Starting September 1,  Cushing Memorial Library & Archives will unveil a new service to researchers across the world: CORS, short for Cushing Online Request Services. Cushing houses some of the finest special collections in the country. Now with the touch of a button anyone anywhere can access them as well.  Research links on Cushing’s website, as well as “Request from Cushing” buttons in the University Library’s catalog, walk users through an electronic registration system. Researchers planning to visit Cushing in person can request material in advance so that the material is waiting for them in the elegantly appointed Kelsey Reading Room. Distance users can request electronic copies of material for nominal fees.

“We’re very excited about this new program,” says David Chapman, Director of Cushing Library. “We’re always delighted to share our collections with visitors. Now people can visit us from their homes in Singapore or in College Station.”

Researchers often request material from the library, but the new program streamlines the service for both staff and users. Cushing’s collections, which hold treasures as diverse as Sumerian clay tablets, John Donne’s metaphysical poetry, and some of the earliest printed material from Mexico already attract users from across the globe. In the past, researchers had to request paper forms and return them by fax or mail. More recently, they could email curators and Reading Room staff directly to ask for aid in obtaining material. With this new program, Cushing joins with other special collections libraries, such as the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, in expanding  access to these materials.