Loans of primary source materials from CRL’s collections to scholars showed striking new growth recently. Kevin Wilks, Head of Access Services, reports a 17% increase in items sent out on loan for the first quarter of fy14 (July-September) as compared with the same period last year.

Researchers requested large runs of some of the more specialized regional newspapers and journals that form a key part of CRL’s collections. These include: more than 1,000 fiche of a weekly Persian gazette; 320 volumes of Eve’s Weekly from Bombay; 271 microfilm reels of the South China Morning Post; and more than 200 volumes of Pandji Masjarakat (an Indonesian journal).

Requests filled by article copies were up more than 70% as well. In addition, requests filled from serials at CRL’s STE partner Linda Hall Library increased by 75% over first quarter last year (the first year of the service).