Shared Print Program: Phase 3

Phase 3 of our Shared Print Program will focus on securing commitments on unique non-circulating single-part monographs held in our digital library and at member institutions. The titles will be held by 1-2 retention libraries and are non-circulating or in-library use only, in special collections, or the retention library is willing to make them non-circulating. Phase 3 will be an iterative process that will start on securing unique content from our retention libraries already in the public domain.

Phase 3 will be an incremental phase where each new step builds upon the previous:

Phase 3, Part 1: Secure commitments on unique public domain items with retention libraries
Phase 3, Part 2: Secure commitments on unique public domain items with current non-retention libraries
Phase 3, Part 3: Secure commitments on unique and in-copyright items

Our goal is to start later this year in recruiting pilot libraries that will act as partners with HathiTrust to help us better scope the service and define policies and procedures.

Phase 3 Estimated Timeline

May/June 2022 – communication and outreach
June/July 2022 – secure pilot libraries
August 2022 – December 2022 – work with pilot libraries to secure initial commitments, act as partners with HathiTrust to help us better scope the service, and define policies and procedures.
DATE TBD: open Phase 3, part 1 to all interested libraries

Phase 3 FAQs

What are the guiding objectives of HathiTrust’s Unique Non-Circulating Collect?

The non-circulating collection in Phase 3 will focus on a specific class of materials that support the following guiding objectives:

Uniqueness – Materials not widely held among HathiTrust members enhances and expands the program’s commitment to preservation.
Access – Focusing on public domain materials ensures users will continue to have access to the content of the non-circulating shared print items.
Assurance – A non-circulating copy ensures the continued ability to re-digitize an item if needed, verify and validate against another copy, and via in-library access enables potential research needs, which a digital copy cannot fulfill for HathiTrust members and their constituents.
Shared Collection – A collection that is shared, preserved, and accessible by our membership today and into the future.
Leadership in the shifting landscape of shared print – Unlike serial shared print programs, the vast majority of monograph shared print programs today are focused on print access. Focusing on digital access first and securing commitments to items that are non-circulating, whether already non-circulating or a retention library moves them to non-circulating, shifts this concept. HathiTrust will be ble to be a leader in shaping future iterations of shared print through this project.

Why are you focusing on non-circulating items for a shared print program?

As stated above, HathiTrust intends to be transformational in how libraries think about shared print. The HathiTrust’s 2019-2023 Strategic Directions specify that “HathiTrust will emphasize work designed to transform how libraries work together to manage scholarly resources their users require, enhance the quality of HathiTrust’s collections and services to provide more meaningful access to scholars and learners and empower our organization and membership to tackle major strategic challenges.” HathiTrust Shared Print Program’s Phase 3, the “Unique Non-Circulating Collection,” will do just that.

By securing commitments on HathiTrust’s members’ collective collection unique copy, members will be able to transform how they manage their local collections and trust in HathiTrust to uphold our commitment to preserving the scholarly record. Scholars will be assured that these titles are further protected from loss of both physical and digital content. Like all of our shared print projects, Phase 3 will help HathiTrust execute our mission to “contribute to research, scholarship, and the common good by collaboratively collecting, organizing, preserving, communicating, and sharing the record of human knowledge.

The inclusion of non-circulating materials into the HathiTrust Shared Print Program for Phase 3 carries with it the potential to be transformational in how libraries think about shared print programs. The Unique Non-Circulating Collection is transformational in the inclusion of non-circulating materials into a shared print program of our size, and begins to build out a network of certainty across shared print programs in ways that currently does not exist.

What does unique mean?

For Phase 3, SPAC defines unique titles as those for which only 1 or 2 HathiTrust members report owning the titles in their print holdings. This would include roughly 590,000 potential retention candidates.

What does non-circulating mean?

Items in the sub-collection will either not circulate at all, or will have limited in-library use. The items may be handled by staff to support interlibrary loans and document delivery scanning.

Why focus on public domain materials?

Phase 3 will be an iterative process, focusing first on unique titles that are available in the public domain and do not already have shared print commitments on them. For the purposes of shared print work, we are including the following public domain items:

Public Domain: We have determined this work to be in the public domain, meaning that it is not subject to copyright. These works can be viewed anywhere in the world.
Public Domain in the United States: We have determined this work to be in the public domain in the United States of America. It may not be in the public domain in other countries. These works can be viewed only in the United States.

We are focusing initially on public domain materials as part of this project because digital access is already available for these materials. Items in the public domain allow members to download in full and the general public can download one page at a time. Focusing on public domain materials initially, which includes digital access, potentially incentivizes increasing the number of non-circulating commitments because a physical item does not need to be loaned and if a member wants, they could elect to make something non-circulating. In turn, these options increase the number of items preserved.

What do you mean by an iterative process?

As part of Phase 3, each new step builds upon the previous. It could be described as securing commitments on single-part monographs in the HathiTrust Digital Library held by 1-2 members and:

Phase 3, Part 1 – would secure commitments on unique public domain items with retention libraries.
Phase 3, Part 2 – would secure commitments on unique public domain items with current non-retention libraries.
Phase 3, Part 3 – would secure commitments on unique and in-copyright items.

To start, the focus will be on securing commitments on unique items, in the public domain, held at current retention libraries. These items do not need to have shared print commitments already on them, but in some cases where there are two members owning the item, one copy may already have a commitment on it. We will still attempt to secure a second commitment. These initial libraries will act as planning partners to finalize any new policies and practices we need to develop in order to advance a unique non-circulating shared print collection. These considerations and discussions will help HathiTrust plan for future development to expand unique commitments for shared print and shape the next incremental parts of the phase.

What are the requirements for pilot libraries?

Requirements and considerations for libraries acting as our planning partners can find more information at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O1iXngEOzZ4q9uDp7AMAF7mEPKQeHtCQ/view?usp=sharing.

How do I participate?

If your library is interested in participating and has yet to be contacted, please contact our Shared Print Program Officer Heather Weltin.

Where can I follow the project progression?

To find more information about this project please continue to check in on this site and our monthly newsletters. We will also be sending information to our shared print retention libraries as work progresses.

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