A unified community of trust and support
built around a critical and clearly understood purpose
effective resource sharing.
A unified community of trust and support
built around a critical and clearly understood purpose
effective resource sharing.
The Information Delivery Services (IDS) Project, based in New York, is a mutually supportive resource-sharing cooperative whose 120 members include public and private academic libraries from across the country, the New York Public Library, and the New York State Library (view a list of current members). The Project is based on a strong sense of community among its members and a unified collection perspective. The major goal of the Project is to continually implement and objectively evaluate innovative resource-sharing strategies, policies and procedures that will optimize mutual access to the information resources of all IDS Project libraries. Member libraries sign annual contracts committing to a common set of performance standards. There is an annual membership fee of $1,650.
As libraries continue to face tightening budgets, resource sharing becomes an increasingly important service. A 2008, 2013, 2016, and 2018 recipient of the Rethinking Resource Sharing Innovation Award, the IDS Project offers a resource sharing model that can help libraries maintain efficient and effective information delivery services for their users. The IDS Project is committed to providing improvements to the entire resource sharing community through the ongoing development of innovative tools and promotion of best practices.
The IDS Project is a large community with an Admin Team that meets every 2 weeks to oversee project activities. We also have a team of Peer Advisors that help each individual library.
The IDS Project is nothing if not a community, so it places a great deal of emphasis upon support and collaboration. Central to this is the Peer Advisor program, which assigns volunteer applications and systems specialists from current member libraries to each new member. Through both onsite visits and regular communications, the Peer Advisors help the staff at the joining library to configure ILLiad, optimize their workflows, and implement the technical requirements of the IDS Project. This also helps build personal relationships that form the foundation of a strong community, which gathers every year for the IDS Project Conference. The IDS Project’s listserv provides another forum for members to stay connected throughout the year, further strengthening the IDS Project’s community.
Need a Peer Advisor? Contact Rachel Manning, Director of Peer Advisors
IDS Project is a unified community of trust & support based upon effective resource sharing.