasters affecting library and museum collections, as well as commonly accessible and maintained caches of emergency response supplies.

Preservation microfilming service: UCB for UCD (paid) (Status: Ongoing)

In this ongoing arrangement Berkeley provides preservation microfilming services to Davis for various serials including Sacramento newspapers and journals focusing on viticulture and enology.

Preservation imaging service: SRLF for southern campuses (Status: Ongoing)

Begun as a microfilming service for the southern campuses, SRLF now has broadened its offerings to include digitization. Current workload focuses on newspapers and dissertations, and list of customers includes some non-UC institutions.

Digital preservation for the UCSD Libraries’ Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) content (Status: Ongoing)

The preservation of DAMS contents is realized through a partnership with the San Diego Super Computer Center’s Chronopolis Digital Preservation Repository. Chronopolis is a large, grant-funded project to explore distributed backup strategies for digital assets; resulting strategy was then used for library’s DAMS.

UCLA Conservation Lab repairs damaged items for UCSB (Status: Concluded)

Digitizing special collections: UCM for UCSF (Status: Concluded)

A fee-for-service project where Merced digitized approximately 200 cholera-related pamphlets for San Francisco.

California Audio Visual Preservation Project (Status: Concluded)

Nineteen institutions participated in this grant-funded project where Berkeley digitized and managed the digitization of audiovisual resources. A second year of the project—with entirely separate funding—is proceeding.

Shared Licensing: UCD negotiates license for several UC campuses (Status: Concluded)

All Tier 2s are licensed at the campus leading the Tier 2. Licensing expertise and willingness to undertake this activity varies from campus to campus. The willingness to negotiate on certain license issues varies from campus to campus.

Canadian Literature Project: UCLA and SRLF for the ten campuses (Status: Concluded)

Anglophone Canadian materials were acquired and cataloged centrally to avoid duplication and provide access to the materials.

NON-UC PROJECTS

2CUL (Status: Ongoing)

Initially supported by a grant ($385,000) from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the libraries at Cornell and Columbia started to collaborate in the following areas: 1) Technical services (acquisitions, cataloging, e-resource management); 2) Collection development/global resources collecting; 3) Technology infrastructure/digital preservation.

Orbis Cascade demand-driven acquisition e-book pilot (Status: Concluded)

A successful non-UC project that looked at patron-driven acquisitions over the entire consortium so that the titles could be shared with all members; the pilot is morphing into an ongoing workflow. Used EBL and YBP as vendors. Adjusted trigger to initiate a purchase (to fewer short-term loans). Experienced some issues related to OCLC updating their knowledge base only monthly.

Ohio State University, Columbus Law Library/Main Library Collaborative Cataloging Project (Status: Concluded)

The main library contracted out its cataloging services to the law library, a completely different administrative unit; process involved sending some catalogers on-site to the library being served (which was on the same campus).

Orbis Cascade Foreign Language Cataloging Pilot (Status: Concluded)

In this non-UC pilot project, six members of the Orbis Cascade Alliance explored centralizing the cataloging of books in Chinese and Japanese at University of Oregon and those in Arabic at University of Washington.

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NGTS Update: March 2012

POT 1: Build the UC Digital Collection infrastructure

POT 1 has adjusted its task list and timeline to reflect feedback from the NGTS Management Team, and is preparing to charge lightning teams. The lightning teams to be created in the near term will focus on gathering requirements for a system-wide Digital Assets Management System (DAMS) with discovery and display options and developing an aggregation strategy that ensures existing UC digital assets will be available for discovery and display as part of the UC Library Digital Collection.

POT 2: Transform cataloging practices

POT 2.1 Lightning Team 1 has completed and submitted its report on the current shelfready environment to the POT. POT 2.2 is evaluating responses from the Heads of Technical Services (HOTS) and Cataloging and Metadata Common Interest Group (CAMCIG) regarding the acceptability of the BIBCO Standard Record (BSR) and has begun drafting the framework and guidelines for applying the BSR.

POT 3: Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections

POT 3 has completed several steps in drafting a UC-wide implementation plan for Archivists' Toolkit, including identifying a proposed infrastructure, identifying support needed to facilitate migration to AT, and defining services available to users of the CDL-hosted service. POT 3 has also completed drafting a minimal record specification for collections and will be working with POT 2.2 to solicit feedback.

POT 4: Simplify the recharge process

A key milestone was achieved in this fiscal quarter as remaining campuses (UCD, UCSB) implemented the deposit system for CDL co-investments. POT 4's Lightning Team 1 has completed its analysis of the survey results on implementation of the deposit system thus far. A key assumption to be tested by the POT was that using deposit accounts for CDL co-investments would minimize the number of transactions and result in overall efficiencies and cost savings. The assessment finds that while implementation of a deposit account system has reduced the number of recharges between CDL and each campus from numerous times per year to about four or five times per year, those savings have been offset by the work campus accounting units perform to track expenditures against deposit accounts. So while there have been efficiencies gained for the CDL acquisitions unit, the overall library workload has not been reduced, but changed.

