German scholars and academies have long occupied a central place in Western scholarship and learning. Thus CRL has, since its founding, cultivated a close relationship with German universities and has aggressively acquired documentation of German history and spheres of influence.

This issue of Focus on Global Resources highlights this interest. The issue provides an update on the activities of the German North American Research Partnership, which has involved licensing of specialized resources for the study of German literature and history. We also profile here nestor’s national-level efforts to establish trusted digital repositories in Germany for scholarly content.

We also sample the wealth of archives, newspapers, journals and other source materials held by CRL, pertaining to Germany and the German-speaking world. A significant number of titles in CRL’s vast dissertations collection were produced at German universities. Some of these date from the eighteenth century. CRL also holds extensive runs of German newspapers and journals, and recently acquired an enormous collection of original archives of German colonial Africa on microfilm.

University of Washington scholar Sabine Wilke’s account of her research on Masochism and the German Colonial Imagination vividly illustrates the value of this longstanding CRL interest: a deeper understanding of German history and culture for scholars and students in North American universities.