About

// Sharing Resource Sharing Resources //

Shared Sphere exists as a labor of love; a love letter to the resource sharing community.

I am a fairly new resource sharing practitioner. Halfway through my first year as a practitioner, I proposed a presentation on my experience as a newcomer which I later gave right around the 1-year anniversary of having started. I talked about the learning curve and how many of the facets of resource sharing aren’t touched on in LIS graduate programs. This seemed to resonate with folks, as after the presentation, I had many colleagues reach out via email asking for a bibliography of resources and suggestions on how to train new practitioners and librarians (I was deeply unqualified to provide this information, so I hope I was able to help in some capacity!). I had a couple of colleagues suggest that I write a paper about my experience as an active LIS student who spent non-school time studying resource sharing. 

A few months after that presentation, I had two colleagues bring to my attention that the Journal of Library Resource Sharing was looking to do a special issue on the topic of library resource sharing and library master’s programs. I decided to submit a paper to this special issue about my experience as both a new LIS graduate student and a resource sharing practitioner. Ultimately, I argued for a more intentional inclusion of resource sharing topics within LIS course curricula. In doing so, I was not suggesting that a master’s degree should be required to work in resource sharing, but rather I was trying to encourage a more inclusive LIS discourse – one which involves resource sharing as an active and central library function.

This paper prompted me to envision a central location for all open access and freely available resource sharing resources that exist online (although, Shared Sphere includes references to materials that can be accessed via interlibrary loan, such as journal articles and books). I wanted to make a free, non-member website that would have greatly helped me in my very early days as a practitioner.  This seems all the more prescient in our current library ecosystem where various resource sharing solutions and software exist. As the term “interoperability” becomes ever more pertinent, it seemed just as well to consolidate resources for all interested parties to use, regardless of institutional and organizational affiliation. 

Finally, I will be graduating with a Master’s in Library and Information Science in 2026. My program does not require a thesis, but does have a capstone project. So I’ve aimed to view Shared Sphere as the culmination of the past 3 years of my coursework and on-the-job learning; hopefully a capstone that can be useful to the larger resource sharing community. Perhaps a website that merely cites the work of others is not worthy of a final project (rather lacking in originality), but it seemed to me to exemplify the spirit of resource sharing and more practically useful than a paper theorizing it.

Shared Sphere is, then, the result of that endeavor. Technically, conceptual work on Shared Sphere started in early 2024. However, the actual prep for the website started in Summer of 2025. Shared Sphere aims to provide links to resources from throughout the resource sharing community, keeping with the spirit of resource sharing (a sort of library mutual aid). It is truly in the best interest of us all that we are all set up for success, since this is such a reciprocal and interdependent field. Thus: sharing resource sharing resources.

The goal is to be as comprehensive as possible. Since the website is operated by an individual, though, there will be many resources missed and overlooked. If there’s a resource out there on the web, perhaps a webinar or journal article, not referenced here, please send it my way! You can send submissions and suggestions using this form, and help make Shared Sphere a truly crowd-sourced endeavor. Please note, though, that anything hidden behind a paywall or paid membership will not be referenced here (unless it’s an item that can be requested via interlibrary loan, such as a journal article or book). 

Shared Sphere is entirely profit-free. It is not associated with any educational institution, business, non-profit organization, or consortia. Domain and hosting fees have all been paid for by me personally so that no advertisement is involved. It exists, then, merely as a way to connect the resource sharing community to its own community-created resources. If you are the creator or owner of copyright of something you see linked on this website and would like it to be removed, please contact me for removal. Everything appearing on the site is for educational purposes only.