The Center for the Studies of Information Resources of Wuhan University (CSIR), as a key university-based national research institute of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education, China, is the only selected one in the field of library and information science. On the basis of the original Library Science and Information Research Institute of Wuhan University that was established in 1984, the CSIR was structured in a new style after its reform of February, 1999.

The CSIR is a non-profit entity engaged in researching，teaching, training and consulting, for which the Director is responsible under the leadership of the university President.

The goal of the CSIR is to collect social resources from home and abroad, to innovate academic research mechanisms, to make great academic achievements through undertaking important scientific research projects and to make itself a leading information resources research CSIR in China, and an influential and famous one in the world.

At present, the CSIR consists of an administrative office, the Information Economy Office, the E-business Office, an Information Organization and Retrieval Office, and an Information Resource Management Office. The CSIR employs over 20 full- time and part-time researchers.

The CSIR publishes an Achievement Briefing periodically, promoting the academic research achievements of the researchers, visiting researchers and other scholars. The Achievement Briefing is mainly reported to the Ministry of Education, and exchanged among the academic institutions, policy research ministries and scholars at home and abroad. The CSIR also publishes a Work Briefing periodically, detailing its important work developments as well as encouraging cooperation and communication with the outside world. The Work Briefing is not only submitted to the Ministry of Education, but also exchanged between academic institutions and cooperative organizations at home and abroad. In addition, the biweekly Academic Forum Briefing publishes the lectures held by the CSIR. The Academic Forum Briefing reports the academic activities and introduces research achievements of the forum to decision-making departments and news media, as well as publishes the research consultancy reports of important application achievements of consigned or independent researches at the CSIR. The Briefing is sent to the government departments and the industry field.

Since its official establishment in 2000, the CSIR has been always aiming at the research, consultancy and training of great academic and practical issues of social economy informatization with a focus on the organization, management, development and utilization of information resources, and have been making great achievements, including undertaking six national natural science funded projects, two key national social science funded projects, six general projects, one key humanities and social sciences project of the Ministry of Education, six key projects for key institutes, two projects of academy of sciences and related ministries and commissions, seven projects consigned by local government and enterprises and two international cooperation projects, with the total funding of over RMB ￥5，000， 000. The CSIR has received over 10 awards at the provincial.

ministry level or above. The researchers of the CSIR work consistently toward linking theories with practice and have provided more than 10 research consultancy reports to the related national departments. Advice on information policies and rules of law, exploitation of network information resources, protection of intellectual property and regional informatization generated by the CSIR have been taken and have favorable social effects. Facing the enterprises’ need, the CSIR trains information management staff. Cooperating with many domestic enterprises, the CSIR develops information systems and content retrieval applications which have resulted in the expected social and economic effects.

Every year the CSIR undertakes two key research projects of the Ministry of Education, invites experts at home and abroad to the CSIR for some short-term visiting research from three to six months through its visiting research programs, and hosts or co-hosts academic conferences with other institutions at home and abroad in order to discuss important issues in related fields.

With the CSIR as the main body , the Center cooperates with the School of Information Management, and the Key Lab of the National Software Project of Wuhan University and other institutes. With the establishment of the information resource management innovation platform of the national 985 project, the CSIR will continuously extend the frontiers of information resource management. After several years efforts, the information resource management of Wuhan university will become the international first-class research field.

Currently the director of the CSIR is Professor Ma, Feicheng, and the vice-director, Professor Hu, Changping.