Gilreath, 'CRL Database Added to Libraries' Information System', NCSU Libraries Newsletter v1994n00 (Gilreath Charles)
_The NCSU Libraries Newsletter_
Volume 21 no. 11
June 1994
Gilreath, Charles L.01
"CRL Database Added to Libraries' Information System"


This month the catalog of the Center for Research Libraries 
(CRL) joins the growing list of databases available through the 
NCSU Libraries Information System.  The Chicago-based CRL is 
a "library's library," with collections exceeding 3.7 million 
volumes of research-level publications.  Access to CRL 
collections is through institutional membership, which allows 
member libraries to take advantage of the center's liberal 
lending policies on behalf of researchers at their institutions.

The NCSU Libraries has been a member of CRL for a number of 
years, and Interlibrary Center staff tap its resources 
regularly.  Even so, the online availability of the CRL catalog 
will make this rich resource much more visible to researchers 
on the campus.  The center's catalog represents 385,000 titles 
in CRL's cataloged collections.  It includes monographs, 
newspapers, serials, and hundreds of sets of archival 
materials in microform.  Many thousands of other titles--such 
as foreign dissertations and U.S. state government 
publications--are collected by the center but are not 
cataloged.  These collections are described in the center's 
handbooks and guides to special resources, which are available 
at the D. H. Hill Library's reference desk or Interlibrary Center.

The new database is accessible in the information system by 
going first to OPTION 1, "Library Catalogs" in the main menu, 
then selecting OPTION 5, "Other library catalogs."  Once the 
CRL catalog has been selected for searching, the information 
system will act as a gateway and establish a network 
connection to CRL's host computer.  Currently, the interface 
for the CRL catalog is different from that used in the library's 
information system, but instructions for its use are clear.  The 
Libraries will be installing software during the 1994-95 
academic year that will enable NCSU users to search this 
database with the same interface used for our own catalog.

Items located in the CRL catalog can be obtained via 
interlibrary loan.  Requests for these items should be 
submitted to Interlibrary Center staff in the D. H. Hill Library 
or at the service desk in one of the branch libraries.  Questions 
about CRL collections and policies should be directed to the 
Interlibrary Center at ext. 5-2116.