Weeding in an Academic Setting

1. Weeding in an Academic Setting Diane Holliday Dowling College Library Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

2. Introduction: • My beliefs about weeding • Factors to consider in an academic setting • Faculty feelings about weeding Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

3. Introduction: • Approaching faculty about weeding • How to collaboratively weed with faculty • Conclusion Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

4. My Beliefs About Weeding: • Weeding and collection development • Are two sides of the same process • Should be pursued continually • Together make collection management Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

5. My Beliefs About Weeding: • Weeding is change • People are resistant to change, especially large changes. • If weeding is done continually and constantly, less change is perceived. • If weeding is done sporadically, more change is perceived because the change is dramatic. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

6. My Beliefs About Weeding: • More about change • Change is easier to take when the change agent is someone in whom you trust. • Change is easier to take when you realize that the change will immediately benefit yourself. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

7. How to Identify Weedable Titles in an Academic Setting: • Identifying core collections • Looking at in-house use or circulation statistics • Identifying “pinch points” in the collection • Looking at the condition of the materials • Looking at the age of the materials Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

8. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Academic libraries have a well defined set of users and/or potential users of the collection • Primary users are students and faculty • Faculty set the parameters of the collection through the curriculum and their research and interests • The faculty drive the student’s needs Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

9. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Academic libraries have a well defined set of users and/or potential users of the collection • Secondary users are administration, staff, and the immediate neighborhood Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

10. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Curriculum • Become acquainted with the course catalog(s) • Be aware of new course proposals Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

11. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Curriculum • Know the depth of coverage (currency) needed for each subject area with respect to the level of the courses being taught. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

12. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Faculty research and interests • Curriculum will reflect faculty interests, but not totally. • Be very careful Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

13. Factors to Consider Before Weeding in an Academic Setting: • Faculty research and interests • Subject area weeding should be done in consultation with the appropriate faculty. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

14. Faculty Feelings About Weeding • Some faculty cannot do enough to help with the weeding process. • They are very “hands on.” • They get assignment ideas from browsing the shelves. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

15. Faculty Feelings About Weeding • Some faculty understand that weeding is necessary, but they may be reluctant to help. • They may offer advice in a general way. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

16. Faculty Feelings About Weeding • Some faculty are appalled at the thought of weeding. • They will not help. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

17. Approaching Faculty About Weeding: • Know the political landscape – do not create ill-will. • Know whom you are approaching within the faculty organizational structure. • Attempt to know the effect your contact may have. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

18. Approaching Faculty About Weeding: • Seek out multiple faculty members from the same department • Do not always put the same person on the “weeding hot seat.” Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

19. Approaching Faculty About Weeding: • Communicate • Get to know their interests and areas of research. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

20. Approaching Faculty About Weeding: • Build their confidence in your abilities • Do your best to fulfill faculty initiated purchase requests. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

21. Approaching Faculty About Weeding: • Build their confidence in your abilities • Target small areas in the collection that need building and updating. • Seek faculty advice in these areas first. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

22. How Does Targeting Small Areas in the Collection Build Confidence? • Confidence is gained because you initiated contact with them • They didn’t have to ask you • You pointed out an opportunity Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

23. How Does Targeting Small Areas in the Collection Build Confidence? • This approach shows that weeding can be a positive action and can have immediate results • Faculty will be much less adverse to weeding if it means a more recent edition of a book will soon appear on the shelves. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

24. How Does Targeting Small Areas in the Collection Build Confidence? • If and when a large scale weeding project is undertaken, the faculty will be less resistant to lending a hand Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

25. When Working With Faculty to Collaboratively Weed: • Set ground rules in advance • What happens to the weeded materials? • Are they thrown out? • Offered as gifts? • Does the faculty member take the discarded materials? Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

26. When Working With Faculty to Collaboratively Weed: • Set ground rules in advance • If a disagreement over the worth of materials arises (discarding or keeping), who will have the final say? • Try to keep disagreements to a minimum. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

27. When Working With Faculty to Collaboratively Weed: • Make and keep appointments for weeding • Be flexible in scheduling appointments for weeding • Keeping appointments builds confidence and credibility Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

28. When Working With Faculty to Collaboratively Weed: • Be conscious that faculty can be subjective in weeding practice • They may harbor strong personal prejudices. • They may want the item in question. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

29. Conclusion: • In the Academic Library, a Faculty Centered Approach to weeding is a sound, valid approach. • This approach is valid because Students will judge an Academic Library by the correlation they see between the curriculum and the collection. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

30. Conclusion: • Become familiar with the curriculum, faculty interests, areas of faculty research, and the political landscape before initiating a weeding project. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

31. Conclusion: • Weeding is more palatable when faculty members trust and have confidence in the judgement of the person making or steering weeding decisions. • Finally, when collaboratively weeding, set the ground rules before you start work on the project. Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998

32. Weeding in an Academic Setting • Thank you for your attention! • Contact me at: hollidad@dowling.edu • A copy of this presentation can be found at-http://www.dowling.edu/library/welcome.htm Learning To Say Good-Bye, Suffolk County Library Association, Bellport, NY September 23, 1998