Bowker, ebrary and Choice Team to Enhance RCL

NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. and PALO ALTO, Calif., April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ProQuest affiliate Bowker, ProQuest e-book business ebrary and Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), are uniting to improve the accessibility and utility of Resources for College Libraries (RCL), the popular collection development tool for academic libraries. Choice and Bowker, whose unique partnership created RCL, have launched a variety of enhancements including a mobile application for the web-based resource, which is used by academic libraries to identify core titles for scores of academic subject areas. Additionally, more than 13,000 RCL titles will now be available on the ebrary platform.  

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"The combination of Choice's content and Bowker's technological expertise have made RCL an essential and easy-to-use tool for academic collection development," said Kevin Sayar, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, ProQuest Workflow Solutions. "Via the ebrary platform, we're enabling RCL to directly enhance the research environment by streamlining access to essential titles."

Originally launched in 2006, RCL is a suite of works based on the American Library Association's classic reference work, Books for College Libraries (BCL).  As ebrary collections, universities, colleges, and other institutions can provide their users with anytime, anywhere access to RCL's essential titles. RCL titles can be browsed by its broad range of subjects – traditional liberal arts and sciences curriculum, business, computer science, education, engineering and health sciences – or by publisher. The titles are supported with ebrary's popular features, such as free mobile apps for the iPad®, iPhone®, iPod touch® and Android™, along with InfoTools™, granular usage statistics, and sophisticated searching and navigation. Through ebrary, RCL titles will also be surfaced through the ProQuest® platform and the Summon® service, significantly enhancing its discovery. RCL titles can be purchased as a perpetual archive and enabled for patron-driven acquisition.

Via Bowker, the RCL interface has been updated with a simpler browse function, faster search results and improved mobile access through Bowker's BookWire app, which enables subscribers to login to access book details and add titles to selected lists from any location. RCL also includes RSS feeds for new titles, dynamic facets to help refine search. Content includes the full text of Choice reviews and easy identifiers for Choice Outstanding Academic Titles.

Three Bowker subscription options include the traditional RCL collection, which allows libraries to discover and collect over 80,000 essential titles in 61 core subject areas; Resources for College Libraries™: Career Resources (CR), an essential list of 4,500 titles in 56 subject areas covering vocational, technical, and career programs for two-year and four-year undergraduate institutions; and, RCL Plus, which includes both RCL and CR products.

About Choice
More than 35,000 academic librarians, faculty, and key decision makers rely on Choice magazine and Choice Reviews Online for collection development and scholarly research. Choice, a publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), reaches almost every undergraduate college and university library in the United States as well as major academic and research libraries around the world. For more information, visit www.ala.org/acrl/choice.

About ACRL
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching, and research. ACRL is the largest division of the American Library Association (ALA). ACRL currently has a membership of approximately 12,600 members, accounting for nearly 20% of the total ALA membership. ACRL provides a broad range of professional services and programs for a diverse membership. For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/acrl.

About ebrary (www.ebrary.com)
ebrary helps customers acquire e-books strategically through a three step approach: Transition, Diversify and Streamline™.  The company believes that by challenging the e-book status quo, organizations can effectively serve the diverse and growing needs of researchers and maximize their budgets. Founded in 1999, long before e-books were popular, ebrary is a ProQuest business located in Palo Alto, CA, USA.

About Bowker^® (www.bowker.com)
Bowker is the world's leading provider of bibliographic information and management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. Creators of products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, the company also generates research and resources for publishers, helping them understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker, a ProQuest affiliate, is the official ISBN Agency for the United States and its territories. The company is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with additional operations in England and Australia.

SOURCE Bowker