The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) is a consortium of

research libraries A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...

, primarily in Europe, that facilitates access to historians with an interest in the history of the book by providing online resources. The organisation also makes grants to librarians, holds seminars and workshops, and since 1998 has published a periodical called ''CERL Papers''. It was founded in 1992 and since 1994 has been registered in the United Kingdom as a

company limited by guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...

, based in London.

Organisation

The Consortium of European Research Libraries is governed by a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

and a

management team Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpo ...

. The chairman is Kristian Jensen, of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, who was appointed in 2017 to succeed , former chief librarian at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. Göransson was preceded as chairman by ,

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, an ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. Its annual general meeting is usually held in November.

Member institutions

the consortium has 293 members, primarily in Europe but also in Central and South America and the US. Of these, single members (full fee) and special members (who pay a reduced fee) have one vote at the annual general meeting; groups of not more than 16 libraries share one vote; and cluster members associated with a single member may not vote.

Online resources

Heritage of the Printed Book Database

The Heritage of the Printed Book Database, formerly the Hand Press Book Database, contained almost 5 million entries for books printed during the hand press era, from the introduction of printing technology to Europe around 1450 to the mid-19th century, with descriptions facilitating comparison of variant versions. At that time 41 institutions had contributed entries, which are primarily based on examination of the item rather than on retroconversion of earlier bibliographic entries. The database is continuously updated, primarily by member institutions. The HPB database was hosted by the US-based

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...

from September 2007 until 2013, and uses OCLC's FirstSearch and Connexion software. Since September 2013 it has been hosted by the German . Access is limited to CERL member institutions and licencees.

Material Evidence in Incunabula

Material Evidence in Incunabula is a database of 15th-century printed works (

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

) that draws on the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue of the

and combines them with data about individual copies. Its development was initially funded by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

. Access to the database is free.

CERL Thesaurus

The CERL Thesaurus, managed by the Data Conversion Group in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, indexes locations, printers, publishers and authors for works printed between c. 1450 and 1850, and thus serves in association with the

Integrated Authority File The (translated as ''Integrated Authority File'', also known as the ''Universal Authority File'') or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is u ...

to cross-reference variant names in printings and catalogues. It is automatically updated with the Material Evidence in Incunabula database and offers links to information on provenance provided by CERL member institutions, reflecting now dispersed collections, and also includes digitised material such as images of

printer's mark A printer's mark, device, emblem or insignia is a symbol that was used as a trademark by early printers starting in the 15th century. The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. One of the ...

s collected by Vindel, Ronald McKerrow and Philippe Renouard and of

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

s. Access to the thesaurus is free.

CERL Portal

The CERL Portal was developed by the Electronic Publishing Centre of the

Uppsala University Library The Uppsala University Library ( sv, Uppsala universitetsbibliotek) at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, consists of 11 subject libraries, one of which is housed in the old main library building, Carolina Rediviva. The library holds books a ...

after the completion of the CERL Manuscripts Project. It permitted combined searches of both

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s and printed books, in manuscript databases, the HPB and additional relevant online databases such as the

English Short-Title Catalogue The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) is a union short-title catalogue of works published between 1473 and 1800, in Britain and its former colonies, notably those in North America, and primarily in English, drawing on the collections of the ...

and photograph databases. It was discontinued in 2020.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Official website

HPB database

CERL Thesaurus

Material Evidence in Incunabula
{{authority control Bibliographic database providers College and university associations and consortia in Europe Education in the London Borough of Islington International organisations based in London Libraries in Europe Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington Organizations established in 1992