The most noteworthy reference titles published every year are given the distinction of "Outstanding Reference Source" by RUSA (Reference and User Services Association - a division of the American Library Association). The Outstanding Reference Sources Committee was established in 1958 to recommend the most outstanding reference publications for small and medium-sized public and academic libraries.

Hekman Library purchases titles from the list that tie most closely to our academic curriculum. Here they are:

• Encyclopedia of the U.S. presidency : a historical reference / edited by Nancy Beck Young [print]
• A history of Jewish-Muslim relations : from the origins to the present day / edited by Abdelwahab Meddeb and Benjamin Stora ; translated by Jane Marie Todd and Michael B. Smith. [print]
• Encyclopedia of the mind / editor-in-chief Harold Pashler, University of California at San Diego [online]

And 1 Honorable Mention:

• Statistical abstract of the United States / prepared by the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department  [current edition online] [archived editions online]

It may also be of interest to have a look at the reference materials that won this distinction in 2013. Here are some of them:

• Dictionary of African Biography [online]
• The Encyclopedia of Housing [online]
• Encyclopedia of Trauma [online]
• Enslaved Women in America [print]
• The Literature of War  [online]
• Typography, referenced : a comprehensive visual guide to the language, history, and practice of typography [print]
• Women in American Politics: History and milestones [online]