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JSC: Charge to the Committee

September 2015

The Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC) is an advisory committee to CDL’s Shared Collections charged to advise the CDL on shared collections activities and strategies, with a principal focus on activities and policies relating to licensed collections. It draws its membership from campus collection development experts as well as CDL staff, and provides active, ongoing support to shared licensing efforts.

JSC was established in the earliest days of CDL to maximize the breadth of UC’s “knowledge commons” through shared collection building and access, encompassing purchased, locally digitized, and open content in all genres and formats. [1]  As CDL’s digital library efforts have expanded, JSC’s role has evolved to focus primarily on activities that support licensed content acquisition and management.

Specifically, the committee is charged to:

  • Conduct regular bibliographer surveys and maintain connections with UC bibliographer groups
  • Review systemwide content purchase recommendations submitted by bibliographer groups and others, and bring proposals forward to relevant collections committees of the UC Libraries advisory structure for consideration
  • Establish an annual CDL plan of work on licensed resources
  • Develop co-investment proposals for new resources for consideration and approval by appropriate UC Libraries committees
  • Prepare recommendations to the UC Libraries advisory structure on digital resource policies, strategies and frameworks
  • Advise CDL on one-time content purchases and frameworks
  • Manage journal packages and other resources
  • Prioritize and provide general guidance to the work of the Shared Cataloging Program

Through these activities, JSC helps to shape CDL’s work in support of shared collections policy and decision-making, and serves as a resource to the standing collections committees of the UC Libraries Advisory Structure.  JSC is also available to serve as a resource for other UC Libraries groups on shared collection development issues.

Membership

JSC consists of four to five campus representatives comprising a mix of senior collection officers and bibliographers drawn from campuses of varying sizes and representing a range of disciplines to ensure a broad and well-balanced perspective.  In keeping with its joint nature, one or more members should also be members of the UC Libraries committee(s) charged with overseeing shared licensing activities. A key criterion of effective JSC membership is willingness to apply a systemwide viewpoint.  Members are selected by the CDL Director of Collections and approved by their University Librarians or managers for appointment for a minimum of two years, with the possibility of continuation. The CDL Director of Collections serves as JSC Chair, with substantial support from CDL Licensed Content staff.

[1] See original charge at https://www.cdlib.org/groups/jsc/jsc-original-charge-1998/