ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


2 8 4 /C&RL News

A new  breed of partnership

By Linda L. Phillips and Gail A. Kennedy

The Kentucky-Tennessee 
Information Alliance

I n November 1994, amidst fanfare in Knox­ville, librarians and administrators from the 
universities of Kentucky (UK) and Tennessee 
(UTK) celebrated the signing of an Informa­
tion Alliance. The relationship between the two 
libraries, located just three hours apart, has al­
ways been cordial. The two libraries are nearly 
equal in size of collections, staff, and operating 
budgets and share a public, land-grant univer­
sity mission. In forming the partnership, library 
directors Paula Kaufman (UTK) and Paul Willis 
(UK) postulated that a deeper alliance would 
have considerable benefits for creating new con­
ceptions of information access, physical access 
to h o ld in g s, and p o ten tia l red u ction  o f 
interorganization duplication, such as original 
cataloging and staff development. The mission 
of the alliance is to enhance information ac­
cess and services for users o f both libraries 
through innovative approaches to cooperation.

During the week following the signing cer­
emony UK and UTK library management teams 
met at the Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Ken­
tucky, for an all-day planning session that re­
sulted in the identification of more than 50 ac­
tion strategies. Proposed activities ranged from 
the specialized ( “identify complementary col­
lecting areas in the Music Libraries for contem­
porary composers”) to the general ( “hold dis­
cussions in areas of mutual interest, such as 
personnel administration policies, reference 
procedures, statistics gathering, ideas for new 
resources and new projects”). From this ses­
sion emerged a mission and vision statement 
for the Alliance, as well as six priority areas for 
action: 1) facilitate bibliographic and physical

access to one another’s collections; 2) build 
complementary collections; 3) share staff and 
professional expertise; 4) dèvelop new library 
services; 5) seek funds to support cooperative 
programs; and 6) develop a strong organiza­
tional structure for the Alliance.

Transcending individual efforts
A key goal of the Alliance is to develop mecha­
nisms that will transcend the efforts of the indi­
viduals who participate at any given time. Meet­
ings of the library managers are now held every 
six months. At the spring 1995 meeting in Knox­
ville a group of 40 participants heard progress 
reports, including:

• catalogers brainstormed about the dispo­
sition of uncataloged Arabic materials at both 
institutions;

• library directors described plans to seek 
Council on Library Resources (CLR) funding for 
two Alliance training institutes, one to enhance 
science reference skills, the other to focus on 
management issues in the digital age;

• a planned UTK staff development trip to 
Indiana University and the University of Illi­
nois, expanded to include UK staff;

• UTK librarians provided conspectus train­
ing for UK librarians;

• UK and UTK archivists discussed possi­
bilities for digital preservation projects;

• the UK agriculture librarian now men­
tors the new UTK agriculture librarian.

At each semiannual gathering the group 
expects to discuss an information issue of press­
ing concern in both libraries. In spring 1995, 
Carol Tenopir from UTK’s School of Informa­
tion Sciences led a discussion on information 
technology planning in the libraries, with em­
phasis on electronic resources. Counterparts met 
to continue conversations that had been started 
by telephone and e-mail.

L in d a L. Phillips is h ea d , N etw orked Services, University o f  Tennessee, Knoxville, e-m a il: llphillips@ utk.edu; 
G a il A. K en n ed y  is a s so c ia te d ire cto r o f  libraries, University o f  Kentucky, e-m a il: g ken n ed y @ p o p .u k y .ed u

mailto:llphillips@utk.edu
mailto:gkennedy@pop.uky.edu


May 1 9 9 6 /2 8 5

Where is the alliance headed?
Several of the action items proposed in fall 1994 
have already been completed. The 1995 joint 
staff development trip was deemed a rousing 
success by the 50 participants from the two 
libraries, and a 1996 trip is in the planning 
stages. Systems librarians established a UK-UTK 
listserver that is used for communicating Alli­
ance activities. A proposal to offer two Alli­
ance training institutes has been developed, for 
which CLR may assist with funding. Discussions 
among counterparts are ongoing— in catalog­
ing, systems, collection development, distance 
education, preservation, agriculture, music, 
maps, etc. UTK library faculty are participating 
in a research project on future library roles that 
a UK library science professor developed and 
administered to UK library faculty, and the re­
sults will be compared. The agenda for the next 
managers’ meeting includes progress reports, 
planning for 1996, and a discussion on the 
changing roles of academic librarians.

W hat's in the Information Alliance for 
library users?
Faculty in Arabic studies from both institutions 
have been working with librarians to review

S ig n in g  th e  In fo r m a tio n  A llian ce: E u g en e W il­
lia m s (U K ), Gail K e n n e d y  (U K ), Paula K au fm an 
(U TK ), Linda P h illip s (U TK ), M arian  M offett 
(U TK ), a n d  Paul W illis (U K).

the uncataloged collections, and a UK student 
who reads Arabic has been identified to assist 
catalogers with transliteration. As records are 
added to the local catalogs and OCLC, scholars 
around the world will benefit from the Alli­
ance. The Information Alliance is creating the 
infrastructure for library users to receive en­
hanced service across a spectrum of possibili­
ties, from expedited interlibrary loan to subject 
specialist availability. This partnership prom­
ises to give new depth and meaning to library 
cooperation. ■