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Fast Facts

Essential for all academic libraries
Content compiled by subject experts
Premier list of core recommended titles

Overview

Resources for College Libraries(RCL) is a database that covers the two- and four-year college curriculum, providing a list of core titles essential for undergraduate teaching and research. Co-published by ACRL’s Choice and ProQuest, the RCL database is designed to connect high-quality titles to higher education institutions, all in an easy-to-use, responsive interface.

的RCL database is available in three subscription options, allowing you to select the content that suits your institution’s curriculum and collection development needs: RCL, RCL: Career Resources, and RCL Plus.

Introducing the Newly Updated Bowker Book Analysis System

Introducing Bowker Book Analysis System (BBAS), the newly updated library collection management tool from ProQuest. This powerful collection-assessment tool eliminates tedious manual comparison via customized reports for data cleansing and management, and compares your library holdings against the comprehensive core bibliography of Resources for College Libraries (RCL). BBAS provides instant identification of the gaps and overlaps in your monograph collection—so you can make better informed selection decisions, while saving time and resources for your library.

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RCL titles are selected by practicing subject bibliographers and peer-reviewed by academic librarians and faculty, ensuring that the most essential current and canonical titles are included.

RCL supports library workflows for:

  • Collection development, assessment, and management
  • Benchmarking using qualitative data
  • Research and instruction services
  • Accreditation reports
  • New program support
  • Strategic and fiscal planning
  • Subject liaison outreach
  • Curriculum-planning

的editorial development of RCL is managed independently by CHOICE, a publishing unit of ACRL, and continues a fifty-year history of recommending the best books for college libraries.

的RCL database features:

  • 95,000+ records across 125 curriculum-driven subject disciplines
  • 4,500 new titles added each year, on average
  • LC classification for search and browse
  • Connect directly to local catalog holdings
  • Peer-reviewed by over 500 librarians and faculty

Visual discovery with Syndetics Unbound

RCL database users now have more ways to discover core titles with visual data enrichments from Syndetics Unbound™ including: Professional Reviews, Awards, You May Also Like, Look Inside, Tags, and more. These interactive discovery elements help users explore RCL’s curated core recommendations through linked metadata and book cover images.

Full-text reviews

RCL contains selected full-text Choice reviews and easy identifiers for Choice Outstanding Academic Titles.

Support & Training

ProQuest offers best-in-class customer service, technical support, and training so you can hit the ground running with your ProQuest products and leverage everything they can do.

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Case Studies & Whitepapers

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Related Products

Bowker Book Analysis System

Bowker Book Analysis System™ (BBAS) is a powerful collection-analysis tool and an essential resource for academic librarians to electronically compare their library’s collection against Resources for College Libraries (RCL). This customizable, self-service analysis tool eliminates tedious manual comparison via customized reports for data cleansing and management, and instant identification of the gaps and overlaps in your collection—so you can make better informed selection decisions.

Learn More

Syndetic Solutions™

Syndetics Unbound is an enrichment service that integrates seamlessly with your existing catalog or discovery layer to provide interactive exploration and increase the usage of your book and library collection. Backed by comprehensive data from ProQuest and LibraryThing, Syndetics Unbound provides the highest quality enrichments and best coverage for retailers, publishers, public and academic libraries.

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Academic Complete®

Academic Complete is ProQuest’s award-winning subscription database trusted by libraries around the world. For more than a decade, students have relied on Academic Completes unlimited access, multidisciplinary coverage, and powerful research tools.

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