Brendan A. Rapple, Ph.D.
Address (Work): Room 409
O’Neill Library
Boston College
Chestnut Hill
Massachusetts 02467
Tel. (work): (617) 552 4482
Address (Home):
Tel. (home):
80 Nottinghill Road
Brighton
Massachusetts 02135
(617) 783 2174
E-Mail: rappleb@bc.edu
Educational Background:
Boston College (1994-1997)
MBA, 1997.
University of Chicago (1987-1988):
MA 1988.
University of Alberta (1981-87):
Ph.D. 1987.
M.Ed. 1983.
Trinity College, University of Dublin (1969-1973):
BA (Hons) in Classics, 1973; BA (Hons) in History and Political Science, 1976.
Publications
"Google and Access to the World's Intellectual Heritage" Contemporary Review Vol. 286, No.
1673 (June 2005): 338-443.
“Standardised Testing in American Schools: Lessons from Matthew Arnold's Britain,” Contemporary
Review Vol. 285, No. 1665 (October 2004): 193-198.
"Scholarly Journals in the Digital Age," Contemporary Review Vol. 283 (Sept. 2003): 129-134.
Data Mining and Data Warehousing (with Barbara Mento). SPEC Kit 274 (Washington, DC:
Association of Research Libraries, July 2003).
"The Modernization of Ireland: Gains and Losses," Contemporary Review Vol. 281, No. 1641 (October
2002): 207-212.
“Matthew Arnold and the Role of the State,” Contemporary Review Vol. 280, No. 1634 (March 2002):
172-176.
“The Learning Library," Catholic Library World vol. 71, no. 4 (2001): 211-21.
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"James Russell Lowell and the Sea" in Jill B. Gidmark (ed.) Encyclopedia of American Literature of the
Sea and Great Lakes (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001).
"Ideology and History: William Mitford's History of Greece (1784-1810)," Papers on Language and
Literature vol. 37, no. 4 (2001): 361-381.
“Matthew Arnold on the Inadequacies of Secondary Education in England,” Journal of Thought Vol. 35,
No. 4 (Winter 2000): 1-14.
“James Russell Lowell and England,” Contemporary Review Vol. 277, No. 1614 (July 2000): 40-44.
“Changing the Culture of Libraries: The Role of Core Values" (with Ronald D. Patkus) Library
Administration & Management Vol. 14, No. 4 (Fall 2000): 197-204.
Research in the Electronic Age: How to Distinguish Between Good and Bad Data (Chestnut Hill, MA:
Boston College, 1999) (with Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah).
Entries on Samuel Eliot (d. 1898), William Fairfield Warren (d. 1929), Charles Evans (d. 1935) in
American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
"Two Nineteenth Century Theologians on Science and Education," The St. Croix Review Vol. 31, No. 1
(Feb 1998): 25-31.
“Librarians as Teachers in the Electronic College Library,” Catholic Library World Vol. 68, No. 4 (June
1998):11-12.
"James Russell Lowell," American Travel Writers, 1850-1915. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol.
189 (Detroit: Gale Research, 1998): 247-254.
"Frederic William Farrar and his Novels for Schoolboys," Contemporary Review Vol. 273, No. 1592
(Sept. 1998): 145-149.
“The Electronic Library and the Future Function and Training of Librarians," in Proceedings of the 19th
Annual National Online Meeting, edited by Martha E. Williams (Medford, NJ: Information Today,
1998): 307-316.
"The Librarian as Teacher in the Networked Environment," College Teaching Vol. 45, No. 3 (1997):
114-116.
"England's Neglect of Higher Education: The Comparative Perspective of Matthew Arnold," JET:
Journal of Educational Thought Vol. 31, No. 2 (August 1997): 159-180.
"The Electronic Library: New Roles for Librarians," CAUSE/EFFECT Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 1997): 4549.
"The Educational Theory and Practice of Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)," Historical Studies in Education
Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring 1997): 46-64.
