Distributed National Collections:

This paper examines the prospects for the successful implementation of a distributed national collec-tion policy in the United Kingdom. It does so by tracing the Australian experience with the implemen-tation of a similar scheme, the Distributed National Collection (DNC), during the late 1980s and1990s. The rationale for the introduction of the DNC is explained, and some of the reasons for its per-ceived failure are examined. The paper then traces the recent development of a similar proposal in theUK, and discusses the differences between the Australian and UK contexts for the introduction ofsuch an approach to collaborative collection building. It concludes that these differences give somecause for optimism that the UK push for a coordinated and formalized approach to collecting printmaterial on a national scale may be more successful, while pointing to the key challenges ahead.