Research Libraries UK

{{Short description|Organisation of libraries in the UK and Ireland}}

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Research Libraries UK (RLUK) (formerly CURL){{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114165426/http://www.rluk.ac.uk/node/482|url=http://www.rluk.ac.uk/node/482|title=RLUK's Foundations in CURL|archive-date=14 November 2011|work=Research Libraries UK}} comprises 35 university libraries, 3 national libraries, and the Wellcome Collection in the United Kingdom and Ireland.{{cite web|url=https://www.rluk.ac.uk/members/ |work=Research Libraries UK|title=Members|access-date=15 March 2023}} Its aim is to increase the ability of research libraries to share resources among themselves. The holdings of these libraries provided the basis of the Copac online catalogue.

The Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL) started in 1983 as an informal grouping of the seven largest university research libraries (the university libraries of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, and Oxford) to "explore the possibilities of closer co-operation, particularly, but not exclusively in the use of automation".{{cite book|pages=75–82|doi=10.1007/978-1-84628-903-3_6|publisher=Springer: London|editor1=Earnshaw R.|editor2= Vince J.|author=Fox, P.|title=Digital Convergence – Libraries of the Future |chapter=CURL – Research Libraries in the British Isles |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-84628-902-6 }} The consortium was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1992.{{cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02733294|work=Companies House|title=RLUK (Research Libraries UK)|access-date=27 July 2019}} By April 1997 the number of full members had increased to 20, including Trinity College Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, and the three national libraries of the UK and the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine had been admitted as associate members.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980125051348/http://www.curl.ac.uk/members.shtml|url=http://www.curl.ac.uk/members.shtml|archive-date=25 January 1998|date=1 April 1997|title=CURL's Full Members|work=Consortium of University Research Libraries}} The increased size of the organisation led to the appointment of the first full-time executive secretary in 1997.

In 2011, Queen's University Belfast joined as RLUK's 30th member, meaning that all 20 then-members of the Russell Group of universities were now members.{{cite web|url=http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/queens-university-belfast-becomes-newest-member-rluk|title= Queen's University Belfast Becomes Newest Member of RLUK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112185341/http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/queens-university-belfast-becomes-newest-member-rluk|work=RLUK Press Release|date=13 June 2011|archive-date=12 November 2013}} Of the four universities that joined the Russell Group in 2012, Durham and York were already members of RLUK, having joined in 1996 and 2011 respectively,{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/about/history/|title=Library History|work=Durham University Library|accessdate=27 July 2019}}{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211064100/http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/universities-st-andrews-and-york-become-newest-members-rluk|archive-date=11 December 2012|url=http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/universities-st-andrews-and-york-become-newest-members-rluk|title=Universities Of St Andrews And York Become Newest Members Of RLUK|work=RLUK News|date=11 October 2011}} while Exeter and Queen Mary, University of London joined in 2012 and 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_229385_en.html|title=University of Exeter becomes newest member of RLUK|date=12 September 2012|publisher=University of Exeter|access-date=27 July 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rluk.ac.uk/queen-mary-newest-member-rluk/|title=Queen Mary becomes newest member of RLUK|date=7 February 2014|work=RLUK News}}