"The MLS Degree: Time for a Two-Year Program?" Journal of Education for Library and Information
Science Vol. 37, No. 1 (Winter 1996): 72-75.
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"Frederic William Farrar," British Children's Writers, 1800-1880. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol.
163 (Detroit: Gale Research, 1996): 100-109.
"Coping with Catalogues: Thomas Carlyle in the British Museum," Contemporary Review Vol. 269, No.
1571 (December 1996): 302-306.
"Charles Kingsley," British Children's Writers, 1800-1880. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 163
(Detroit: Gale Research, 1996): 136-147.
"A Tory History of Greece," Contemporary Review Vol. 266, No. 1549 (Feb. 1995): 97-102.
"The Motif of Water in Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies,” The University of Mississippi Studies in
English New Series, Vols. XI-XII (1993-1995): 259-271.
"The Irish-Americans" in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America ed. by Judy Galens et al. (Detroit:
Gale Research, 1995): 731-749.
"Humanists as Teachers of Science," College Teaching Vol. 43, No. 4 (Fall 1995): 146-150.
"Electronic Journals: Benefits and Difficulties," Catholic Library World Vol. 66, No. 2 (December
1995): 30-34.
"Dean Frederic Farrar (1831-1903): Educationist," British Journal of Educational Studies Vol. XXXXIII,
No. 1 (March 1995): 57-74.
"'Payment By Results': An Example of Assessment in Elementary Education from Nineteenth Century
Britain," in the electronic journal Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan 5, 1994).
"Matthew Arnold on the Irish University Question," History of Education Vol. 23, No. 1 (1994): 1-15.
"The Librarian as Pedagogue," Library Instruction Round Table News Vol. 16, No. 4 (June, 1994): 4.
"The Continuing Relevance of the Early Greek Sophists to Education," The St. Croix Review Vol.
XXVII, No. 3 (May, 1994): 52-56.
"A Nineteenth Century Advocate of Multicultural Education," The St. Croix Review Vol. XXVI, No. 1
(February 1993): 58-65.
"The Early Greek Sophists: Creators of the Liberal Curriculum," Journal of Thought Vol. 28, Nos. 3 and
4 (Fall/Winter 1993): 61-76.
"The Curriculum and Social Change: Two Nineteenth Century Views," The Core and the Canon: The
Great Debate ed. by L. Robert Stevens et al. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1993): 424-431.
"Victorian Solutions to Curricular Problems of Contemporary American Education," Journal of Thought
Vol. 27, Nos. l and 2 (Spring/Summer 1992): 56-71.
"A Victorian Experiment in Economic Efficiency in Education," Economics of Education Review Vol.
11, No. 4 (Dec. 1992): 301-316.
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“Matthew Arnold on Science and the Curriculum," Journal of Research and Development in Education
Vol. 25, No. 3 (Spring 1992): 182-91.
"Payment by Results (1862-1897): Ensuring a Good Return on Governmental Expenditure," JET:
Journal of Educational Thought Vol. 25, No. 3 ( December 1991): 8-21.
"Matthew Arnold: Comparative Educator and Advocate of a 'European' Frame of Mind," Contemporary
Review Vol. 258, No. 1503 (April 1991): 190-193.
"The Evangelical Image of the Child in Mrs. Sherwood's The History of the Fairchild Family," The St.
Croix Review Vol. XXIV, No. 5 (October 1991): 30-38. [This also appeared in the Proceedings of the
18th Annual International Conference of the Children's Literature Association, 1991].
"Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies: The Spiritual and Physical Cleansing Properties of Water,"
Where Rivers Meet: Confluence and Concurrents, Selected Papers from the 1989 International
Conference of the Children's Literature Association ed. Susan R. Gannon and Ruth Anne Thompson
(New York: Pace University, 1991).
Payment by Educational Results: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone? Thirty-five Years of Experimentation
with Educational Efficiency in England (1862-1897), The MacArthur/Spencer Special Series on Illinois
School Finance, No. 14. Normal, Ill.: Center for the Study of Educational Finance, Illinois State
University, 1990.
