WHY MUST LIBRARIES WEED?
Weeding is necessary to prevent a library
collection from becoming obsolete. At the same time, weeding is necessary
because a library has limited physical space. It is simply not possible for a
library with limited space to collect and to house all print and audiovisual
materials. The following are major
established reasons for weeding:
1. To Improve the Quality of
Collection. Careful and regular
weeding will enhance the quality and up-to-datedness of the collection, thereby
building library users' trust. It has
been said that many patrons feel that the experts select library
books and the mere fact that
the book is in the library lends authority to it. To foster and ensure this reputation, weeding
is a necessity.
2. To Save Space and Money. Weeded materials no longer cost money for cleaning,
binding, mending, extra stacks, extra files, and all the other hidden costs of
maintenance and space, none of which are cut by lack of use. Crowded
shelves can be avoided. There can be more space for tables and chairs
for in-house research, and study.
3. To Save Time. Collection weeding will save time for patrons and
staff. Crowded shelves, full of ragged books with
torn markings, cost time if one
is trying to use the collection for research or looking for a particular book
or trying to shelve books. An overload of useless books increases all library
housekeeping.
4. To
Make the Library More Appealing.
Attractive new books will replace old and unattractive ones as a result of
weeding.
5. To Provide Feedback on the Collection?s Strengths
and Weaknesses.
Systematic weeding
increases staff knowledge of the collection.
This can be extremely helpful in collection building practices.
WEEDING CRITERIA FOR MONOGRAPHS:??
1- If the latest edition of a book is available in the
library collection and the book is NOT HEAVILY USED according to
the issue record slip.
- All
old and superseded editions of the book should be withdrawn.
- Up
to a maximum of two copies of the same edition may be kept in the library
collection.
2- Two latest editions of directories, handbooks, almanacs, travel guides,
bibliographies, telephone books, publishers' catalogs, and loose-leaf service,
will be kept in the collection. Annual reports will be retained for five years,
except for those of companies, which will be kept for only one year.
3- If online editions of encyclopedias, directories, yearbooks, etc. are
available, hardcopies of previous editions of these materials shall be weeded
out from the library collection.
4- All monthly, quarterly, and semiannual statistical handbooks should
also be withdrawn, if their yearly cumulative publications are available in the
library collection.
5- Textbooks may be weeded out if ALL of the following
conditions are applicable:
- They
are no longer part of the present curriculum at the University;
- Their contents have become obsolete (e.g. computer science books);
- They are more than 5 years old;
- Consent of the concerned academic departments is obtained;
6- All worn-out, mutilated volumes should be withdrawn from the library
collection. If necessary, replacement
copies may be ordered based on the demand and usefulness of the book.
7- All monographs should be considered for withdrawal provided:
- They
have not been circulated for the last 10 years, but with the consent of the concerned academic departments
- They do
not support the acquisition policy of the library, and iii) They do not support
KFUPM curriculum/research programs.
8- All juvenile and elementary works, work of non-contemporary minor
authors, crank literature, bibliographies of obscure people, accession lists of
general libraries, personal war experiences, etc. should be considered for
withdrawal.
9- Books/conference proceedings available in both formats (print and
CD-ROM) will be retained for 3 years. However, print copies may be withdrawn
from the collection after three years and distributed to concerned academic
departments through Gift & Exchange.
10- If indexes/abstracts, catalogs, bibliographies, etc. are available in
both formats (print and CD?ROM) the print copy will be discarded. Those
indexes/abstracts available on the Internet, free of charge, will be considered
for withdrawal.
WEEDING CRITERIA FOR PERIODICALS:
1- The preferred format for retention of periodicals should be in the
following order: electronic, microform, and print.
2- Depending on the nature of periodicals only the current 10 years
periodicals in print format should be retained. In case of space problem,
science and technology periodicals should be preferred over the humanities and
social sciences periodicals.
3- Periodicals older than 10 years should be managed in the following
order:
- Purchase periodicals in electronic or microform format and discard the print
copy
- If
electronic or microform format is not available, shift the periodicals to the
secondary storage collection.