The POT will be digesting and communicating the findings in further detail. Lightning Team 4.1 further recommends gathering input from campuses on the process after the end of the fiscal year.

POT 5: Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging

POT 5 Lightning Team 1 has begun drafting a report on Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) record distribution based on analysis of survey results. A second lightning team has compiled data that would ascertain the monetary and staffing costs of SCP record distribution and identified three use-case scenarios to guide their analysis of the costs of campuses obtaining records on their own.

POT 6: Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations

POT 6 Lightning Team 1A has completed its report of existing shared staffing agreements and projects. The POT is completing the compilation and analysis of survey results on campus staffing needs; needed tools; and existing backlogs.

POT 7: Transform collection development practices

POT 7 has completed and posted its "Current Inventory of UC Cooperative Collection Development Activities" on the Collection Development Committee (CDC) website to collect and provide as much information as possible on these activities for collection officers, bibliographers, and other library staff. (Note: the document is intended for internal staff information and may be viewed with the CDL password.)

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NGTS Update: February 2012

There was a hiatus in January in reporting from the POTs, but each of the groups have been hard at work meeting their deliverables. In addition, SOPAG and the NGTS Management Team have discussed the need to measure the impact of the Next-Generation Technical Services initiatives. The Management Team has provided the POTS with suggested methodologies for assessing the efficiencies gained by implementing a new process, policy, or system. POT 1: Build the UC Digital Collection infrastructure POT 1 has mapped out an initial task list, which is currently being reviewed by the NGTS Management Team. The scope and timeline is ambitious and will draw together digital library expertise from across the UC libraries. POT 2: Transform cataloging practices One of the POT 2 lightning teams has been collecting information about shelf-ready vendors, profiles, agreements, and shelf ready success versus failure rates. The team is beginning to identify opportunities for shelf-ready expansion among the UC Libraries. Concurrently, another lightning team has been gathering and comparing campus processing specifications to identify commonalities and divergences. Both lightning teams are expected to submit a report on their findings to the POT this month. POT 2 has drafted a minimal record standard at "quasi" OCLC Level 3 and will be evaluating the responses from Heads of Technical Services (HOTS) and Cataloging and Metadata Common Interest Group (CAMCIG) regarding the utility and acceptability of the standard, as well as the BIBCO Standard Record for collaborative cataloging. POT 3: Accelerate processing of archival and manuscript collections POT 3 has completed a survey of campus needs in terms of Archivists' Toolkit (AT) usage and training. The POT is now drafting a plan that includes training options tailored to meet the needs identified from the assessment, as well as proposed infrastructure and support for Archivists' Toolkit implementation. POT 3 has completed the pilot migration of data from UCI's hosted instance of AT to the CDL-hosted instance, and this will inform guidelines for future migrations.

The POT has also assessed the implementation of "More Product, Less Process" principles among UC libraries and is developing a manual of "best practices" or approaches to efficient processing. A lightning team is currently defining a minimal collection-level record specification for materials described using archival control. POT 4: Simplify the recharge process POT 4 has compiled the results of a survey on the deposit system for CDL recharge and has begun analysis. All campuses have now adopted the deposit system. The POT is preparing to charge a lightning team to gather auditing requirements from the campuses.  POT 5: Maximize the effectiveness of Shared Cataloging POT 5 has prepared a survey on Shared Cataloging Program (SCP) record distribution. The survey will be distributed to the staff of four campuses representative of different sizes and integrated library systems among the UC Libraries: UC Davis, UC Riverside, UCSD, and UCLA. POT 5 has worked with CAMCIG to gather data on the costs and processes associated with SCP record distribution. CAMCIG is developing use case scenarios to analyze the effects of stopping SCP record distribution.   POT 6: Develop system-wide Collections Services Operations POT 6 has conducted interviews on existing and recently-concluded arrangements that have involved shared collection services across multiple UC campuses. The POT has received responses from all campuses to a survey of existing and needed tools to support technical services operations. It has launched a survey to assess current backlogs, including those in special collections, and is preparing to launch a survey on current and projected campus staffing needs.   POT 7: Transform collection development practices POT 7 has completed an Inventory of UC Cooperative Collection Development Activities and has made recommendations for ongoing documenting and sharing of these to CDC and CDL. The POT has received comments from the Management Team on a revised task list and charge and will be proceeding with setting up lightning teams to review the roles and responsibilities of UC bibliographers.