General InformationThe Library of Congress Office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, collects a variety of materials from the South American countries of Brazil, Uruguay, Suriname, Guyana, and the French Overseas Department of Guiana. The office's mission is to enrich the research collections of the Library of Congress and other research libraries with the wealth of bibliographic production from these countries. The Rio Office exists to overcome the challenges to collecting research materials from these countries--including poor distribution, lack of advertising, inaccessibility, and unusually high costs. The office in Rio de Janeiro, like the Nairobi Office, opened its doors in fiscal year 1966 as a National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging (NPAC) office serving the Library of Congress for Brazilian publications. Responsibility for Uruguay was added in 1986, a cooperative program for serials was initiated in 1990, and Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana were added in 1997. The variety of publications acquired include books, newspapers, journals, pamphlets, cordel literature, compact discs, maps, posters, musical scores, and more. Many publications are purchased by the office, but slightly more than one-half are acquired by the Rio Office via exchange from approximately 600 exchange partners. Regular acquisitions trips to major cities are vital to maintaining the flow of incoming documents. The office's exchange and gift publisher file is an invaluable resource not only for the office staff, but also for librarians and others interested in the Brazilian publishing sector. Cooperative Acquisitions ProgramIn Brazil, the Cooperative Acquisitions Program was initiated in 1990. The goal of the program is to provide scholarly journals, newspapers, and magazines from Brazil to participating academic institutions and public libraries on a cost-recovery basis. The program has grown from a handful of American universities to nearly fifty institutions, including several in Europe.
Exchange ProgramThe exchange program has been an integral facet of the Rio Office's acquisitions operations since the opening of the office in 1966. Through more than 600 formal and informal exchange agreements the office acquires materials that would otherwise not be available. Rio de Janeiro Lists and Index
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