Weeding
The purpose of this assignment is to weed (or de-select) the materials from the library collection related to the community helpers unit that was outlined in the first course assignment. Most of these items are located in the Dewy section number 363, however there are a few items in the 600 section and in the VHS section that will also be considered for weeding.
There are 2 types of weeding, informal and formal. Informal weeding happens as the TL goes about their daily duties. When they see a damaged book the TL will pull that book on the spot.
Formal weeding is a process that should be done every five years. This is when the TL goes through the entire collection looking at each material and analyzing if that material should be weeded from the collection.
In order to properly weed, there are a number of generally accepted guidelines that can be followed. For the purpose of this project the guidelines from the overhead slides in Libe 463 were used when selecting the materials. Here are the listed guidelines:
- Inappropriate reading levels
- Curriculum change
- Topics no longer of interest
- Duplicates with no demand
- Unattractive appearance
- Subject matter unsuitable for users
- Biased or stereotypical portrayals
- Poor circulation record
- Poor physical condition
- Old copyright date
The major criteria used for this weeding assignment is the print out given to us in class from the author Kay Bishop. The source is in the book "The Collection Programs in Schools" Fourth Edition on page 122. This chart gives us a guideline for what the average age of your collection should be per Dewy section and that last time this book was circulated. The area related to Community Helpers is in the Social Sciences Dewy 300. Bishop states this section should be dated 5-10 years and the last circulation time at 3-5 years. The reality is that a dated book usually includes many of the above guidelines in it (subject mater unsuitable, unattractive appearance, poor physical condition, and topic is no longer of interest).
Age and circulation statistics are the major factors when weeding in my library as informal weeding has been on ongoing process over the past 3 years. I have been informally weeding the damaged books as I came across them at the circulation desk or students pointed out to me the book was damaged.
This project will be part of a formal weeding that will start to take place in my library in the fall.
Age and circulation statistics are the major factors when weeding in my library as informal weeding has been on ongoing process over the past 3 years. I have been informally weeding the damaged books as I came across them at the circulation desk or students pointed out to me the book was damaged.
This project will be part of a formal weeding that will start to take place in my library in the fall.
