PROJECT UPDATE

 

Posted By:   Meghan Swatt, Marketing, Bowker
Post Topic:   RCLweb is here!
 
We are so excited to announce the RCLweb is now live! Training is now available too! Visit www.BowkerTraining.com to sign up today!

Thank you to all our contributors. We look forward to the release of the print and analysis product in November!
Posted By:   Nancy O’Brien, Head, Education and Social Science Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Post Topic:   Education Resources
 
Two things struck me while working on the education section of RCL - the increasing interdisciplinary nature of published works, and the diversity of teaching methods explored by various authors. The diversity of resources identified by contributors was also amazing! I have already used RCL to enhance the collections in my home library, and I expect to use it even more when it is officially published and I have time to explore other subjects related to education.
Posted By:   Meghan Swatt, Marketing, Bowker
Post Topic:   Join us for an RCL Information Session at ALA!
 
Get the first look at the new RCL! Bowker would like to invite you to our Resources for College Libraries information session at ALA. The session will be held on June 25th from 10:40 - 11:10 AM in the Bourbon Street Theater on the exhibition floor. All attendees will receive a special RCL gift!
We hope to see you there!

Bowker
Posted By:   Sheila Kirven, Education Services Librarian, New Jersey City University
Post Topic:   Multicultural Education
 
This project was an education. I thought it would be very simple, an easy update of an older work. But, the experience showed me how much the subject, Multicultural Education, had changed and grown since the last edition. This was an apt reflection of the growth and diversity of cultural groups in the United States and the pedagogical approaches to them .

The structure of the bibliography was modified to reflect these changes. The third edition had only two entries for Hispanic Americans and none for GLBT topics in the category of Multicultural Education. There has been an explosion of scholarship on these topics.

The fact that this work will be available as an online work as well as in print fits perfectly with our virtual era. The multiple access points and search capabilities of the RCL online database will enhance its usefulness to librarians, researchers and students.
Posted By:   Lisa Dunn, Head of Reference, Colorado School of Mines
Post Topic:   Geological engineering
 
I definitely enjoyed contributing the geological engineering titles to RCL. It was quite a challenge and I had to dust off some of my less-used collection development skills.

One of the more interesting aspects of this assignment was to compare the previous edition’s titles with my favorites and speculate on the changes in the process of identifying titles and reviews. Targeting the proper audience, especially given the subject area, was another interesting piece.

I’d very much appreciate feedback on the titles I chose. Thanks
Posted By:   Melissa M. Johnson, Librarian, Lynn University
Post Topic:   Medieval History
 
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to update the Medieval History selections. In my experience this period in history generates mixed feelings leading, at times, to lukewarm attention to trends and advances in Medieval Studies. I loved the chance to catch the vibrancy of this field including new reinterpretation of Medieval events. As someone once said, “The past is always in flux, but the future never changes.”

While making selections for various Medieval topics I encountered old and new debates on how Medieval History is and/or should be viewed that are intriguing and thought provoking. I tried to shy away from selecting monographs from one school of thought in favor of monographs exploring and at time reinterpreting events. I want to strike a balance between established sources and newer contributions to the field.

I am happy with the results.
Posted By:   Ana Maria Cobos, Librarian, Saddleback College
Post Topic:   Latino Studies
 
Rafaela Castro (emerita, UCDavis) and I have valued greatly the opportunity to identify Latino Studies (Chicanos, Cuban-Americans, Central Americans, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans in the U.S., plus others of Latin American ancestry living in the U.S.) materials for RCL especially in light of the fact that BCL, 3rd. ed., had very few titles on the subject.

To select Latino Studies resources we relied, first, on our personal knowledge of the subjects and then we verified and supplemented our initial lists by relying on the experience and knowledge of other colleagues especially in with respect to Central Americans and Caribbeans in the U.S. We’re extremely grateful for the support and assistance we received from Susan Vega Garcia (Iowa State Univ.) and Dr. Karin Durán (California State Univ., Northridge). In addition to using BIP, we relied heavily on Melvyl, the University of California Digital Library catalog. Last but not least, is the contribution made by the subject referee.

It’s been an excellent collaborative experience that we hope will benefit bibliographers, faculty, and students.
Posted By:   Jane Holmquist, Astrophysics Librarian, Princeton University
Post Topic:   Please read books!
 
I sincerely hope that college students will use RCL to go beyond required textbook readings to discover and enjoy the wonderful range of astronomy books published in recent years! I am looking forward to sharing my RCL list with my fellow astronomy librarians at the annual SLA meeting in Baltimore, MD and the LISA V (Library and Information Services in Astronomy) conference in Cambridge, MA in June 2006.
Posted By:   Jenifer Flaxbart, Head, Reference and Information Services, University of Texas at Austin
Post Topic:   Public Relations/Selectivity
 
Books for College Libraries, 3rd edition, includes exactly six titles for the Public Relations area, which is listed as “HM 261-263 Public Opinion. Public Relations. Propaganda.” None of those titles is specific to Public Relations so I had carte blanche in selecting resources for the new RCL project. Ultimately I remained very selective, but it was interesting to see how the subject area has grown and taken shape over the past decades. As others have indicated, this was certainly a great way for me to become more aware of resources in the UT Austin collection as well as those we could (and will) add.
Posted By:   Leanne Strum, Business Librarian, Regent University
Post Topic:   A Rewarding Experience
 
Participating in this project was a wonderful and worthwhile experience. Regent University recently established a School of Undergraduate Studies. Over the past year we have been busy selecting and building our undergraduate collection and have used the Books for College Libraries publication extensively. I know that the online version of this product will be an invaluable resource. Thank you for the opportunity to participate.
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