The Consortium shares resources and expertise between research libraries and the research community to enhance access to the European printed and written heritage as well as its exploitation and preservation. CERL legally came into being in June 1994, and was formed on the initiative of major research libraries in several European countries.
As an international network of libraries with important collections of early printed books and manuscripts, CERL increases the visibility of the Special Collections Community.
CERL members are the custodians of a distinct section of European Cultural Heritage and together we work to increase our collections’ impact and potential for research exploitation.
We support community building on a regional and/or national level by allowing Single Members to invite Cluster libraries to participate in CERL for free.
CERL creates and sustainably maintains services that members could not develop on their own.
CERL provides its members with the opportunity to enhance the impact and research relevance of their collections, enabling them to present their bibliographical and authority records and their digital collections in an international context.
CERL hosts smaller datasets that individual libraries are increasingly unable to commit to hosting themselves.
CERL provides a forum where members work together to create tools for researchers and librarians.
CERL works closely with the researcher and research organisations assuring that our services respond effectively to their research questions and also that we gain insights into user needs which may be shared with CERL members.
CERL enables staff at member libraries to be involved in research projects that benefit the member institutions and the researcher and research organisations, expand knowledge about our shared collections and enrich the context in which we present our collections.
CERL is an incubator for digital humanities projects and facilitates opportunities for members jointly to obtain project funding in this field.
As a special-interest group, CERL organises the exchange of high-level professional expertise on an international scale, to ensure that members have access to relevant information about the latest developments, products and projects.
CERL offers grants to allow early-career librarians and scholars to work on CERL projects in CERL libraries, or in CERL offices, and to be trained on CERL databases.
CERL’s working groups provide member institutions with a forum for identifying issues of current importance and help ensuring the continued relevance of CERL’s offerings for its members.
CERL enables staff at member institutions to attend workshops, seminars and summer schools, taught by members of their own community.
CERL puts at the disposal of its members an extensive array of dissemination tools to allow the them to announce achievements, ask for advice, connect with potential project partners, or alert colleagues regarding trends in the field.
CERL represents the special collections community in international fora and projects.