4- The volumes/issues of periodicals that are received weekly, bi-weekly,
and popular magazines should be automatically withdrawn from the collection on
the expiry of their retention period already decided. However, heavily
used and technical periodicals (Nature, Science, Time, Newsweek,
etc.) may be acquired in electronic or microfilm format after 5 years.
5- If multiple copies of a periodical are received in the library, at
least one copy should be retained in the library and the remaining copies may
be weeded out and sent to the concerned academic departments with their
consent.
6- Ceased, outdated and obsolete periodicals should be weeded out from the
library collection and relocated to academic departments, if they are willing
to take them.
7- Non-English (excluding Arabic) periodicals and those which have no
academic or research value should immediately be weeded out from the library
collection.
8- Loose issues of periodicals are the main source of space problem. Every effort should be made by the
Coordinator of Binding to bind all such journal issues. The number of volumes
bound per year should not be less than 5,000. Loose issues, which are not
strong enough and cannot be properly shelved, should be the prime target for
binding. The periodicals included in the
List of Periodicals for Binding prepared by the Serials Department and approved
by the Dean of Library Affairs should be given preference for binding over
other periodicals.
9- Periodicals available in more than one format (electronic, microform,
and print): the print and microform copies should be discarded with the consent
of the concerned academic departments.
10- All weeded out periodicals should be relocated to the concerned
academic departments with their consent, or disposed of through Gift &
Exchange.
WEEDING
CRITERIA FOR REFERENCE COLLECTION
1- Older volumes of reference publications, particularly serials, such as
directories and yearbooks.
2- Older and superseded editions that contain outdated or inaccurate content.
3- Materials, which no longer support the academic curriculum.
4- Materials not in Arabic and/or English language, which have no academic or research value.
5- Materials used very rarely and have no potential use.
6- Duplicate and multiple copies of directories, guidebooks, yearbooks, etc.
7- Materials which are badly worn out, defaced, or otherwise in poor condition should be replaced with new copies, if used, or discarded, if not used.
8- Bibliographies with narrow subject scope.
WEEDING CRITERIA FOR AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS:
1- Any A.V. material over 15 years old that show little evidence of use.
2- Out-of-date A.V. materials, which no longer conform to prevailing ideas of presentation, e.g., 16mm and 8mm films, filmstrips, audiotapes, etc.
3- Worn out or frail A.V. materials that serve no purpose and are in very poor condition.
4- A.V. materials that are damaged, have missing segments or have not been in use.
5- A. V. materials that have been transformed into other formats.
6- Any A.V. material, which is neither in Arabic or English, with the consent of the concerned academic departments.
7- Multiple copies of any media item.
WEEDING
PROCEDURES:
Selection of Material
The weeding
librarian visits the shelves, picks up the item after reviewing the title, its
contents, and the issue slip to determine the amount of use of the book for
possible withdrawal from the library collection. After the selection of
material, the following procedures are followed:
- The online catalog is checked to find out: the number of copies
available in the library; whether a subsequent edition is available or not; and
the date of publication. The catalog is also checked to find out whether or not
other sources on the same topic and subject are available in the library before
deciding to weed out the title.
- It is also determined if the information contained in the item is
available in any other source or not.
- The physical condition of the book is checked.
- A brief annotation about the item is prepared.
Preparation
of List
1. A list of
selected materials for weeding is prepared on INMAGIC with the following
details:
- Author, Title, Call No.,
Publisher, Year of Publication, Copy No., Edition/ Volume, Type of material,
Holdings in the Main Library, Secondary Storage holdings, if any, Films
holdings, Reasons for withdrawal, Annotation, Action including Recommendation
and/or Decision.
Review/Decision
1- The list is forwarded to the Manager, Acquisitions Department; then to the Director General, Library Affairs; and finally to the Manager, Reference & Information Services for their opinion on one of the following actions: weed out, do not weed out, send to department, keep in secondary storage, or any other decision.
