University Libraries joins Center for Research Libraries

BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 16, 2009 – The University Libraries has joined the Chicago-based Center for Research Libraries (CRL), a consortium of over 200 North American universities, colleges, and independent research libraries.

The center makes available more than 4 million publications, archives, and collections to its member libraries to supplement their own humanities, social science, and science holdings.

Center resources include, in part

• 6,500 international newspapers, many dating to the 1700s;
• 4,500 U.S. newspapers, many dating to the colonial era, including 2,000 ethnic titles;
• Foreign journals that are rarely held in U.S. libraries;
• More than 800,000 foreign doctoral dissertations; and
• Area studies, major microform and paper collections from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia.

The CRL’s newspapers, journals, documents, archives, and other traditional and digital resources are made available to member institutions through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery. The loan period for center materials is three months with unlimited renewals, unless the items are recalled by another researcher. Requests for CRL material will be processed through Virginia Tech’s ILLiad. To learn more about CRL or to search the catalog, visit them online or contact Edward Lener, associate director of collection management.

• Laura Purcell
• 540-231-5396
• vtnews@vt.edu