CRL announces the appointment of Christine Stamison as the new director of NERL. She succeeds Joan Emmet, who led NERL since 2011. Stamison will be responsible for meeting the ambitious goals and objectives of the NERL Program at the Center for Research Libraries. In her new capacity, Stamison will negotiate pricing and terms of use for the hundreds of databases and e-journal and e-book packages licensed or purchased on behalf of NERL’s 28 members and 80 affiliates, and will work with the NERL Board, Program Council, and CRL to increase these libraries’ return on their investment in electronic resources. The appointment is effective September 3.

NERL was founded by Ann Okerson at Yale University in 1996, as a consortium of research libraries that licenses high cost online products on behalf of its membership with the aim of obtaining the best resources, license terms, and prices possible for its member institutions and users. Earlier this year NERL entered into a strategic partnership with the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), to afford North American research libraries greater leverage in acquiring and subscribing to key electronic resources, and to shape the terms of access to those resources. On July 1, NERL began operating as a cooperative program under the organizational umbrella of CRL in Chicago.

Stamison has considerable experience in the electronic publishing and the information marketplace. With over thirty years in the private and public sectors, working for both subscription vendors and academic libraries, she brings extensive knowledge of the information industry and a valuable set of skills to the NERL program. Stamison has worked in technical services and periodicals at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and also directed the Serials Orders Section at the University of Chicago, Regenstein Library.  In her current role as senior customer relations manager, and previously as national sales manager at Swets Information Services, Stamison successfully negotiated contracts and terms of access with new and existing customers, developed strategic partnerships that enhanced the international operations of Swets, and stayed abreast of current and emerging trends in the information industry, including publisher platforms, authentication methods, and discovery systems. Reporting to Swets President of the Americas, she also spearheaded customer retention of the Americas region customer base and oversaw and administered all aspects of the Swets Customer Advisory Board.