At a glance
When to use the Library
The Library is your team’s central source of truth. Content here should be general-purpose, approved for use across projects, and actively maintained. Use the Library when:- The content reflects your current firm standards
- It’s ready for general use and doesn’t need further editing
- You want it to appear recommended in Revit searches in all projects.
When to use a Collection
Collections are best for content that is project or client specific, or generally content that you do not want to be part of day-to-day work. They give you a flexible place to work with content that isn’t suitable for the Library. Use a Collection when:- The content is specific to a project, client, or manufacturer
- You want to collaborate across teams or firms
- You need restricted access for confidential work
- The content is experimental or in progress
- You’re managing a legacy set you want to keep separate from current standards
A few common patterns
- Baseline and variants: Use the Library for firmwide standards and Collections for client-specific or sector-specific variations.
- Sandboxing: Let contributors upload to a Collection. After review, promote approved items to the Library.
- Confidential work: Use restricted Collections together with restricted projects to manage access.
- Collaboration: Share Collections with partner firms or manufacturers. You can choose whether others can view, contribute, or co-edit.
Anti-patterns to avoid
- Putting the same family in multiple Collections Collections are completely separate libraries. When you place a family into more than one Collection, each becomes a distinct copy — and must be maintained independently. If you intend that content to be the same across projects or clients, it’s probably a good fit for the Library instead, where it can be further organized into Lists.
- Using Collections instead of Lists to organize general-purpose content If your goal is simply to group content for convenience — like creating starter kits or discipline bundles — you don’t need a Collection. Use Library Lists instead, which let you curate sets without creating duplicates or fragmenting your content base.
What if I choose the wrong one?
You’re not locked in.- Items can be moved or copied between the Library and Collections at any time.
- When you move an item, its usage analytics, version history, and tracking data stay with it.
- This means you can reorganize content freely without losing insight into how or where it’s been used.