New Curriculum-Specific Subjects Branch Out from LC Class Offering 20% More Titles Than BCL3

New Providence, N.J. - June 22, 2006 - Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information management, today announced that the widely anticipated Resources for College Libraries (RCL) database will contain more than 62,000 titles when it is introduced to academic libraries later this year.

RCL is a new database of core titles for academic libraries that will be the successor to the classic reference work, Books for College Libraries (BCL), 3rd Edition, which was last published in 1988. It is being developed as a collaborative effort between the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and Bowker, and is set to debut as both a Web-based subscription product and a multi-volume print offering this fall.

“The biggest change in RCL, as compared to its well-known predecessors, is that we have decided to step away from strict adherence to Library of Congress classifications as a framework for selecting and organizing titles,” said Marcus Elmore, the project editor, who is overseeing the work of more than 50 subject editors, several hundred bibliographers and more than 50 referees. “Instead, we have adopted a system of subject-specific classification, which will allow us to reflect more accurately the contours of the undergraduate curriculum instead of trying to shoehorn them into a classification system designed for library catalogs.”

According to Elmore, the new RCL database will feature a comprehensive core list of books and electronic resources spanning 58 liberal arts and sciences subject areas. Within each subject area, titles are organized in a classification system designed by the subject editor to correspond to the way the subject matter is presented in the undergraduate classroom and laboratory. This new curriculum-specific classification of RCL selected titles is evident in the new Economics (467 titles) and Business Administration sections (1908 titles). In 1988, BCL3 grouped these two areas into a single LC class -- Economics (HB-HJ). These sections are now split in RCL to reflect the actual departments/academic disciplines in which these works would be used in the undergraduate curriculum.

“We believe this new way of organizing the titles in the database will make RCL more accessible to students and faculty, rather than remaining strictly a resource for librarians,” said Elmore.

The 62,000 titles in RCL is a significant increase from the last edition of Books for College Libraries, which contained fewer than 50,000 titles in 1988. The increase of coverage is partially due to the inclusion of interdisciplinary subject areas including African American Studies (507 titles) Asian American Studies (584 titles), Environmental Studies (294 titles), Gender Studies (874 titles), Native American Studies (146 titles), and Urban Studies (374 studies). Additionally, all subject areas within RCL now address electronic resources and websites.

For more information about the development of RCL leading up to its much-anticipated debut this fall, please go to www.rclinfo.net .

About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading provider of bibliographic information management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. The company is focused on developing various tools and products that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, as well as providing services to publishers that help them better understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker is a member of the ProQuest family of companies and is headquartered in New Providence, N.J., with additional operations in England and Australia. For more information, please visit www.bowker.com.