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SPA: Terminology

The Shared Print Actions: Terminology for MARC 21 Field 583 is now finalized and ready for use by shared print programs and library practitioners. The Library of Congress has assigned this terminology a resource action code, spa, for use in the 583$2; LC has also added Shared Print Actions: Terminology for MARC 21 Field 583 to the Resource Action Term Source Codes page, providing a central point of access for practitioners. SPMG continues to work with the Library of Congress to add the link to the SPA terminology on additional pages.

SPMG will reconvene in 2026 to review the terminology and consider any necessary updates. In the meantime, the Best Practices Working Group is convening a subgroup to develop best practices and usage guidelines for implementing SPA in programs and at retention libraries.

Introduction 

The shared print community has long relied on the OCLC Shared Print Metadata Guidelines to disclose retention commitments in local and national systems, which from the early 2010s until 2024 were based on Preservation & Digitization Actions: Terminology for MARC 21 Field 583 (PDA). As shared print has evolved to become a more integral part of the full collection lifecycle, PDA no longer suits the needs of the shared print community. Following conversations and agreement with the group that maintains PDA, in 2024 the shared print community finalized Shared Print Actions: Terminology (SPA) to replace PDA as the definitive source of shared print disclosure terminology. 

Shared Print Actions: Terminology for the MARC 21 Field 583 (hereafter referred to as SPA: Terminology or SPA) defines standardized terminology for shared print actions and allows institutions to record these actions locally. 

To learn more about SPA: Terminology and the work of the Shared Print Metadata Guidelines Task Force, please see the recordings of public webinars SPMG hosted in 2023 and 2024 to inform the community about this effort and solicit feedback from practitioners: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1vG6qf20ZFMgXMNHJyzQm76NSK06Nkrcs

History of the Shared Print Metadata Guidelines Working Group

In early 2023, the Shared Print Metadata Guidelines Working Group (SPMG), was jointly charged by the Partnership for Shared Book Collections and the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance (the two national federations of shared print programs, merged in 2024 to form the Shared Print Partnership) and is now a formal part of the SPP’s Best Practices Working Group. 

This new administrative home gives SPMG the mandate to create national standards for the shared print community as well as the communication channels to disseminate these standards and receive feedback and suggestions for updates moving forward. In its initial iteration the new SPMG is charged to develop a new terminology for shared print, coordinate with library service providers to ensure infrastructure needs are met, and communicate with the wider community about this work. Going forward, this group will periodically review the terminology, taking in feedback and suggestions and making updates as necessary to ensure the shared print community has sufficient support for its work. 

For more background on the formation of SPMG please see Codifying Shared Print Terminology. 

Future Work 

SPMG is responsible for discussing relevant changes to shared print metadata terminology to support shared print needs (i.e. disclosure needs identified by SPP working groups, outside entities, etc.), maintaining and disseminating to the broader shared print community updates to the shared print metadata guidelines, Shared Print Actions: Terminology (SPA) document, and other relevant and related resources, and ensuring that the Best Practices, SPA, and metadata guidelines align. Our official charge can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SvyJpLs7PJPM8A7hSrb8AlUHa8YnZY3HHAf8cHY63TI/edit.