9/29/11
Three NY6 Schools Join NYConnect Library Consortium
ConnectNY, Inc., a non-profit organization for academic libraries dedicated to collaborative resource sharing and collection building, has accepted three new academic libraries from the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium as members, effective July 2011. The new member libraries are at Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Skidmore College.
In adding the New York Six libraries, ConnectNY will deploy Innovative Interface, Inc.'s DCB (Direct Consortial Borrowing) platform to allow libraries that utilize other integrated library systems to participate in the Inn-Reach advanced resource sharing system. Bart Harloe, Executive Director of ConnectNY, stated "This new development is very exciting for ConnectNY, as we have been working to broaden the base of the consortium for several years and thanks to this initiative, we will not only build a better collection for all the participants but also will allow other academic institutions in New York to be able to share the group's rich collective resources. It is a win-win for both groups as it facilitates cost sharing and provides for additional collaborative opportunities."
"Library collaboration has been a part of our plan for the New York Six from day one, and the ability to bring all of our consortium member institutions into ConnectNY will provide our students and faculty with vastly expanded access to a wide range of academic resources," said Amy Cronin, Special Assistant to the Presidents of the NY6 consortium.
ConnectNY was founded in 2003 by five academic libraries - Vassar College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Colgate University and St. Lawrence University. This consortium received initial funding support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2004, enabling the group to create a state of the art union catalog that allowed for patron-driven resource sharing, powered by Innovative's Inn-Reach system. New York Six members Colgate, SLU and Union were already members of ConnectNY. The addition of Skidmore, Hamilton, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges will bring the total membership of ConnectNY to 18 and its collection will now exceed 10 million volumes.
The New York Six is a cooperative venture of six upstate New York liberal arts institutions: Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College. The consortium facilitates collaboration among its member institutions in fulfilling their educational missions and serving the public good. Through the sharing of expertise and resources, the New York Six enhances opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, while reducing colleges' individual and collective operating and capital costs. A 2010 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support collaborative programs in a number of areas that include library collections has contributed to this significant initiative.
Contact:
ConnectNY: Bart Harloe, Executive Director (bharloe@stlawu.edu, 315-212-1911) and/or
ConnectNY: Joanne Schneider, Chair of the CNY Council (jschneider@Colgate.edu, 315-228-7362) and/or
New York Six: Amy Cronin, Special Assistant to the Presidents (acronin@hamilton.edu, 607-351-5602)
