Christopher, as a small archives/records management program (3.4
employees) in a large organization (4500+ employees) that includes one
of the largest public library systems in the United States, we have had
excellent experiences collaborating with our library friends. The
library, for example, was one of the first major departments to provide
whole-hearted and high level support to our initial electronic records
keeping initiatives (at a time when our IT division and our own
department were indifferent/hostile to those initiatives at best). Since
then, the IT department has evolved into a position of similar support,
but initially, it was the library and a few of our elected officials
that provided the "big guns". We also received great accessions of
historic records from the library at an early stage of our archival
program, forming an important core to a growing facet of our operation.
Right now, we are collaborating on an exhibit related to library history
at our Central Library in downtown Portland, as part of our celebration
of archives month:

http://www.multcolib.org/events/collins/archives.html

I have to say, in addition, that the best ideas regarding management of
long term digital repositories have come to me through participation in
library/museum centered sessions on this topic.

As information professionals, and as professionals concerned about
issues of public access, cultural preservation, transparency, education,
and service, we share similar aspirations. The key to working with these
institutions is to identify and focus on those aspirations, and on ways
we can mutually contribute to achieving them, not necessarily on
ownership of a given function, or "turf". For example, the library
maintains its own small archives: rather than seeking custodianship of
that archives, we have instead focused on sharing resources that can
improve public access to all of the county's holdings, regardless of who
holds custodianship. At the same time, as mentioned above, the library
has provided key, "C" level support (to use a corporate term) for our
own records management initiatives. 

I know I'm gushing, but the library is one of the many things that makes
me extremely proud to be an employee of Multnomah County. If you ever
come to Portland, be sure and visit our Central Library. Only a few
blocks from Powell's Books (another of our local treasures), it is a
gorgeous example of what a great library can be: accessible, friendly,
modern, historic, even whimsical. 

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
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