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Permalink Reply by Suman Gaur on December 13, 2011 at 23:18

U can can make weeding out policies with the help of library advisory committee. here i m sending u some weeding out policies



What Is Weeding?
Weeding is the periodic and continual evaluation of your library's resources with the goal of removing obsolete, damaged, and rarely used books. Weeding ensures that your library's materials are useful, attractive, and accessible to your patrons. Every library's print collection is limited by the space available, and collections must change over time to reflect changes in the community and in the library's goals.
Why do we need to weed?
• To maintain a current, accurate and useful collection;
• To make the best use of space;
• To improve the appearance, appeal and brows ability of the collection
• To check for materials that need repair or replacement;
• To get feedback on the collection's strengths and weaknesses.
Set a Policy
"An unused book is not a good (book). The Library should be a practical thing to be used, not an ideal to be admired."
A weeding policy provides a point of reference for staff to consult when deciding to acquire, discard, or reject an item. The guidelines in your policy allow you to make more consistent and informed decisions. They provide continuity during times of staff turnover or funding changes.

Policy Criteria
• Content: Is the content of the book relevant to your collection goals?
• Copyright: Is the content outdated?
• Condition: Material that cannot be repaired and is damaged enough to make the title unusable will be weeded. If the title is core to the subject area or determined necessary for the collection, every effort will be made to acquire a replacement.
• Reference copy: Single copy of any material should not weed out.
• Circulation history: Is the book being checked out? Any material that that never been
POLICY FOR WEEDING

• In order to achieve a well-balanced, pertinent and usable library collection
that satisfies the current and future needs of the library

• it becomes necessary to consistently and systematically evaluate and
assess the Library’s collections.

• A fundamental part of maintaining such a collection requires that some material be taken out of that collection

• Process is referred to as “weeding.”Some specialized library materials are not included in this document.


Journals/serials, audio/visual material, software and Special Collections material, have needs and procedures unique to those formats or departments, and will be addressed in their own sections of the overall Collection Development Policy.

1. A schedule for weeding will be determined by the Librarian, in consultation with the faculty representative from the affected area.
2. . A schedule for weeding will be determined on a semester by semester basis, and may include summer sessions for material that does not require faculty
/ Department.
3. The following individuals will determine what needs to be weeded:

a) The Librarian given responsibility for a particular subject area.

b) An appointed faculty representative of a particular subject area..

Please Note: Before you begin discarding weeded books, check your library's approved disposal policy.
Sell:
A sale takes time to organize, but can help bring in funds to purchase new books and materials.
Donate:
Gift your unwanted, duplicate, or irrelevant titles to charity. Do not donate damaged or severely worn pieces.
Destroy:
Articles too damaged to sell or donate should be destroyed. Be discreet when discarding obsolete titles as many people have strong feelings about discarding books. Clearly mark all discards.

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Permalink Reply by ARPANA DALVI on December 14, 2011 at 16:16

Thank you for your reply.

 

I am told to weed out the books and journals of the unused, outdated, multiple copies, and damaged. Since its inception 1945 the books are not weeded out. The earlier librarian who retired recently did not weed out any books but just mentioned a list of books during stock verification which were withdrawn from the circulation and kept in other room which are not even according to the list. Our library collection is nearly 50,000.(books and bound journals). The List of withdrawn books from the circulation is nearly 6000. Would it be appropriate to weed out such a number of books considering the time period. The books as I have verified are outdated and multiple copies, few are damaged. There are only some Journals bound and others are not in bound volume form since 20 years.

            I am thinking of weeding out at present only those books which are taken under the Text book Loan account and books which are earlier to 1990 and not in circulation and multiple in copies. I am not able to decide about the journals. As i dont think that management would agree to digitise them.Could you please help me in deciding how to move further with the process?

 

Arpana D.

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