Documents by Topic: Standards, Guidelines, and Recommendations
This page includes three types of RUSA documents: Standards, Guidelines, and Recommendations. The RUSA Professional Resources Committee (PRC) provides oversight of the maintenance and development of these documents. For more details, see Chapter 4 of the RUSA Guide to Policies & Procedures.
Archived documents are available at the American Library Association Institutional Repository.
Information Literacy & Competencies by Discipline
- Business Research Competencies (2019)
- Financial Literacy Education in Libraries: Guidelines and Best Practices for Service (2023)
- Information Literacy Guidelines and Competencies for Undergraduate History Students (PDF) (2013)
Reference/Information Services
Reference Toolkit
- Definition of Reference (2021)
- Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers (2023)
- Professional Competencies for Reference and User Services Librarians (2025)
- Guidelines for Implementing and Maintaining Virtual Reference Services (PDF) (2017)
- Guidelines for Business Information Responses (2022)
- Guidelines for Cooperative Reference Services (2006)
- Guidelines for the Introduction of Electronic Information Resources to Users (2006)
User Populations
- Guidelines for Library Services to Older Adults (PDF) (2017)
Genealogy, History
- RUSA Guidelines for Instruction in Genealogical Librarianship (2023)
- RUSA Guidelines for Developing and Maintaining Genealogy and Local History Collections (2023)
- Information Literacy Guidelines and Competencies for Undergraduate History Students (PDF) (2013)
- Guidelines for Secondary Source Literacy for History (2023)
Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing (STARS)
- RUSA Model Interlibrary Loan License Clause (2024)
- Professional Competencies for Resource Sharing Practitioners (2024)
- Guidelines for Resource Sharing Operations Management (November 2022)
- Recommendations for Resource-Sharing Disaster Preparation and Response (PDF) (2021)
- Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States With Explanatory Text (2023)
Collection Development
Reference Services Section
History Section
- Professional Tools
- History Instruction and Research Links
- Primary Sources on the Web: Finding, Evaluating, Using
- Best Historical Materials
Business Reference & Services Section
- Business Reference Essentials
A guide to business reference content for new business librarians, and a refresher for seasoned professionals. Managed by the BRASS Education Committee.
- Business Guides
20+ more guides (beyond Business Reference Essentials) to useful free and fee-based resources, selected by the BRASS Education Committee.
Library Accessibility Toolkits: What You Need to Know
- Accessible Communication Styles
- Assistive Technology
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
- Blindness and Low Vision
- Children and Teens with Disabilities
- Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Developmental, Cognitive, and Intellectual Disabilities
- Learning Differences
- Library Staff with Disabilities
- Management
- Mental Health Issues
- Multiple Disabilities
- Patrons with Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias
- Service Animals
- Virtual Accessibility
- Volunteers with Disabilities
