Why do CRL records display in Melvyl under UC Libraries?

You may have wondered why records for items held at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), located in Chicago,  show up under Level 2 with the University of California Libraries holdings in Melvyl; see below.

There are several reasons for this. First, nine UC campus libraries are members of CRL. UC has a substantial investment in CRL and in making CRL’s rare, unique and little known items highly visible and available to our researchers.

The UC libraries deposit collections to be stored and preserved at CRL for the use of researchers worldwide.

At the time of the transition from Ex Libris Melvyl to WorldCat Local, a policy decision was made to include CRL’s records as part of UC because of our long and active relationship with CRL. The decision was endorsed by the UC Heads of Public Services (HOPS) and the UC Collection Development Committee (CDC).

CRL records have displayed prominently in Melvyl as long as UC libraries have been members, and through pre-WorldCat Local versions of Melvyl. CRL records were added as a part of UC’s holdings in WorldCat Local in April of 2011. Trends in CRL usage by UC library users after that date show a marked increase in usage for requests, filled requests, and digital downloads.

So when you see Center for Research Libraries displaying under University of California Libraries, it is intentional and not an error. We have added this information to the Melvyl FAQ.