Connecting high-quality titles to higher education
Resources for College Libraries (RCL) cover 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.
Essential Discovery
With 90,000+ records across 125 curriculum-driven subject disciplines — and 3,000 new additions each year — RCL connects users to core historical and contemporary titles
Simplifies Workflows
Supports multiple library services including collection management, liaison and outreach work, assessment, and strategic planning
Top -Tier Selectors
Developed and peer-reviewed by over 600 practicing subject librarians and academic faculty to directly support the evolving curriculum
Bowker Book Analysis System
Bowker Book Analysis System (BBAS) is a powerful collection-assessment tool that 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.
Meet Our Subject Specialists
Every RCL and RCL Career Resources subject is regularly updated and peer-reviewed by experienced and practicing selectors. With over 600 contributors to date, consider them part of your core collections team, curating the best titles across the undergraduate curriculum.
Please note: The editorial development of RCL is managed independently by CHOICE, a publishing unit of ACRL, a division of the American Library Association
Build a more diverse and inclusive collection
Resources for College Libraries helps libraries build and assess library collections to meet changing student and curricular needs. With interdisciplinary subjects and attention to new and emerging scholarly voices, RCL provides qualitative data to support inclusive collection services.
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Take a look inside
An optimized viewing experience on any device!
Detailed Database Features
Enriched with features to evaluate, refine and develop your library collection
Quick Search
The simplest way to search, providing limiters and subject dropdowns to refine results
Browsable
Browse the database by LC Class or RCL subject taxonomy
Advanced Search
Expand or refine your search with advanced search features - select full-text Choice reviews and Choice OAT identifiers
Search Results
Detailed title information and integrated workflows facilitate collection management
Detailed Item Record
Deep dive into the title record and leverage visual data enrichments from Syndetics Unbound™ including: Professional Reviews, Awards, You May Also Like, Look Inside, Tags, and more
Subscription models to suit curriculum and collection development
The Resources for College Libraries database is available in three subscription options, allowing you to select the content that suits your institution’s curriculum and collection development needs. From allied health to world history, RCL’s subject disciplines cover the primary programs of study across two- and four-year colleges and universities, supporting both the traditional liberal arts and technical college degree tracks.
Subscription Options
RCL for College Libraries
Covers the 4-year liberal arts and sciences college curriculum
- 90,000+ works across 62 disciplinary subjects
- 1,300 online resources
- 35,000+ Choice-reviewed titles
- 7,000 Choice OATs
- 3% Annual Growth
RCL: Career Resources
Covers the 2-year community and technical college curriculum
- 4,000 works across 11 career clusters
- 250 online resources
- 640 Choice titles
- 120 Choice OATs
- 90% Titles in print
RCL Plus
Includes all RCL and RCL Career Resources content
and covers the entire 2 and 4-year curriculum
- 125 disciplinary and career-oriented subjects
- 4,500 adds each year
- 3,000+ publishers
- 11, 500+ award winners
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