Center for Research Libraries

Acquisitions - this program consists of activities supporting the acquisition and processing of collection materials, including surveying of members on collection needs, selection and subscription costs, ordering, transporting and receiving materials.

Service and delivery - the Center makes available an estimated 5 million analog items and a digital corpus over 50 million pages to member institutions and other clients. Activities include receiving and processing requests for the centers collection materials from member Libraries and clients, retrieval and preparation of materials for delivery, shipping, fulfillment of electronic document delivery requests, receipt and re-shelving of returned materials and fulfillment and processing of member purchase request for individual items.

Cataloging and metadata - this program involves production and processing of preliminary and final catalog records, finding aids for the Center's collection materials and metadata for electronic resources including those produced and/or acquired by the Center.

Area microform projects (amps) - this program involves specific support for the area microform projects and other area studies projects undertaken by the Center for partner organizations. Activities include identification and procurement of materials for preservation, microfilming and digitization as well as conversion and cataloging of those materials.conversion of materials - the Center preserves unique and at-risk cultural and historical materials through microfilming and digital conversion. Materials are organized, analyzed, collated and shipped to and from service providers by the Center and partner organizations. Film and digital copies are produced and distributed.collections storage and maintenance - the Center maintains active and inactive collections consisting of an estimated five million volumes or equivalents in its repository facility. These collections are in paper, microform and electronic media. Activities associated with storage and physical maintenance of the Center's film and paper collections include sorting, shelving, labeling, housing, binding conservation work. Also included are the costs of maintaining, monitoring and improving the portion of the building dedicated to collections storage, including climate control and other functions.licensing negotiations - the Center identifies electronic databases and datasets of potential interest to member institutions; negotiates with their publisher and vendors terms for the subscription and purchase of those databases on behalf of the Center members; and provides to appropriate personnel at member Libraries information on the value, limitations, and terms of access for those electronic resources. In some instances, the Center also invoices member Libraries for their purchase/subscription to the electronic resources, and disburses funds due to the publishers/vendors.grants - the Center receives grants to fund preservation, cataloging, union lists, acquisitions and other activities, either independently or as a partner in cooperative projects. These grants are normally from private philanthropies or from the u.s. federal government.