Office of Collections and Technical Services - General Information

Mission

The University Library houses and provides access to one of the world’s premier research collections. With a print collection of over 14 million volumes, and millions of dollars in licensed, reformatted, and born-digital content, the collections rank among the University’s largest capital investments and represent the work of hundreds of dedicated personnel dating from the earliest days of the University’s founding.

The Office of Collections and Technical Services provides oversight and leadership in the coordination of all aspects of collection development and management. This work involves providing a coordinating role for subject specialists and liaisons; leading library-wide planning and policy development for the development and management of library collections; management and oversight of the collections budget; engaging in cooperative activities around collections with the Big Ten Academic Alliance, CARLI, the Center for Research Libraries, and the HathiTrust; and providing an active coordinating role in activities that will benefit the collections and their users for decades to come.

– Tom Teper, Associate University Librarian for Collections and Technical Services and Associate Dean of Libraries

Office of Collections and Technical Services

Related Library Units

  • Acquisitions: Coordinates procurement, payment, and initial processing of all acquisitions.
  • Content Access Management: responsible for the metadata, cataloging, classification, and subject analysis of the library’s collections in all formats and languages which the library acquires and publishes.
    • MJ Han, Head, Acquisitions and Cataloging Services
    • Email: mhan3@illinois.edu
    • Phone: 217 333-9515
  • Collection Analytics: Gathers and analyzes internal and external data to support collection development decisions.
  • Collection Management Services: Manages local and cooperative remote storage operations, collection management processing, and processing gift of materials.

Office of Collections and Technical Services Committees

The Office of Collections and Technical Services collaborates with partners throughout the library, university and beyond.

Collection Development Committee

The Collection Development Committee (CDC) is the primary group for deliberations on Library collection policies and advises the AUL for Collections. All issues pertaining to the collection, including the materials budget and funding, purchasing and withdrawal procedures, preservation, and matters pertaining to the acquisition of and access to all forms of information are considered by the CDC.