Libraries at undergraduate colleges and universities will likely be taking a second look at four reports from the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) that made it onto this year’s list of Choice Outstanding Academic Titles. The Choice list, which is published every December, represents the top 10% of more than 5,000 titles reviewed by editors working with Choice Reviews, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). According to ACRL, Choice Reviews reaches 22,000 librarians and an estimated 13,000 higher education faculty, and the Choice awards, which began more than 50 years ago, help them identify worthwhile titles for their collections.    

While National Academies’ reports have made the Choice list in previous years, this is the first time with four titles in one year, all within DELS.  Three of the reports—Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste, A Research Strategy for Research for Ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration, and Oil in the Sea IV: Inputs, Fates, and Effects—were led by the Ocean Studies Board.  Each of those reports has already become valued resources for guiding research and practice and informing policy and funding decisions in their realms. For example, the Department of Energy and NOAA announced $75M in funding for research and development on marine carbon dioxide removal strategies following the publication of the National Academies report. 

New Directions for Chemical Engineering, led by the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, is the long-awaited update of the highly acclaimed Frontiers in Chemical Engineering published in 1988.  That report became known as the “Amundson report” in recognition of its Chair, Neil Amundson, who is widely regarded as the father of modern chemical engineering. New Directions for Chemical Engineering identifies the many contributions that chemical engineers or aspiring chemical engineers can make to address 21^st century goals such as the decarbonization of energy systems, sustainable natural resources, targeted and accessible medicine, and flexible manufacturing. 

Criteria applied to develop the Choice list include: 

1. overall excellence in presentation and scholarship 
2. importance relative to other literature in the field 
3. distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form 
4. originality or uniqueness of treatment 
5. value to undergraduate students 
6. importance in building undergraduate library collections 

1. overall excellence in presentation and scholarship 
2. importance relative to other literature in the field 
3. distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form 
4. originality or uniqueness of treatment 
5. value to undergraduate students 
6. importance in building undergraduate library collections 

“We are so pleased that our reports have been recognized on this prestigious list,” said Elizabeth Eide, Executive Director of DELS. “Ensuring that the reports are available in college and university library collections is an important piece of how we help research and practitioner communities move forward and have a bigger impact on issues that directly affect our environment.”