Can We Define a Core List of Adult Fiction Classics?
” Judith Senkevitch and James Sweetland will discuss their research methods and overall use of information resources relating to their current research exploring correlations between adult fiction titles most held in public libraries and the predictability of such titles in library collections. With the recent passage of the Great Books program at UWM, and the debate over what exactly constitutes a great book, Senkevitch’s and Sweetland’s presentation topic, “To Keep or Not to Keep: Can We Define a Core List of Adult Fiction Classics,” is particularly relevant. Armed with two grants from OCLC, the corporation that provides the world’s largest bibliographic utility, their collaborative research has yielded some surprising results. Judy Senkevitch’s primary research interests lie in public library issues, particularly evaluation and adult fiction. James Sweetland, a former Head Librarian of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, is a specialist in collection evaluation, adul
