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Collaborative Futures

In 2014, OCUL formed Collaborative Futures as a shared vision of library management systems.

Collaborative Futures helps OCUL member libraries address limited financial resources, rapid developments in information technology, and changes in the higher education landscape.

The Vision

The Collaborative Futures vision sees Ontario university students, faculty and researchers accessing a large and diverse province-wide library collection, seamlessly moving between print and digital resources. This increased access to books and specialized content means resources are fully incorporated into learning, research, and teaching.

Keys to achieving the vision include:

  • Implementation of shared next-generation library services platforms.
  • Management and preservation of print resources in a sustainable system.
  • Use of shared systems to manage digital and print resources.

Omni and the Shared Network

A major outcome of Collaborative Futures is the Omni academic search tool and shared network. Omni is powered by a partnership of team members and resources from 19 OCUL libraries. This collaborative network means university students, faculty and researchers can:

  • Use Omni to search a shared collection of more than 25 million scholarly resources.
  • Request physical resources from any partner library and pick them up at their home university.
  • Access an intuitive desktop and mobile-friendly search tool for consistent use across devices.

Learn more about Omni

For More Information

Read or download the Collaborative Futures Impact Reports.

OCUL members can also visit the Collaborative Futures area in SPOTDocs (login required).

For questions about Collaborative Futures, please contact: