There is absolutely no cost for CRL libraries’ use of this service. If the request is sent directly to LHL, your institution will be charged LHL’s regular fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Borrowing: Accessing Linda Hall Materials
If you are a RapidILL user, you should place your request as normal. If you are a non-RapidILL user, you will place a request through your ILL management system (such as Clio, ILLiad, Relais, WCRS). A special pod will be created that will allow requesting as a CRL borrower only. The request will then go to LHL for filling, courtesy of CRL. If an institution does not have an ILL management system, RapidILL will provide a requesting venue to make requesting as seamless as possible. Training for non-RapidILL users is scheduled to begin July 2012.
On July 1, 2012, Linda Hall began providing document delivery from the print serials to CRL libraries through the RapidILL document delivery service. Non-RapidILL users can begin a special training by RapidILL as of July 2012. All CRL member institutions should be able to request by December 1, 2012.
CRL libraries will have access to the combined CRL and Linda Hall science, technology, and engineering (STE) print serials, which will be made available electronically through on-demand digitization and traditional document delivery through the RapidILL service. CRL members will receive the excellent 24 hour-turnaround service provided by RapidILL.
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) and the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology (LHL) have entered into a strategic partnership to preserve and develop historical research collections in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. CRL and LHL will combine resources to promote the visibility of these collections worldwide, and to make them available electronically and through traditional ILL and document delivery to researchers through CRL libraries in the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong.
Borrowing
Material chosen for digitizing must meet certain guidelines. Please contact Access Services to find out if the material you would like to have scanned is eligible.
Some online resources in the CRL Catalog are restricted to member access only via IP. To enable access to these materials from off-campus locations, we recommend that member institutions take the following steps:
- Add CRL hosts, including catalog.crl.edu and dds.crl.edu, to your institution’s Proxy server configuration
- On your library Web site, add your proxy prefix to all CRL links, including catalog.crl.edu and www.crl.edu
CRL Systems staff receive a number of support calls about off-campus access. Since each CRL member institution controls their own proxy server, we often have to direct off-campus access questions from end-users to their home institution library. However, we strongly encourage the technical staff in charge of your proxy server to contact us to ensure your proxy server configuration is set for CRL resources. Please refer questions related Proxy server configuration to CRL Systems staff.
Sample configuration for EZProxy Server
- T Center for Research Libraries
- U http://www.crl.edu
- DJ crl.edu
- HJ catalog.crl.edu
- HJ dds.crl.edu
- HJ ecollections.crl.edu
- HJ contentdm.crl.edu
- HJ images.crl.edu
- DJ llmcdigital.org
- HJ www.llmcdigital.org
You may contact Marie Waltz, Head of Access Initiatives, or the Center at (773)955-4545 ext 267. You may find a detailed staff directory on our website.
Please contact the Access Services Department should you have any questions concerning a demand purchase.
Turnaround time for demand purchases differs for material, origin, and format.
To meet scholars’ individual research needs the Center purchases materials in three categories on demand (Foreign Doctoral Dissertations, Newspapers, Archival material). As funds permit, requests for demand purchases are honored on a first-come, first-served basis with a maximum expenditure of $2,000 per patron per year. You may find more details on the Demand Purchase Program page.
CRL member institutions may request an additional six months renewal via OCLC (ILLiad), Fax (773-955-9732), email asd@crl.edu, U.S. mail service or by calling (773) 955-4545 ext. 321.
The generous loan period for CRL member institutions is six months with unlimited renewals. However, all material may be recalled after two weeks use if requested by another member institution or project participant. The non-member loan period is four weeks, no renewals, with the material being subject to recall after two weeks use if requested by a member institution or project participant.
Uncataloged material can be verified on the Collections Search Link. If you do not find the desired material, please contact our Access Services Department for verification.
CRL does not lend to non-members, please see our nonmember lending page.
Scholars and researchers from CRL libraries have free and unlimited use of the CRL collections through interlibrary loan.
Membership
Prospective institutions are obliged to submit a membership application letter—for review and approval by CRL’s Board of Directors—indicating they have read and agree to the terms of CRL bylaws. The membership year runs from July 1 – June 30th annually; however, new members can enroll on the first day of any month on a prorated basis. To learn more, please contact members@crl.edu.
All members are eligible to:
- Load CRL catalog records at no charge (includes periodic updates)
- Program and service orientations available for member staff.
- Individualized resource searches available through CRL’s User Services Liaison.
- Web consultations to optimize user access to the CRL catalog.
- Participation in JSTOR, ICON, Print Archiving, and other CRL activities and partnerships.
Voting members are eligible to participate in CRL governance and all of the following programs. Global members do not vote or participate in governance.
- Governance—election to the board, committee and task force appointments, budget responsibilities, etc.
