ABSTRACT
As one wag recently observed, partnership is another word for seeking funding from some outside agency. There are at least two points to glean from this quote: In the present milieu of “cultural authority,” librarians are considered merely “handlers of information products” having very little to do with determining the value of those products. In truth, there is a well-entrenched, global commercial monopoly on the distribution and approval of ideas. Librarians once again need to guide and counsel. They need to advise and to teach. Cooperative collection development in theory and practice has important ramifications affecting local collection development and management, resource sharing, public services, interlibrary loan, document delivery, and the goal of universal access to information. Over the years it has become almost a cliche to urge people to “think globally, act locally”.
