Collaborate, Innovate, Deliver
OCUL is a consortium of Ontario's 21 university libraries. Our strength lies in our commitment to work together to maximize our collective expertise and resources. We enhance information services in Ontario and beyond through collective purchasing and shared digital information infrastructure, collaborative planning, advocacy, assessment, research, partnerships, communications, and professional development.
OCUL advances research, teaching, and learning by collaborating at scale in the development and delivery of innovative and transformative services, resources, and digital research infrastructure for Ontario's universities.
Principal Consortial Functions
Electronic content licensing
Electronic content loading/presentation
Interlibrary loan/document delivery
Preservation
Training
Union lists/shared online catalogs
Other Functions
OCUL's Scholars Portal service provides a shared technology infrastructure and shared collections. In addition to digital repositories for access to and archiving of journals, books, social science data, geospatial data, and research data, Scholars Portal provides open URL linking, research data management, cloud storage, a virtual reference/chat service, digital preservation services, a license management system, an interlibrary loan system, and evaluation and assessment tools for OCUL members.
OCUL has also undertaken the development of a shared vision of the future of library management systems in Ontario's academic libraries. This vision, known as Collaborative Futures, involves implementing a shared next-generation library services platform, collaborating to manage and preserve print resources in a sustainable system, and collaborating to effectively use shared systems to manage electronic and print resources. Currently 14 OCUL members are participating in Collaborative Futures. OCUL will launch its shared library services platform, Ex Libris's Alma/PrimoVE, in December 2019.
OCUL has also undertaken the development of a shared vision of the future of library management systems in Ontario's academic libraries. This vision, known as Collaborative Futures, involves implementing a shared next-generation library services platform, collaborating to manage and preserve print resources in a sustainable system, and collaborating to effectively use shared systems to manage electronic and print resources. Currently 14 OCUL members are participating in Collaborative Futures. OCUL will launch its shared library services platform, Ex Libris's Alma/PrimoVE, in December 2019.
Documents of Interest