Weeding the collection -- part two

Last week we described the broad outlines of the weeding project.  This week I'll share with you some of the more detailed criteria we use to assess materials.

TO  BE  REMOVED

1) Outdated college textbooks, almanacs, yearbooks or directories

2) Superseded editions of support material (such as no-longer-current Chicago Manual of Style editions, modern language dictionaries, etc)

3) Duplicate copies of material that no longer circulates

4) Obsolete practical guides or instructional material (eg, “How to Get Your Book Published” from 1962, or a GRE study manual from 1980)

5) Dated popular/non-scholarly material, such as travel information or data on student loans & scholarships

6) Reprints of articles published in standard periodicals

7) Books in very poor condition that are readily available in other local collections

8) Works outside our core subject areas that are readily available elsewhere

DO  NOT  REMOVE

1) Works indicative of the history of scholarly work in a given field (old does not mean irrelevant!)

2) Works with any Presbyterian connection – such as a dictionary of colloquial Arabic published by the Nile Mission Press, or materials published by Westminster John Knox or other church-related entity 

3) Works pertinent to our intensive collection areas