"Matthew Arnold and Comparative Education," British Journal of Educational Studies Vol. XXXVII,
No. 1 (February 1989): 54-71.
"Matthew Arnold's Views on Modernity and a State System of Middle Class Education in England: Some
Continental Influences," The Journal of General Education Vol. 39, No. 4 (1988): 206-221.
Book Reviews:
Reviewed Paul A. Olson. The Kingdom of Science: Literary Utopianism and British Education, 1612–
1870 (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 2002) in Paedagogica Historica. Vol. 41, No. 6 (December
2005): 782-784.
Reviewed Peter N. Stearns's Schools and Students in Industrial Society: Japan and the West 1870-1940
for Economics of Education Review Vol. 19, No. 4 (October 2000): 447-448.
Reviewed Cheryl LaGuardia and Barbara A. Mitchell (eds.) Finding Common Ground: Creating the
Library of the Future Without Diminishing the Library of the Past (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1998) for
Catholic Library World Vol. 69, No. 2 (Dec. 1998) pp. 56-7.
Reviewed Robert Fox and Anna Guagnini (eds.), Education, Technology, and Industrial Performance in
Europe, 1850-1939 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1993) for Economics of
Education Review Vol. 16, No. 2 (1997): 190-191.
Reviewed Richard Aldrich's School and Society in Victorian Britain: Joseph Payne and the New World
of Education (Garland, 1995) for Historical Studies in Education Vol. 8, No. 2 (Fall 1996): 258-261.
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Reviewed George L. Williams' Fascist Thought and Totalitarianism in Italy's Secondary Schools: Theory
and Practice 1922-1943 (New York: Lang, 1994) for Historical Studies in Education Vol. 8, No. 1
(Spring 1996): 137-140).
Reviewed David F. Mitch's The Rise of Popular Literacy in Victorian England: The Influence of Private
Choice and Public Policy (Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania Press, 1992) for Economics of Education
Review Vol. 14, No. 1 (1995): 93.
Reviewed Sandra L. Hindman (ed.), Printing the Written Word: The Social History of Books, circa 14501520 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1991) for Historical Studies in Education Vol. 6, No.
1 (Spring, 1994): 98-101.
Reviewed Patrick Touher's Fear of the Collar: Artane Industrial School; My Extraordinary Childhood
for Historical Studies in Education Vol. 5, No. 2 (Fall 1993): 311-314.
Reviewed The Cambridge Guide to the Historic Places of Britain and Ireland and The Cambridge Guide
to the Museums of Britain and Ireland, both by Kenneth Hudson and Ann Nicholls (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989) for Éire-Ireland: A Journal of Irish Studies, Vol. XXIV, No. 4
(Winter, 1989): 139-141.
Conference Presentations:
“eScholarship@BC: A Timely Convergence of Institutional Repository, E-Journal Initiatives,
ETDs, and other Digital Publishing Projects” (presented with Robert Gerrity) at Institutional
Repositories: The Next Stage. SPARC/SPARC Europe Workshop in Washington, DC (November
18, 2004).
“Collaborative Models for Institutional Repositories” (presented with Robert Gerrity) at Expanding
Opportunities for Collaboration and Next Generation Access. NELINET Annual Meeting in Worcester,
Massachusetts (May 7, 2004).
“Reclaiming our Scholarship: The Benefits of Digital Institutional Repositories,” Boston College
Academic Technology Week (May 13, 2003).
“The Internet, Scholarly Journals, and Publishing,” Boston College Faculty Technology Day (May 16,
2001).
“Librarians in the Networked Library: Their Future Training and Function” at the 19th Annual National
Online Meeting in New York (May 1998).
“Classics and Greek Historiography in English Educational Institutions circa 1800” at the 1998 Eastern
Educational Research Association Conference in Tampa, Florida (Feb. 1998).
"A New Model of Librarian Education for the Networked Environment" at the Association of College
and Research Libraries' 8th National Conference in Nashville (April 1997).
