Memorial University Libraries

The Keep@Downsview partnership was established in 2014 by the university libraries of McMaster, Western, Toronto, Queen's, and Ottawa. Memorial University Libraries became an associate member in 2020. The partners work collaboratively to build a shared preservation collection of print books and journals, with the goal of ensuring that these resources are preserved, available, and accessible for future generations of scholars. The partners leverage the high-density storage facility at the University of Toronto, which provides the optimum environmental conditions for long-term preservation of print collections. 

Memorial University Libraries, like research libraries elsewhere, have acquired a sizeable collection of print books and journals. Studies of library collections consistently show large portions of these print collections are never or seldom used by the academic community that the library supports. Memorial University Libraries' library collections follow this pattern. We believe it is important that low-demand materials remain available to the scholarly community. Participating in Keep@Downsview allows us to ensure that this occurs, placing these materials where they can be best preserved and available for the future.

Collaborative programs for shared preservation of print collections are integral to the work of research libraries and a critical tool in supporting our preservation and access mission. The Shared Print Partnership lists more than 15 such programs across North America.

Books and journals in the Keep@Downsview collection appear in OneSearch, the Libraries catalogue. You can request these materials in the same way as other library resources that you find in OneSearch. Books will be sent to campus for you to pick up. Journal articles will be delivered to you as PDFs.

More information about placing requests is available on our website.

No, we continue to add print books to the Libraries' collections, and current issues of journals received in print will remain in the campus libraries.

The circulation (checkout) history for the Libraries' book collections extends back to 1997, giving us a great deal of historical data to support our decision making. This is the most reliable indicator available to gauge usage of physical books.

Journals require a different approach. We will consider a number of factors, including whether we have a currently active subscription, the availability of online access to the journal's content, the age of the volumes, and the language of the journal, as well as the subject area covered.

Yes, there are several areas of the Libraries' collections and some specific types of materials that will not be considered for the Keep@Downsview program:

• Rare books and unique items in special collections are not under consideration for the Keep@Downsview program.
• New and recently acquired books and current issues of journals that we receive in print.
• Many indexes and bibliographies, particularly large ongoing works that would be difficult to retrieve effectively from storage, will be kept onsite as finding tools.
• Multi-volume monographs will not normally be split between locations, and reference-type publications would need specific consideration as they often are more easily used within the Library.
• A number of special formats are beyond the current scope of the program, including LPs, CDs, DVDs, and other audiovisual materials; music scores; sheet maps; and microfilm and microfiche.  

Yes. Community members can continue to have access to materials from Memorial's collection that become part of the Downsview collection. The current process for requesting and using any material not held in the library remains in place.

We welcome your thoughts about materials in your discipline so that we can factor them into our decision-making process. If you have further questions or would like to provide input, please contact Louise White (louisew@mun.ca), Memorial University Libraries Collection Strategies Division.