Finale and Future: The 2CUL Technical Services Strategic Alliance

Abstract

The Columbia and Cornell University Libraries’ partnership (2CUL) is now in its sixth year. Its composite acronym (2CUL), which condenses a doubling of the two participating libraries’ initial letters, summarizes its vision: a broad integration of library activities in many areas—including collection development, acquisitions and cataloging, e-resources and digital management, digital preservation, and reciprocal offsite use of collections. A key component in the partnership was the 2CUL Technical Services Integration, an initiative funded by a generous three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which ended on December 31, 2015. In this paper, the third in a series, the authors report on the final year of this grant-funded project and reflect on the results of the two institutions’ attempt to achieve deep, operational integration within technical services.1 In presenting an honest appraisal of the project’s challenges and vicissitudes, the authors hope that their experiences and insights will help other libraries plan their own collaborative ventures.