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Co-operation among University Library Organization and Services in Italy / Valentina Comba [*], Alessandro Bertoni [**]

Co-operation among libraries in Italy is not new, particularly among libraries structured in the same way or specializing in similar disciplines. The organization of comprehensive services in University libraries is fairly recent and its growth has been determined by a number of reasons, not least by the impact of new technologies. Work is still in progress. In spite of organizational constraints, and drawbacks, co-operation among universities is indispensable as libraries venture into the digital era. A forceful trend for resource-sharing can be observed, led by both the need for better management – i.e. more efficient and widespread services to users – but also by the inherent nature of new IT products.

The paper is supported by data collected by the Osservatorio per la valutazione del sistema universitario del MURST (Gruppo di ricerca per la valutazione e la misurazione delle biblioteche universitarie) and discusses the following topics:

• the prevalent organizational model: data highlight a fragmented and diverse approach in University libraries;
• the impact of self management policies in Universities on their libraries: not always positive as a result of Universities' Statutes separating research from teaching, disregarding the unability of splitting libraries accordingly;
• the stops and starts of University Library Organization and Services and comprehensive information systems.

To conclude, the authors offer an overview of the existing co-operation agreements they are aware of, about the sharing of cataloguing and its software, bibliographic databases, services and, more recently, acquisition of electronic journals.