THE PLAN: NEED, IMPORTANCE, URGENCY
The decision to develop a plan for collaborative collections management in Illinois arises from national and state environments characterized by 1) continually skyrocketing costs for library materials in all formats, 2) collections budgets that are typically level or declining, and 3) a virtual revolution in information technology--environmental conditions that have created a crisis of chronic decline for most U. S. libraries during the last decade. Few of the libraries in Illinois have been exempt from this decline, which has been especially severe in the collections area. Most of the libraries that participated in developing this plan have experienced significant declines in their ability to serve customers in traditional but critical areas such as printed journals and monographs. Libraries continue to review periodical subscriptions and at the same time are incorporating new electronic resources as they become available.
At the same time, some favorable conditions in the environment prompt a decisive move toward collaboration in collections management. The libraries in Illinois have developed ambitious cooperative technical systems such as ILLINET Online and SILO and document delivery systems that, while not completely satisfactory, are in the process of being improved and form an adequate present infrastructure for the implementation of this plan. Moreover, an increasing number of electronic resources have become available and, when affordable, have been purchased by the libraries.
Adopting a truly collaborative approach to collections management, therefore, present an opportunity to address the chronic problems of level budgets and skyrocketing costs and to exploit the full potential of the new electronic resources and the technical systems already in place.
