1. Beyond the Silos of the LAMs
Library, Archive, and Museum
FARO
Belgium
Collaboration
29 June 2009
Diane M. Zorich
Cultural Heritage Consultant

2. Our journey starts with….

3. In the Beginning: Cabinets of Curiosity
Less democratic • Less economic • More integrated

4. Then: Libraries, Archives and Museums
More democratic • More economic • Less integrated

5. Now: One for All
Most democratic • Most economic • Most integrated

6. Now: One for All?

7. Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and
Museums (LAMs)
www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2008-05.pdf

8. Collaboration Continuum
Additive Transformative

9. The Participants
Princeton University
Smithsonian Institution
Yale University
University of Edinburgh
Victoria and Albert Museum

10. Some of the Projects
Co p h ns D igitizatio o Ph to h
m re e ive n f o grap ic
Co c ns
lletio “Federation of Collections”
Exploration of Federated Large Scale Digitization
Search Models “Ground Floor Plan”
Inve s tigation of Social
Single Backend for all Digital
Tagging to Incr e as e Acce s s Management “One Store”
Will these projects succeed?

11. Collaboration Catalysts
Factors and circumstances that make it more
likely for collaborations to succeed
Vision --- Mandate --- Incentives --- Change Agents
Mooring --- Resources --- Flexibility
External Catalysts --- Trust

12. Catalyst: Vision
Collaborations must be
embedded in a larger
vision shared by all
Vision of St Bridget
Late 14th century. MS. M.498, f.4v.

13. Catalyst: Mandate
“I’m… looking for a few really good ideas that will help us
advance the mission and take [us] forward. [If you] come up
with a really, creative innovative vision that is at the
intersection of these institutions and will help our mission,
and you help me frame it, I’m more than ready to … carry it
forward.”
- Senior official
RLG LAM workshop site

14. Catalyst: Incentives
Some examples:
• Promotion
• Salaries
• Public and peer recognition

15. Catalyst: Mooring
© Michael Maggs
A home base, such as ..
• Administrative unit
• Committee
• Integrated department

16. Do these catalysts influence LAMs “in the Wild”?
Some may….
Vision
Mandate
Resources
Incentives

17. Example - International

18. Example - Object-based

19. Example - User-Generated Content
Digital memory projects

20. Possible Next Steps
• Longitudinal study of projects proposed at the
workshop sites
• Studies of collaborations among independent LAMs
• Comparative studies
• the sciences
• digital humanities programs (in academia)

21. Our Current Status
You are here
and here
Your users are here

22. Acknowledgements
• RLG Programs/OCLC
Especially my colleagues and co-authors:
• Günter Waibel, Program Officer
• Ricky Erway, Senior Program Officer
• The many professionals who participated in the RLG
LAM workshops and discussions