Skip to main content

Website Review- Idaho Libraries



The Idaho Libraries site offers similar information as the Arizona State Library site, but specifically notes that it is directed for librarians that do not have formal training. It’s a good concept and important to remember that not everyone comes into library work with the same background, education, or skill set. It’s also helpful as it’s set up as an online course with “exams” one has to pass to move forward, but sections can be accessed individually from the home page with no problem.

IL begins with an overview about why weeding is important and why it is controversial: it makes it easier to use, helps staff know the collection better, gets rid of outdated and damaged material, and find strengths and weaknesses in the collection. Next is criteria with a reference to the CREW method and MUSTIE criteria. Step three is the actual process for weeding. Readers are encouraged to follow a plan, are given an example of a disposal slip, and encouraged to consider performing a general inventory at the same time.

Part 4 reviews common problems encountered in weeding along with solutions. These range from dealing with objections from a library board to finding time to complete the weeding. Finally, IL helps users find ways to dispose the weeded materials. Options include first trying to repair, then moving on to donating to larger libraries or book sales. Recycling versus trashing is also discussed. If materials are disposed of, understanding how to finesse public relations will be important and that is discussed in detail.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Annotated Bibliography- Data Driven Deselection: Using a Decision Support Tool

Ehret Snyder, C. (2013, Dec 20). Data-driven deselection: multiple point data using a decision support tool in an academic library. Collection Management, 39 , 11-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2013.866607 Weeding is a time-consuming and sensitive task for librarians. It is necessary to make space for new material, keep information current and updated, and remove items in poor condition. Librarians have to determine what kind of data is necessary to review in order to justify removing an item from the library’s shelves. Tools exist to help librarians gather multiple points of data to make the process more efficient. The librarians at Olin Library, part of Rollins College in Florida, utilized such a tool (Sustainable Collections Services) to help them update their collection and present the findings in this paper. Summary: Librarians are short on time and weeding is one of the most time-consuming tasks they can take on. Criteria is necessary to make...

Annotated Bibliography- Weeding E-Books

Waugh, M., Donlin, M., & Braunstein, S. (2015, Jan 14). Next-generation collection management: a case study of quality control and weeding e-books in an academic library. Collection Management, 40 (1), 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2014.965864 This paper presents a case study in e-book weeding from Louisiana State University. E-book collection management policies do not exist in over 95% of ARL (Association of Research Libraries) facilities and it is unlikely numbers would be much lower in any library. E-book collections need to be evaluated according to a thoughtfully created policy in order to keep an up to date, useful collection to serve patrons needs. By examining the difficulties and triumphs experienced by other libraries, staff can work to address deficiencies in their facilities.   A major problem will be interacting with vendors since they control collections. It will be important for individual libraries demand better self-service, s...

Annotated Bibliography - Weeding With ADDIE: Developing Training for Deselection at an Academic Library

O’Neill, J. L. (2016). Weeding with ADDIE: Developing Training for Deselection at an Academic          Library. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 56(2), 108-115. doi:10.31229/osf.io/hym8b California State University Fullerton has been open since 1957. Up until 2014, there had not been a large-scale weeding completed of the materials in Pollak Library. Instructional Design Librarian J. Lindsay O’Neill turned to the design process known as ADDIE to develop a method to train librarians to undergo the task. Summary           Weeding is often a difficult task to perform. Not only is it done less often than most tasks library staff perform, it often comes with the guilt of removing material, the fear of making the wrong call, and the concern from stakeholders about ‘throwing books away.’ Making the task even more difficult is the lack of formal training for librarians on weeding in the field....