"Bibliographical Instruction and the Coming of the Millennium," at the Spring 1996 NEBIC Conference:
B.I. and the Year 2000, at Boston College (May 1996).
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"The Librarian as Teacher: Need for Improved Pedagogical Training," at the 1996 Eastern Educational
Research Association Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts (February 1996).
"Science, Religion, and Education: The Views of Three Victorian Theologians" at the 1996 Eastern
Educational Research Association Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts (February 1996).
"Carlyle on Librarianship and the British Museum," at the Victorians Institute 1995: Thomas Carlyle and
Victorian Cultural Critique, at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (October 1995).
"Accountability in Today's Schools: Something to Learn from Matthew Arnold?" at the 1995 Eastern
Educational Research Association in South Carolina (March 1995).
"History and Ideology: William Mitford's History of Greece (1784-1810)," at the Eighth Biennial
Conference of the Canadian History of Education Association at Memorial University of Newfoundland,
St. John's, Newfoundland (October 1994).
"Science and Education in Nineteenth Century England: the Views of the Rev. Charles Kingsley," at the
Annual Meeting of the International Society for Educational Biography in Chicago (April 1994).
"Electronic Journals: Impact on Scholarship" at the conference Electronic Information –The Promise and
Perils at Boston College (March, 1994).
"Towards a More Harmonious Blending of the 'Two Cultures': Increased Scientific Content in NonScientific Subjects" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Core
Curriculum in Houston (October 1993).
"Frederic William Farrar: Teacher and Educational Theorist," at the Annual Meeting of the International
Society for Educational Biography held under the auspices of the University of South Carolina, Myrtle
Beach (April 1993).
"Charles Kingsley: Educationist," at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian History of Education
Association at the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta (October 1992).
"Educational Thought in the Children's Stories of Maria Edgeworth," at the 19th Annual International
Children's Literature Association Conference at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (June 1992).
"Matthew Arnold: English Pioneer of Multicultural Education," at the Annual International Conference
of the Association for General Education International at the University of North Texas (March, 1992).
"'Payment By Results': Do We Really Want It For Our Schools?" at the Annual Conference of the
Southern Association of Comparative and International Education at the University of West Florida,
Pensacola (November 1991).
"The Early Greek Sophists: A Broader Conception of their Rhetorical Pedagogy," at the 8th Biennial
Conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric in The Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore and Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. (September 1991).
"The Evangelical Image of the Child in Mrs. Sherwood's The History of the Fairchild Family," at the
18th Annual International Conference of the Children's Literature Association at the University of
Southern Mississippi (May 1991).
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"Matthew Arnold and the Irish University Question," at the American History of Education Society's
Annual Conference at Decatur, Georgia (November 1990). I also chaired and acted as discussant at the
session "Religion and Higher Education" at this conference.
"The Revised Code and Elementary Teachers (1862-1870) or How the British Government Saved a Few
Thousand Pounds and Crippled a Teaching Profession," at the International Sociological Association's
Conference, Professions and Public Authority: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, at Northeastern
University, Boston (April 1990).
"The Curriculum and Social Change: Two Nineteenth Century Views," at the Conference The Core and
the Canon: A National Debate, at the University of North Texas, Denton (October 1989).
"Maria Edgeworth: Children's Author and Educational Theorist," at the Third Annual Women's Studies
Conference, Woman's Heritage and Strength, at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green,
Kentucky (September 1989).
"Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies: The Spiritual and Physical Cleansing Properties of Water," at the
16th Annual International Children's Literature Association Conference at Mankato State University,
Minnesota (May 1989).
"Matthew Arnold and the Curriculum: A Nineteenth Century Advocacy of the Circle of Knowledge," at
the Second Annual Conference on Humanities, Science and Technology at Ferris State University,
Michigan (April 1989).
"Matthew Arnold on the Theory and Methodology of Comparative Education" at the Annual Conference
of the Midwest Comparative and International Education Society, at Illinois State University, Normal,
Illinois (February 1988).
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