Weeding 101

1. Weeding 101 Dr. Donna Baumbach University of Central Florida (retired to NC!) baumbach@mail.ucf.edu

2. Thanks! • For the invitation • For your patience • For answering the questions on the discussion boards • For your participation tonight

3. Congrats, Dr. Matzen! • Collection Development courses frequently do NOT cover weeding • Collection Development policies frequently do not mention weeding

4. Weeding is… • …an essential part of collection development. • …selection in reverse. • …de-selection. • …separating the wheat from the chaff. • …critical to a healthy collection of print and non print materials.

5. Why Weed? • Professional responsibility • Collections are the heart of what we do • Dangerous/misleading information • “Facts” change • Improved appearance of library and shelves • More appealing to users • “Good stuff” stands out

6. Why Weed? • Get to know the collection better • Discover “new” resources • Discover “holes” • Discover errors in shelving or cataloging • Discover items that need repair or promotion • Balance (fair and honest)

7. Excuses • I have the largest collection… • The LMS before me never weeded… • If I throw it away, someone will need it… • We need it to meet the accreditation standards… • If I got rid of everything that needed to go, I wouldn’t have anything left…

8. Excuses • My principal won’t let me… • People would think I’m wasting money… • If I throw it away, someone will need it… • I’m not an expert in “that” topic… • I don’t have time… • We don’t have money to replace what we weed…

9. Excuses • I might make a mistake… • I might throw away something really valuable…. • My collection is brand new… • Weeding will show I’ve made mistakes in purchasing… • I don’t know where to start…. • I don’t know how…

10. Obvious Weeds • Items that haven’t been circulated • Items that have circulated too much • Titles that don’t fit the curriculum or current areas of interest • Outdated info, images, formats • Stereotypes • Better info available in other formats • Multiple copies are available • Worn, damaged, ugly, moldy, smelly, etc.

11. Weed with Caution • Materials with local interest or history • Works of historical significance: classics, award winners • Expensive titles • Special titles for cooperatives • Titles listed in current selection tools

12. Favorite Trick • Search titles by keywords and, if possible, dates: • Modern • Today • Contemporary • Current • New America Votes: Things You Should Know About Elections Today (1976)

13. Favorite Trick • Search titles by keywords and, if possible, dates: • Modern • Today • Contemporary • Current • New Now in Mexico (1947)

14. Favorite Trick • Search titles by keywords and, if possible, dates: • Modern • Today • Contemporary • Current • New • Now Flying Saucers Here and Now (1967)

15. Favorite Trick • Search titles by keywords and, if possible, dates: • Modern • Today • Contemporary • Current • New Today’s Heroes in Sports (1970)

16. Where I Come From: • 1987 • Early automation projects • Florida’s state union database of school library media holdings: SUNLINK • Selection criteria for participation • http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu

17. SUNLINK • http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu • 1,939,230 titles • 2,841 schools (K-12) • 67 districts in the state of Florida • Reading/interest levels • Cataloged educational web sites • Book cover images • Digital images and streaming video • First K-12 union on the WWW

18. Age of Collection Data • http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/collection/ • THEN (1987): • 60% of collections were more than 30 years old • 2003-21% pre-1980 and 51% pre-1990 • Average AOC 1983 • Fiction/Non-Fiction/Total • NOW (2007): • Almost 1/2 published in last 10 years • Less than 10% over 30 years old

19. SUNLINK’s Weed of the Month • LM_Net Collaboration • Weed a little at a time… • 1997 to 2005 • Over 100 topics • Archives @ http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/

20. WOM • Rationale for weeding the topic • Dewey numbers to check • Specific criteria for weeding • Examples of titles to be weeded • Suggestions for titles to be added • (later changed to tips for replacing titles)

21. For example: Folktales • Rationale: • “timeless?” • Dewey: • 398 and 900s (travel and geography) and 745 (decorative arts) Don’t forget nonprint materials • Specific thing to look for: • Ethnic, religious, gender bias • Illustrations and eye appeal • Not appropriate to age level • Do not contribute to a positive world view

22. For example: Folktales • Reconsider: • African Folktales (filmstrip) - 1970 • Arab Folktales - 1986 • Complete Book of Indian Craft and Lore - 1954 • Modern Greek Folktales - 1965 • Stories from Old Russia - 1964 • We Always Lie to Strangers: Tall Tales from the Ozarks - 1951 • Tips for replacements: • Add titles that increase global awareness • Think about countries in the news today • Help students understand other cultures

23. Favorite Weeding Quotes “It does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are good or not.” • Lucius Annaeus Senecca, Roman Philosopher

24. Favorite Weeding Quotes “You can’t teach today’s students with yesterday’s materials and expect them to have success tomorrow.” • Poster in Teacher Librarian, April 1999

25. Favorite Weeding Quotes “Weed. I’m not telling you again.” • Doug Johnson, Mankato (MN) District School

26. Favorite Weeding Quotes “Poorly weeded collections are not the sign of poor budgets, but of poor librarianship. Period.” • Doug Johnson

27. Favorite Weeding Quotes “Git-R-Done!” • Larry the Cable Guy

28. Rationale Dewey or LC numbers to examine Specific criteria or things to consider Titles (if access to online catalogs) Replacements Physical Fitness 9/11 Careers Baseball Cook Books Diseases Tobacco, Drug or Alcohol Education Libraries & Librarians Biographies Jokes Your Turn

29. I highly recommend: • Less is More: A Practical Guide to Weeding School Libraries (ALA Editions, 2006) • ISBN: 0-8389-0919-1

30. See also: http://listmixer.com/list?acct_id=554 All links active as of 10/4/07