“Weeding is the process of removing resources from the school library collection when they are no longer relevant to the needs of the curriculum and users.” (CSU Interact Module: Deselection)
Kennedy
p. 117. Some may have been poor selections and some may have been good selections that no longer have a place in the collection.
I understand his analogy with weeding as weeds are never wanted…resources were at some stage. I think I prefer the term deselection to weeding as it implies a thought out process.
p. 119 Why deselect:
· Improve appearance
· Remove obsolete materials
· Remove little used materials
· Save staff time
p. 124. Kennedy suggests that deselection should be the domain of senior qualified staff… I see the value in this, as the community is more likely to accept a senior staff’s judgment, in line with the deselection policy, than a junior inexperienced staff.
Dillon, K., Henri, J., & McGregor, J., &…Providing more with less: Collection management for school libraries.
· P. 243. I understand the importance of weeding, I also agree that if items are discarded then other items should replace.
· P. 244. "The point is that weeding the collection has as much to do with the maintenance of a strong collection as does selection."
· P.246 "It is essential that the school Librarian has policy and procedures in place to guide weeding decisions."
· Before weeding the collection, establish a policy and procedure, including criteria. By doing this you can easily and quickly refer any complaints to this policy.
Less Is More . Baumbach, Donna J. & Miller, Linda L.
p. 10. A carefully developed weeding policy can not only guide you decision but alleviate some misunderstanding amongst the community about your work
p. 11. CREW Continuous review, Evaluation and weeding
p. 12. MUSTIE
M- misleading – factually inaccurate
U – ugly – worn beyond mending or rebinding
S – superseded by a newer edition or better book
T- trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific value
I – irrelevant to the needs and interest of the community
E – elsewhere – the material is easily obtained from another library
p. 12? General criteria for weeding
· Age
· Use
· Physical condition
· currency of content
· duplication
· curriculum integration
· appropriation to the collection
· bias
· obsolete formats
With the introduction on the national curriculum selection and deselection will be very important tasks to ensure that the resources meet the changing needs within the curriculum.
WRITTEN BY Renate Beilharz
"If in doubt about a subject area, weed with a teacher who has the expertise and an understanding of the purpose of weeding."
"All the advice, recommendations and information in this article are just as relevant to a DVD or Internet site as to a book."
Weeding library collections: A selected annotated bibliography http://www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet15.cfm
I liked the SCIS website as it offered simple yet practical suggestions for the experienced or inexperienced TL to implement in regards to weeding the collection.
The SUNLINK Weed of the Month program introduced a new weeding subject area each month from September 1997 to December 2005. The enclosed table shows the different topics covered by Weed of the Month by the primary Dewey® classification. http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/.
· Although the link was not current I like the idea of a weed of the month as it gives the TL a focus each month in regards to deselection that is achievable to complete.
Found this blog that gives fairly concise explanation of the deselection process. http://olcsmalllibraries.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/weeding-library-collections/
Do you feel the use of the term 'weeding' unconsciously denigrates this process and adversely influences perceptions of its importance? Would it be more professional and appropriate to use the term 'deselection'?
· I do prefer the term deselection, as I feel it implies a more thought out and intelligent process. A professional process! I think using deselection shows the importance of the work the TL does.
Are there useful parallels between selection and weeding?
· Careful selection process with help ensure that materials acquired are used in the Library and will help the TL clearly see what materials no longer fit the selection criteria and therefore need to be deselected.
Is weeding a less important process than selection and acquisition? Why?
· Both are important, though selection and acquisition appears to be a much more interesting and fulfilling process. Through careful and planned deselection, the Library will function more effectively and provide better quality resources to its users.
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