The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL): The European Printed Archive

Abstract

The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) was formally constituted in 1994 with the aim of enabling European research libraries to collaborate on assembling the printed heritage of the hand press period in Europe and the wider world for the benefit of scholarship. On the tenth anniversary of its foundation, the Hand Press Book Database is now a substantial resource, and research libraries from all parts of Europe and beyond are investing in developing this important resource for early European printed material. The Consortium's original focus has extended to embrace other initiatives sought by scholars such as a multi-lingual thesaurus for place, author and imprint names in early printed material, a manuscripts and print search facility, and member services. Steps have been taken to determine the exact niche that the Consortium should seek to fill within a European ‘information landscape’, and in the wider sphere of international scholarship. A vital aspect of further development is to extend membership as widely as possible to research libraries, book historians, the antiquarian book trade, individual researchers and all those concerned with the early written heritage of Europe. An important step in this direction is widening membership to include libraries and important European historical collections in countries in the wider ‘diaspora’.