What is being weeded?
- Bound print journals and serials with perpetual or open access online
- Books that fit routine weeding criteria, are duplicates, are excluded under current policy, and are Canadian govt. documents
- See the Book section for more information
Why are the Libraries doing this?
- The Libraries need more space for print books in order to be able to keep buying more of them.
Does this include Dana Health Sciences Library journals as well as Howe Library journals?
- Yes, it does. Dana has a number of journal backfiles shelved in the LRA that are part of this project.
How do I find out about Weeding news?
What will you see?
- We will be taking some books and many bound journals off of the shelves. When this stage is completed, we will be shifting the journals spaces to accommodate our projected future growth in bound journals, and then the monograph spaces to make more room for books.
When will you see this happening?
- This work will take place over the summer of 2023 and continue into the fall.
Why are you doing this in the summer?
- This project requires Library resources that are not available at any other time. In addition, we were only able to purchase the majority of the perpetual access collections that are making the serials withdrawal possible at the end of the fiscal year for budget reasons.
What will happen to the journals that are removed?
- Some of them may be sent to the Internet Archive for eventual digitization or to other libraries requesting them. UVM faculty may also request to have them; the Libraries will make an appointment to allow them to retrieve the journal runs. There is very little demand for bound journals, so the majority will be recycled.
What will happen to the books that are removed?
- Some of them will be offered up to the UVM community to take from the Libraries’ free bookshelves, or offered to departments. Some that are out of copyright or nearing that date may be sent to the Internet Archive for eventual digitization. The rest will be sent to Better World Books in order to find new homes in other libraries or be recycled.
What if I want to be able to read the print, or want my students to be able to use it?
- While we can’t keep most of these volumes, if there is a scholarly or pedagogical need for an individual journal to be retained in print, please let us know! We know there are special cases where the print is necessary.
What if the electronic journal isn’t good enough?
- We are reviewing the electronic version for completeness and quality of included images before making a final decision about weeding a journal. This aspect of the project is ongoing, so some journals on the list will end up being retained in whole or in part until the publisher improves the quality.
What if the Libraries get rid of something, and I need it?
- The items that we are withdrawing are all held in other libraries. We will be able to get the print version or a scan of it through interlibrary loan if we need it.
Can faculty get the books and journals that are being weeded?
- Journals
- Yes. Faculty can put in a request to take a specific bound journal set in the event that it is weeded. We will give you a specific time to come and get it; after that date and time it will be returned to the group to be removed. Department libraries have the first priority as requestors. If multiple people request the same journal, we will give it to the first requestor.
- Books
- As is usual, some of the books that are being weeded will be made available to everyone via Howe Library’s free books shelves in the Ground Floor near the Government Documents area.
- Most will be sent to Better World Books or the Internet Archive in order to make them available to other libraries.
Can all faculty make a request for a journal?
How do I find out what journals you are weeding?
- The Libraries have created a review list of the potential bound journal removals. We invite faculty to review this list and tell us about any concerns you have with weeding a specific bound journal.
- We may add more titles to this list or other updates. If you would like to receive these, please subscribe to the Library Weeding blog to get them through your email.
How do I find out what books you are weeding?
- The Libraries will make select review lists available to faculty by sending them to specific departments.
- If the book is being weeded because it is a duplicate of something that will remain in the collection, or is excluded by our collections development policy, we will not include it on the review list.
How do I give you feedback on the items?
- Please review the lists at the UVM Libraries Weeding site, and contact us via the information presented there.
