Re-Envisioning Distributed Collections in German Research Libraries - A View from the U.S.A.

German research libraries are undergoing a major shift as the distributed system of 'Special Subject Collections' (Sondersammelgebiete) supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) transitions to a new, restructured program of 'Specialized Information Services for Research' (Fachinformationsdienste für die Wissenschaft). Many of the structural issues underlying the programmatic changes in German libraries are also at work in U. S. research libraries. This article reflects on the parallels and differences in approaches to cooperative collection development in U. S. and German research libraries and reports on an ongoing discussion between the DFG and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), a library consortium based in Chicago that supports international collections in libraries in and outside the U. S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]