"Creating New Strategies for Cooperative Collection Development"

November 12 – 14, 1999 Aberdeen Woods Conference Center Atlanta, Georgia

Hosted by: The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in commemoration of its 50th Anniversary Co-sponsored by:

• Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
• Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)
• International Consortium of Library Consortia (ICOLC)
• Research Libraries Group (RLG)

Conference Overview

The Conference brough together knowledgeable, experienced, and diverse information professionals involved in the planning and implementation of cooperative collection development programs. Attendees examined the pros and cons of both centralized and decentralized approaches to collection building, and discussions yielded lessons that informed subsequent initiatives to advance the scope and effectiveness of cooperative collection development.

The three-day Conference was held at a corporate retreat facility outside Atlanta, where participants had the opportunity to meet and informally exchange ideas and experiences with a broad cross-section of other individuals involved in the issues surrounding the topic. In order to maximize the potential for participant interaction, the number of participants was limited to approximately one hundred. The host and co-sponsors selected the participants based on:

• Their experience in cooperative collection development enterprises
• Their stake in the advancement of scholarly communication
• Their representation of a concerned constituency
• The desire to present a diversity of perspectives.