The Global Resources Network provides administrative and programmatic support for ongoing, sustainable projects that identify, acquire, preserve, access, disseminate, and/or create unique resources for higher education research.
GRN Projects are dynamic, flexible, and voluntary activities with objectives identified by discrete communities of stakeholders. Projects have varying degrees of scope and are usually clustered around a specific region, language, or subject focus. Certain project activities are supported through central administration by CRL, while others are distributed or “outsourced” to other institutions with appropriate capacity or strengths in particular services.
Projects supported by GRN share common characteristics which serve as principles of operation:
- Highly collaborative activity
- Institutionally supported
- Transparent and paradigmatic
- Persistent and sustainable
- Interoperable
- Equitable and proportionate
Membership in GRN Projects is distinct from membership in GRN as a whole. Each GRN project may develop its own membership criteria, including fees, for those institutions that wish to participate in project governance, support additional project activities, and enjoy access to value-added services. This model for governance and fees is similar to that of the self-governing Area Studies Microform Projects that are associated with the Center for Research Libraries.
GRN will provide administrative, logistical, and programmatic support for ongoing sustainable projects; collaborate with lead institutions to provide core services and infrastructure for project activities; identify and promote effective systems of collaborative action and project “best practices” for adaptation by other initiatives; and develop and support new initiatives that address regions or subjects not sufficiently represented in North American institutions.
For more information on projects currently supported by GRN, visit the projects page.
