This seven-volume set offers a core collection of hand-selected titles in 58 curriculum-specific subject areas. Volumes are organized into broad subject areas such as Humanities, Languages and Literature, History, Social Sciences and Professional Studies, Science and Technology, and Interdisciplinary and Area Studies. The seventh volume provides helpful cross-referencing indexes which explain the relationship between RCL subject taxonomy and LC ranges. New to this edition are the inclusion of interdisciplinary subject areas and the selection of electronic resources and web sites essential for undergraduate library collections. Non-book selections will be easily identified by a graphic indicator included in the item record. All selections will be assigned an audience level marker indicating whether the title is most appropriate for lower-division undergraduate, upper-division undergraduate, faculty, or general readership. Records will also include a notation if they previously appeared in BCL3 (Books for College Libraries, 1988) or have been reviewed by Choice.

Collection Development is a compilation of 20 papers that explore the assumption that mission affects policy. To what extent do the unique features and mission of the small college library create distinctive concerns for it? The papers presented here demonstrate an alternative to the assumption that what works in large university libraries will also work in small ones.

The first edition of the CLIP Note "User Surveys in College Libraries" in 1995 proved to be a popular publication, as libraries strive to improve their services to their user communities by attempting to discover their needs and expectations. In the past ten years, the use of surveys in libraries has evolved with the development of online tools and services, so it was deemed appropriate to provide a second edition of this publication. Using the CLIP Notes guidelines, the compilers developed a survey based on that found in the 1995 User Surveys in College Libraries to allow for an historical comparison. A first draft of the survey was tested on a sample group, and the survey was edited based on feedback. The compilers used the online tool SurveyMonkey.com to manage the survey and, in May 2006, invited librarians representing 251 libraries to respond, garnering a response rate of 53 per cent.

Did you know that more than 85% of U.S. undergraduates commute to college? Yet the literature geared to academic libraries overwhelmingly presumes a classic, residential campus. This book redresses that imbalance by providing a research-based look at the specific academic needs of commuter students. Edited by a team of librarians and anthropologists with City University of New York, the largest urban public university in the U.S, it draws on their ongoing research examining how these students actually interact with and use the library. The insights they’ve gained about how library resources and services are central to commuter students’ academic work offer valuable lessons for other institutions. Presenting several additional case studies from a range of institution types and sizes, in both urban and suburban settings, this book provides rigorous analysis alongside descriptions of subsequent changes in services, resources, and facilities. Topics include why IUPUI interior designers decided to scrap plans to remove public workstations to make way for collaborative space;how ongoing studies by University of North Carolina anthropologist Donna Lanclos shaped the design of the Family Friendly Library Room, where students may bring their children;ways that free scanners and tablet lending at Brooklyn College supports subway studiers;ideas from students on how best to help them through the use of textbook collections;using ACRL’s Assessment in Action model to learn about student engagement and outcomes with library instruction at a community college; andguidance on enlisting the help of anthropology students to conduct interviews and observations in an ethnographic study. With its emphasis on qualitative research, this book will help readers learn what commuter students really need from academic libraries.