Pathways to cooperation networks: the case of university libraries in Portugal

Abstract

In the world of libraries, the idea of cooperation is nothing new. Actually it is both a cause and a consequence of the manner of organising and standardising access to knowledge. The international standardisation of cataloguing rules, globally accepted classification systems, system interoperability and the standardisation of metadata are some of the ways found to unite libraries worldwide. However, cooperation networks can go beyond data and information. They can take effect through common goals, sharing experiences, joining efforts, and enhancing economies of scale. In this paper, I will address three paths being developed in Portugal regarding cooperation between university libraries. The first path is at national level and concerns the activities of the professional association of librarians, archivists and documentalists, in particular of the working group on higher education libraries. Here we find transversal cooperation projects between libraries and the beginnings of a Network of University Libraries, currently in the making. The second path shows how a Portuguese university – the University of Lisbon – has worked as a consortium with its 18 libraries. Focused on standardising document treatment systems – the common catalogue and the discovery system –, pro-cooperation work is essential for the service provided to users. The third path show how the author’s research within the scope of higher education libraries is in itself a reflection of cooperation networks. Once a research project is outlined, opportunities for partnerships and cooperation emerge, thus enriching librarians and the libraries where they work. Cooperation networks in the context of higher education libraries add to efforts to improve, in that they provide more strength and flexibility, because they involve different partners seeking to bring out the best of each one to achieve common goals, with tangible results which benefit all.