Does my library need more physical or digital reference sources? I think that this is an important question that many librarians ponder when managing their reference collections. Alderman (2014, p.1)) states that the reference collection is limited to just the resources that are for in-library use only. We have very few reference materials that are for ‘in-library use only’ because I believe the students should have access to take most titles home. The only exceptions are some very heavy Atlases and the current year of Guinness Book of World Records, because it is so widely used by all of the students and it tends to get damaged quickly when taken home in school bags. My personal experience is from a Primary School library and I do believe the needs are different for secondary and university libraries. In my library, we are intentionally not growing the reference and non-fiction collection for sustainability reasons and to ensure our collection remains current, relevant and accurate. We are spending more time encouraging the use of our online Enclopaedias Brittanica and PebbleGo and using these and other digital resources as tools when researching and teaching information and digital literacy. As Farmer (2014) argues, maintaining these subscriptions do have budget implications because they are expensive, however, after doing a costing analysis, I believe it is the best use of our budget. I am also aware that I am in the fortunate potion of having a good budget and this will not always necessarily be the case.
Farmer (2014, p.70) talks about the reference section life cycle which includes acquisition, processing, organisation, circulation, maintenance and deselection. I related to working through all of these stages and have spent a lot of time both organising and deselecting or ‘weeding’ titles. My library staff and I have undertaken a massive reorganisation of the non-fiction collection. We still use an abridged form of Dewey but have re-catalogued many books with different Dewey numbers to avoid having titles on their own and perhaps where they are less likely to be discovered. For example, a biography about a sportsperson could be placed in the 620 section with sports or it could be in the 920 section with biographies. We always ask the question “where is this most likely to be discovered by a patron?’ when we decided where to place it. We have also been undertaking a fairly significant weed and only replacing those titles that are high interest or those that are linked to curriculum topics. Therefore I agree with Farmers point that all 5 stages of the life cycle are important.
References
Alderman, J. (2014). What is a reference collection? LIS1001 Beginning Library Information Systems & Strategies. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=bliss
Farmer, L. S. J. (2014). Developing resource collections, Chapter 4. In Introduction to reference and informations services in today’s school library [Rowman & Littlefield Publishers version]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/reader.action?ppg=52&docID=1664627&tm=1499996228722
When I heard a librarian mention the word weeding for the first time I felt completely confused by what that could mean. One year later and I have a much clearer understanding how important this is for every library collection. So why does a collection need weeding? Quite simply we need to deselect those items that are not required so there is space for the new ones that have been carefully curated to fit in the collection. Weeding is often referred to as deselection or culling (Croft, 2017). If it is your vegetable garden you need to get rid of those weeds so there is space and optimal conditions for the plants to grow. In your library those weeds need to disappear to help your students and staff grow by providing them with a relevant, attractive and accessible library collection. Students should not be dealing with crowded shelves and old and unappealing books. When they can’t locate what they are looking for in cluttered shelves with old books, they will make the assumption that the library collection will not have what they need. Therefore weeding is a very important aspect of collection management (Renate Beilharz, R, 2007)
Many libraries undertake weeding in different ways but a method called CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding) is, in my opinion, the best way to manage the collection. This will ensure that weeding is not a job not to be done only in stock take or every few years as an enormous job. Applying CREW will make the collection constantly relevant and mean that weeding is happening regularly (Larson, 2012). TLs should be using a collection management policy that has a section on weeding. It should include a selection criteria and all weeding should be documented.
It is just as important to weed electronic resources including ebooks, audio visual materials and websites linked to the library collection. Baumbach & Miller discuss that quality is more important than quantity and argue that “misleading, inaccurate, out-of-date information is never better than no information” (2006, p.6.). This involves looking at the non-fiction collection carefully and deselecting anything with outdated views. Science and technology topics change more rapidly than the arts and literature so will need to be updated more often (National Library NZ, 2014). Braxton(2016) provides a useful guide with timelines on when resources should be replaced in her Sample Collection Policy blog.
“Most weeding criteria used by libraries involve a combination of qualitative and quantitative weeding criteria. Commonly used qualitative weeding criteria have been expressed in the acronym ‘MUSTIE’. This is a useful guide to help develop weeding guidelines in any library. MUSTIE stands for:
- Misleading – factually inaccurate
- Ugly – worn beyond mending
- Superseded – new edition or better information
- Trivial – no literary or scientific merit
- Irrelevant – to needs of school
- Elsewhere – material easily borrowed or available from another source” (Renate Beilharz, R, 2007).
Quantitative criteria based on numerical or statistical measurement is a very useful way to weed. The Library Management system should be used to identify which resources have not borrowed for three to five years. Some resources may need to be promoted before a decision is made to discard them. Weeding also involves identifying resources to be replaced or repaired. When making the decision to discard materials, resistance can come from staff who do not understand the importance of this aspect of collection management. It is part of the TLs role to educate why these decisions are being made. Having a selection criteria and a policy in place is important to back up all decisions.
Another aspect that needs to be considered when weeding is the reading level and subject matter. At Dulwich College (Singapore) we have three libraries for the different age groups. We are moving books from our Junior School Library to the Infant or Senior Library on a regular basis. This is probably happening more often because the school is only three years old and the collections were originally created before the librarians started at the school.
This image, by LaGarde, was shared in the module notes of this subject I think it sums of weeding perfectly.
References
Baumbach, D. J. & Miller, L. L. (2006). Less is more: a practical guide to weeding school library collections [American Library Association version]. Retrieved from http://portal.igpublish.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/search/ALAB0000046.html?0
Braxton, B. (2016). Sample collection policy. 500 hats, the teacher librarian in the 21st century. Retrieved from https://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/sample-collection-policy/
Croft, T. (2017). Deselection (weeding the collection) [ETL503 Module 2.1]. Retrieved May 19th, 2017, from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_23916_1&content_id=_1294058_1
LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H! [blog post]. The adventures of Library Girl. Retrieved from http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/10/keeping-your-library-collection.html
Larson, J. (2012). CREW: a weeding manual for modern libraries. Retrieved from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf
NationalLibraryNZ. (2014, March 30). Weeding your School Library [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ogUdxIfItqg
Renate Beilharz, R. (2007). Secret library business. Part 2. Connections, (63). Retrieved 2016 from http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_63/secret_library_business__part_2.html
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