RE: Strategies for weeding print reference collections

We are a small academic college and did something similar when we needed
to find more study space.  The reference collection was gone over with a
fine-tooth comb. We culled some books because they were readily available
online, others we thought would circulate went to stacks, we moved
dictionaries and style books (Chicago, APA, etc.) to a section that could
be checked out for 3 days, and finally we focused on making a very nice,
smaller, "browsing" reference collection.

This was made up of mostly small encyclopedia sets (3-6 volumes) on
everything from Homelessness to cancer, biodiversity, and extremist
groups.  We took out the old ranges and had very nice chest-high
bookshelves for this collection which gave a much more open feel to the
room and allowed some of our hidden librarian offices to stand out.  We
have been very pleased with the results.

Teresa Imfeld
Serials, Acquisition, & Cataloging Specialist
Warren Wilson College


> We’re not an academic library, but about 3-4 years ago, in preparation for
> our move to a new building in May 2016, and in response to changing use
> patterns, we dramatically reduced the size of our reference collection.
> We weeded a great deal, since users were more inclined to use the open
> internet or our electronic resources instead of calling us or coming to
> the library.  Of the remainder, we moved quite a bit to our circulating
> collections.  Remaining in reference we have state and federal legal
> reference, some Alaskana (mostly rare copies of directories and the like)
> and some “just in case” collections that staff just couldn’t bear to let
> go.  Some of those will likely go or move to circulation this year, and
> reference will shrink even more.  We find ourselves willing to let go of
> more and more with each weed, and generally haven’t regretted letting
> things go once they’re gone.  It’s definitely the staff that find it hard
> to let go of things, not so much the users.  That said, for core Alaskana
> and some legal resources, we’ll probably send duplicates to our vault
> before letting go of them altogether!
>
> Freya
> ===============
> Freya Anderson
> Head, Information Services
> Alaska State Library
> PO Box 110571
> Juneau, AK 99811-0571
>
> 907-465-1315
>
> http://library.alaska.gov/
>
>
> From: colldv-request_at_lists.ala.org <colldv-request_at_lists.ala.org> On
> Behalf Of Brewer, Michael M - (brewerm)
> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2018 11:28 AM
> To: Erin Gallagher <gallaghere_at_reed.edu>; colldv_at_lists.ala.org
> Subject: Re: [ALCTS-colldv] Strategies for weeding print reference
> collections
>
> I’d be curious to hear if anyone is rethinking their reference collections
> as a whole and either just integrating them into their stacks, moving them
> into the stacks (but keeping them as a cohesive collection), or recreating
> a greater reference collection (with all the reference content that has
> been moved to the stacks over the years), but housing that collection in
> the stack (rather than taking up the typical real estate used for
> reference collections).
>
> Because of a major renovation, we are in the process of moving ours in
> pieces to be adjacent to content in the stacks with the same call number
> ranges (toward eventually integrating it as we can make room). I can’t say
> I wouldn’t have wanted to do this even if we hadn’t been renovating, but
> it is making it easier. As a librarian and scholar, I love the idea of a
> reconstituted reference collection in the stacks (for browsing purposes),
> but doubt that would really be worth the effort or what the majority of
> our clientele would use.
>
> mb
>
> Michael Brewer | Librarian
> Interim Senior Information Resources Officer
> University of Arizona Libraries, A349G | 1510 E. University Blvd.
> P.O. Box 210055 | Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 | (520) 307-2771
>
>
> From: <colldv-request_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:colldv-request_at_lists.ala.org>>
> on behalf of Erin Gallagher
> <gallaghere_at_reed.edu<mailto:gallaghere_at_reed.edu>>
> Reply-To: Erin Gallagher
> <gallaghere_at_reed.edu<mailto:gallaghere_at_reed.edu>>
> Date: Monday, June 4, 2018 at 12:14 PM
> To: "colldv_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:colldv_at_lists.ala.org>"
> <colldv_at_lists.ala.org<mailto:colldv_at_lists.ala.org>>
> Subject: [ALCTS-colldv] Strategies for weeding print reference
> collections
>
> Hello everyone,
> We are preparing to weed our print reference collection this summer.  The
> collection is currently shelved separately from the main stacks and only a
> handful of titles are allowed to be checked out and used outside the
> library.
> We have weeding criteria we drafted in 2014 but would like to update these
> criteria.  For other libraries who weed print reference collections, what
> criteria do you use for weeding?  Are there any other strategies or
> suggestions that have worked for you?
> I'll be happy to synthesize our responses and share them.
> Thank you in advance.
> Erin
>
>
> Erin Gallagher
> Director of Collection Services
> Reed College Library
> (503) 777-7552
> gallaghere_at_reed.edu<mailto:gallaghere_at_reed.edu>
>