Global Resources: How a Cooperative Collection Development Enterprise Keeps Pace with a Rapidly Changing World

In the past ten years the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) has developed new ways to support cooperative development of critical research collections. CRL has expanded its role as a centralized aggregator of tangible collections to facilitate collection development, digitization, and licensing of collections by individual libraries and interest groups. This has required CRL to adopt new funding models, from partnerships and coalitions with key organizations, and use technology to support community engagement. Funding essential to this transition was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the IMLS.