Consortial CDL: Implementing Controlled Digital Lending as a Mechanism for Interlibrary Loan

Authors

BLC Controlled Digital Lending Working Group

Date of this Version

9-2021

Citation

Published by the Boston Library Consortium, September 2021.

Also available at https://blc.org/CDLforILL

BLC CDL Working Group Members

Co-Chairs: Nathan Mealey, Wesleyan University, and Michael Rodriguez, University of Connecticut

Members:

Charlie Barlow, Boston Library Consortium

Karen Bohrer, Wellesley College

Judith Carlstrom, State Library of Massachusetts

Martha Kelehan, Tufts University

Kim Kennedy, Northeastern University

Kimberly Kowal, Boston College

Erika McNeil, University of Connecticut

Mark Paris, Brandeis University

Laura Quilter, University of Massachusetts—Amherst

Steve Smith, University of Massachusetts—Boston

Jen Walton, Marine Biological Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Andrew White, Wesleyan University

Patrick Yott, Northeastern University

Comments

Copyright 2021, Boston Library Consortium. Open access material.

License: CC BY-NC-SA

Abstract

Introduction

The Boston Library Consortium (BLC) was founded upon a shared commitment to promote cooperation in making resources more readily available. Consortial controlled digital lending (CDL) powerfully expands and reimagines resource sharing across the consortium.

In September 2020, the BLC Board of Directors convened a CDL Working Group charged with investigating delivery mechanisms, technology, workflows, policies, copyright and legal issues, shared storage solutions, and other actions related to a potential consortial implementation of CDL among interested BLC member libraries.

The Working Group consisted of fourteen representatives from eleven member libraries and the BLC’s Executive Director. For almost twelve months, the Working Group researched the national and global CDL landscape, engaged extensively with the BLC community, and consulted with a range of external organizations working in the CDL space.

At its August 2021 meeting, the BLC Board of Directors approved the recommendations of the Working Group to implement CDL as a mechanism for interlibrary loan (ILL) among interested member libraries.

The pages that follow provide a summary of the Working Group’s activities and recommendations to guide the library community in navigating the role that consortial CDL might play in their resource sharing activities, and to invite other library consortia to join us in this implementation effort.