- Purchase Proposal Program—an annual, ballot-based, cooperative acquisition program.
- Shared Purchase Program—a cooperative acquisition program based on buyer groups.
- Demand Purchase Program—in which patrons (i.e., individual faculty, grad students, etc.) at member institutions can request purchases up to $2,000 annually in three areas: foreign dissertations, newspapers, and archival material.
CRL resources include:
- 6,500 international newspapers, many dating to the 1700s—the largest collection of circulating newspapers in North America.
- 4,500 U.S. newspapers, many dating to the colonial era, including 2,000 ethnic titles.
- More than 38,000 foreign journals that are rarely held in U.S. libraries.
- More than 800,000 foreign dissertations, mostly from European universities.
- Area Studies - Major microform and paper collections from Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, and more.
Materials are requested through standard interlibrary loan systems, including OCLC, ILL Manager, Iliad, InnReach, Fax, and U.S. mail. The materials are then delivered through Odyssey, Article Exchange, fax, or links from our online catalog to a Digital Delivery Server. All returnable items are shipped by two day express.
Two-day express courier, digital links, and electronic delivery.
- Two-day express - All returnable materials are delivered by two-day express courier. Last year, 92% of all interlibrary loan requests were processed in a single business day, then shipped by two-day express.
- Digital delivery - CRL now delivers as much requested material as possible digitally. The average turn-around time is 5-10 business days, but whether individual requests can be delivered digitally depends on the extent and condition of the requested material. We expect to provide desktop delivery to the vast majority of requests within the decade.
- Accessing digital files – Digital files are accessed through a link on the bibliographic record. Users whose requests have been filled digitally are forwarded a link, once the material accessible.
- Copyright note - To enable a “fair use” consultation of titles with copyright restrictions, we make digital copies available for restricted, non-simultaneous use by members within a limited period.
- Electronically – More than 95% of all-page image copies of articles are processed and delivered (by Odyssey, Article Exchange, email, fax transmissions) in a single day.
Benefits for Voting and Global memberships are summarized below.
Voting member benefits include the following:
- Unlimited access to CRL materials, which are delivered to member institutions at no additional cost.
- A 90-day loan period, with 90-day renewals as needed.
- Participation in the Purchase Proposal Program—an annual, ballot-based, cooperative acquisition program.
- Participation in the Shared Purchase Program—a cooperative acquisition program based on CRL-organized buyer groups.
- Participation in the Demand Purchase Program, in which patrons (i.e., individual faculty, grad students, etc.) at member institutions can request purchases up to $2,000 annually in three areas: foreign dissertations, newspapers, and archival material.
- Electronic delivery of materials, when possible
- Eligible to load CRL catalog records or subsets at no charge (includes periodic updates)
- Program and service orientations available for member staff.
- Individualized resource searches available through CRL’s User Services.
- Participation in planned scanning projects through User Services.
- Web consultations to optimize user access to the CRL catalog.
- Free subscription to The Charleston Advisor.
- Cost avoidance - Many members take advantage of CRL’s large legacy newspaper collections on microfilm—and third-day delivery—to discontinue costly subscriptions, thus saving or redirecting funds to other purposes
- Eligible to participate in JSTOR, ICON, Print Archiving, and other CRL activities and partnerships.
Global member benefits include the following:
- Unlimited access to the majority of CRL materials. Paper-based and other hard-copy materials are not available for interlibrary loan. Global members pay all shipping costs.
- A 90-day loan period, with 90-day renewals as needed.
- Participation in the Shared Purchase Program—a cooperative acquisition program based on CRL-organized buyer groups.
- Participation in the Demand Purchase Program, in which patrons (i.e., individual faculty, grad students, etc.) at member institutions can request purchases up to $2,000 annually in three areas: foreign dissertations, newspapers, and archival material.
- Electronic delivery of materials, when possible
- Eligible to load CRL catalog records or subsets at no charge (includes periodic updates)
- Program and service orientations available for member staff.
- Individualized resource searches available through CRL’s User Services.
- Participation in planned scanning projects through User Services.
- Web consultations to optimize user access to the CRL catalog.
- Free subscription to The Charleston Advisor
CRL is a consortium of more than 240 college, university, and independent research libraries that makes available through interlibrary loan and digital delivery approximately five million publications, archives, and collections and one million digital resources to its member libraries to supplement their humanities, science, and social science holdings. Located in Chicago, CRL was founded in 1949 and is governed by a fifteen-member board drawn entirely from the higher education community.
Record Loading
Harvard University and University of Florida have loaded all of CRL’s records. Brigham Young, Canisius, Claremont Colleges, Michigan State University, Queens University, University of Virginia, and University of Western Ontario have loaded eresource records. Grinnell College has loaded records for microforms sets.