Michigan Information Transfer Source (MITS) was founded in 1980 by Executive Director, Anne Beaubien, to open up the vast library collection of the University of Michigan to corporations and industries.  MITS is a totally self-supported unit of the University of Michigan Library.

Throughout the 1970's, librarians at the University noted a continual increase in requests coming from businesses.  Based on this information, a decision was made to create a separate department serving businesses not affiliated with the University of Michigan.

In the beginning, MITS started out by offering both document and research services in support of medical, engineering, and technology research needs.  The research division of MITS was eliminated in 2000 when an increased availability of internet databases made it easier for customers to do their own research.  Delivery was originally done by U.S. Mail or in the case of rush requests, by the new and exciting machine called the “fax” or shipped overnight with Federal Express.

In 2000, MITS moved into the age of the Internet by becoming one of the first document services to offer desktop electronic delivery.  With a concern for publishers’ rights, MITS set up a secure website to deliver electronic documents rather than sending them through unsecured email.  The nature of MITS rush services changed with the implementation of new technology, and MITS was now able to offer four levels of rush service.

The number of requests has been growing steadily since 1980.  27 years later, MITS® has developed into a document delivery service where typically 40% of our requests are rush.  Whereas the first year of MITS saw primarily customers from within Michigan, MITS now serves a wide range of customers nationwide with some international customers. The majority of transactions are received and delivered electronically, and new technologies are added yearly to improve delivery speed and quality.