2- The final list is submitted to the Dean of Library Affairs for his review of the opinions expressed by the Managers and his final decision. The Dean of Library Affair?s decision is final and overrules all the decisions made by the Managers. Necessary action is taken according to the final decision recorded by the Dean of Library Affairs, including recording the decision on the INMAGIC database.
Distribution of Material
1- In case the Dean of Library Affairs decides against the weeding of any material, then no action is taken upon it.
2- In case the Dean of Library Affairs decides to weed out the complete holdings of a particular periodical/monographic title, a letter signed by the Chairman, Library Materials Evaluation Committee (with a copy to the Dean of Library Affairs) is forwarded to the Manager, Users Services Division with the request to pull out the title/titles from the shelves for weeding.
3- Upon receipt of materials in the Acquisitions Department, another written request is forwarded to the Senior Manager, Cataloging Operations Department or the Serials Department for deleting their copy records from the online catalog. Deletion of serials holdings and transfer of physical volumes/issues of periodicals are the responsibility of the Serials Department.
4- In case the Dean of Library Affairs decides to send the material to an academic department, the Weeding Librarian takes the following action:
- A letter is forwarded from the Dean of Library Affairs to the academic department chairman indicating the author name, title, year of publication, classification number, and annotation and inquiring them if they would like to receive the item for their department.
- If the Academic Chairman agrees to receive the materials, they are forwarded to his department through the Gift & Exchange Section after necessary update of the online catalog by the Cataloging Operations or by the Serials Department.
5- In case the Dean of Library Affairs decides to keep the material in the Secondary Storage Area, a letter is forwarded by the Chairman, Library Materials Evaluation Committee to the Senior Manager, User Services Division with the request to withdraw the listed titles from the active shelves and forward them to the Cataloging Operations Department or the Serials Department (as the case may be) to change the location of the material in the online catalog from Main to Secondary Storage. After updating the catalog, the weeded out material is forwarded to the Secondary Storage area by the User Services staff.
6- In case the Chairmen of academic departments decline to take the material, a letter from the Dean of Library Affairs is forwarded to the Deans of Community Colleges with the weeded out materials list inquiring if they are interested in taking the materials. If yes, the weeded out material is forwarded to them.
DISPOSAL OF WEEDED MATERIALS:
Disposal of weeded materials should be done in the following order:
1- Donate. If the material discarded has potential value for other libraries in the Kingdom (including KFUPM satellite libraries), the Arab world, and the Muslim world in that order, they should be sent to them. The Acquisitions Department should have a mailing list of libraries ready for sending materials in accordance with profiles supplied by those libraries. Lists should be sent to libraries that would like to see them before receiving materials. The lists should preferably be sent to them by fax with the request that a decision is needed within two weeks. If the response does not come during that period, it will be assumed that they are not interested. If donation was not possible in any way, the material will be offered for sale to the public.
2- Sell. Items with commercial value may be sold through Housing and Office Services or any other appropriate department of the university. The amount received from the sale may be deposited to Library account 741.
3- Recycle. One of the recommended environmentally friendly methods of disposing of materials is to recycle them through government or private agencies.
4- Destroy. Destruction is the last resort, if library materials cannot be donated, sold, or recycled. This can be done in the following three ways:
- Burning in an incinerator
- Shredding
- Tossing into the trash by removing the hard cover and tearing of some pages. While burning may cause an environmental hazard, we need to choose between second and third options; whichever is cost effective and convenient
OTHER GUIDELINES:
Before disposing of library materials, the following steps are to be taken:
1- All weeded out materials must be stamped with the Library's DISCARD or WITHDRAWN stamp to show that they are no longer library property. Call number labels may be covered with tape or crossed, if the items are to be sold.
2- A list of all items to be disposed of must be prepared and copies sent with physical items to Cataloging Department or Serials Department for deleting their records, to libraries receiving them as donation, and to any other location the materials are being sent.
3- Respective items and bib records must be deleted from the library catalog.
4- Magnetic strips must be desensitized from the weeded out material, before its disposal.?