The University of California Libraries: A Plan for Development (1977)

IV. A University Library System 51
Campus. A campus collection should contain material likely to be
needed within one day, and all material needed to support the instructional
programs of that campus. In addition, each campus will have
special collections and major resources for research, particularly in
disciplines or programs that receive heavy emphasis on that campus.
The stronger such research collections are, of course, the more they
must be considered a central resource for faculty and students on other
campuses, so access to all who need them must be assured.
The primary means of identifying and locating material within campus
collections will be by public consultation of on-line terminals
connected to a computer-controlled bibliographic data base. The advantages
of this approach are discussed later, but it should provide
much more effective bibliographic access than at present. Cataloging
will be done through use of on-line systems which provide momentary
access to large data bases for this specific purpose. No change in
the organizational arrangements or governance of campus libraries is
contemplated or required.
It should be emphasized that the plan does not intend a leveling
or homogenization of campus library systems. There will continue to
be major collections of research materials and specialized resources
on the campuses, because they serve important research needs not only
on the campuses but throughout the University.
Region. Two regional systems are proposed, one in the North and
one in the South. Each region should contain, either on one of the
campuses within the region or in a regional compact shelving facility,
materials likely to be needed within two days or less. To facilitate
joint use of the collections within a region, existing arrangements
for direct borrowing of materials on other campuses will be continued
and improved, and the intercampus bus system will also be continued.
Materials within the region will be identified through on-line terminals,
and delivered to the campus libraries by the intercampus bus
service.
In addition to little-used materials for which space no longer
exists on the campuses, the regional facility will also contain important
research materials which can be shared throughout the region;