WEEDING REFERENCE MATERIALS

LIS 60610/Fall 2008

What Is a Reference Work?

ALA:

• By its nature, usefulto answer referencequestions

• For various reasons,held out of circulation

Bates:Bates:• FunctionalFunctional

“What’s it for?”“What’s it for?”

• AdministrativeAdministrative“How’s it “How’s it used?”used?”

 

What is a Reference Book??

1. Used to locate facts and citations2. Usually arranged in one of three

ways:AlphabeticallyChronologicallyTopically

3. The title gives detailed information about the work

“Right-Sizing” the Collection

Designate a project team and team leader

Print out a shelf list of the reference collection

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“Right-Sizing” the Collection

 Perform an inventory

Eliminate titles not found on the shelves

Add titles not included on shelflist printout

“Right-Sizing” the Collection

Gather usage data:

Determine the busiest 2- or 3-month period

Post signs advising users not to reshelve reference materials

Provide labeled carts for used materials

“Right-Sizing” the Collection

Gather usage data:

Provide empty shelves for perusing materials in the stacks

Designate a “roving librarian”

Make a hashmark by each title used

Highlight titles used

Review the data and evaluate materials based on usage (e.g., 0 usage, 1 usage, etc.)Weed the collection to determine which items will be:

RetainedDiscardedMoved to the circulating collection

“Right-Sizing” the Collection

What is Weeding?

The process of removing books and other materials that:

Are in dilapidated physical condition

Contain outdated or inaccurate information

Do not fit into the scope of the library’s collection

Guidelines for Reference Materials

Subject relevance

Other materials on the topic

Weed older editions when superceded

Evaluate periodically

Maintain a reference collection development policy

Other Criteria

Age/Physical condition

Currency

Timeliness

Use

Newer edition available

Suitability for circulating collection

Historical significance

Availability of newer or better title

Other Criteria

Budget constraints Standing order dispositions (older editions sent to branches) Appropriateness for collectionIncomplete setsJudgments based on subject area expertise Current listings in standards tools (e.g., Sheehy, BIP)

Print vs. Online

CONSIDER:How many reference resources are available online?“Free” vs. feeCost of maintaining two formatsOther issues (usability, available computers, patron skill level)

Do NOT Weed…

Local history and genealogy materials

Do NOT Weed…

Volumes of sets and series with special merit

Older reference works augmented by (not superceded by) later editions

http://refdesk.com/

ALMANACS

Two years’ usage

Older editions may be kept for historic research

Update annually

Circulate older editions (1-2 years)

Exception to the rule:

Keep all editions of the state almanac for their unique information

Dictionaries

Keep unabridged editions

Update special dictionaries regularly (5-7 years)

Circulate older editions

www.wordcentral.com/

http://onelook.com/

www.yourdictionary.com/

Encyclopedias

Outdated after 5 years

Purchase on rotating schedule

Supplement with electronic formats

Circulate older sets

www.kidsclick.org/

www.ipl.org/

http://encarta.msn.com

What about Wikipedia?

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1830262

Directories

TelephoneZip codeOfficial Congressional DirectoryOnline (switchboard.com)

Directories

Discard when new ones arrive

Retain older ones IF space and usage warrant

Exception: older telephone and city directories (used by genealogists)

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Atlases and Gazetteers

Maps

Latitude and longitude

Demographic info.

Geographic data

Atlases

Replace when updated (5-7 yrs.)

House older editions separately

Update road atlases annually

Keep local maps updated

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

www.sitesatlas.com/

http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps

http://nationalatlas.gov/

Handbooks and Manuals

HANDBOOKS

Give a broad overview of a topic

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Oxford Companion to Literature

MANUALS

Give step-by-step instructions--how to do

Chilton’s Auto Repair Manual

Handbooks

Humanities: retain indefinitely; supplement with newer texts

Social Science: outdated after 10 years

Exceptions: sets containing historical data

Sciences: outdated after 5 years

www.bls.gov/OCO/

Indexes

Magazines and periodicalsPoetryGenealogyElectronic databases (e.g., OhioLINK)

Indexes

Most print indexes have been replaced with online databases

Note: online databases may not include older periodicals

Keep older editions of Granger’s if needed

Quotation Sources

Identify statements by notables in history

Arrangedtopicallyalphabeticallychronologically

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

Quotation Sources

Some titles are not superceded by new editions (e.g., Bartlett’s)

Use caution with online resources

Exception: www.bartleby.com

Bibliographies

List of sources grouped by: topic reading level

A to Zoo

Magazines for Libraries

Genreflecting

Children’s Catalog

Bibliographies

Replace when superceded

Note: some may be “one-shot” titles

Biographical Sources

Dictionaries provide brief biog. informationNot superceded by later editionsCurrent BiographyWebster’s New Biog.

Dictionary

Biographical Sources

Keep sets (e.g., Something About the Author):

IF space allows

IF usage dictates

IF online resources don’t cover demand

IF other formats aren’t available