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Collections Deselection Activities

Active and past weeding projects

2024 Summer Weeding Update

by Susan Swogger on July 31st, 2024 | 0 Comments

The Libraries are about to start removing the print journals identified in the 2023 Journal Weeding project.  As stated in the earlier identification project, these are bound journals and other serials for which we have reliable online access. 

What will you see?

We are removing the bound journals that we identified with faculty help in order to make space for new materials.  You may see movers taking them away. You will certainly see gaps appearing in the journal shelving spaces. 

Are any books being weeded?

The Library is also weeding a few serials that are housed in the book areas based upon the same journal weeding project. We are also engaged in our usual weeding of duplicated, out of scope, outdated, or damaged materials. 

What will happen to them?

Some of them are going to be sent to the Internet Archive or Hathi Trust, where they will eventually become digitized for public use or act as a print reserve.  Some of them are going to be recycled.

How can I access this material now?

You can access these journals online, through the Libraries' electronic resources. 

Did the Libraries keep any of them?

Yes!  The Libraries are keeping a number of titles from the original list, based either on faculty feedback and request, or further investigation into the individual titles.

What will happen next?

The Libraries will be spending some time determining exactly what can move where, but eventually, some more older volumes currently in Howe Library will be moving to the Library Research Annex.  A few will be moving from the Library Research Annex to Howe Library.  In the meantime, there will be visible open shelves in the journal shelving areas, but we have plans for them. Our goal is to move all of the journals and other things on the shelves over in order to make space to add more books and to use the ones we have more easily.

 


2023 Libraries Weeding Projects

by Susan Swogger on May 31st, 2023 | 0 Comments

The Libraries are about to start weeding, and we would like your help.  

What are we doing?

Print Journals

The Libraries are going to weed a large number of bound print journals that we have perpetual access to online or that are Open Access from a reliable publisher. This means that you will still have access to their content online. In most cases, the Libraries cancelled print subscriptions in favor of online ones long ago.

The Libraries bought a number of new journal backfiles to support this project, making a large amount of new content permanently available to UVM - see Related New Purchases for more information.

Print Books

We are also going to weed a small number of books out of Howe, Dana and the LRA. Most of this is routine weeding, but it will focus on:

  • Duplicates without enough circulation to need two – we will keep one
  • Older editions of former Reserve and other textbooks
  • Items excluded by our Collections Development Policies such as travel guides, scattered single issues of journals or annual reports, etc.
  • Canadian government documents
  • Government documents from states other than Vermont


Why are we doing it?

We need shelf space in order to keep buying new print books.


What do we need from you?  How can you help?

Please review the 2023 Journal Review Lists at the UVM Libraries Collections Deselection Guide, and contact us via the information presented there, preferably before October 1st.  We would really like to know a) what needs to stay and b) what you would like to take if we do weed it, if anything.  

If you are aware of a quality problem with the electronic version of a journal, please let us know!  We are reviewing them for quality, but we welcome your input.


What will you see in the Libraries?

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 monographs, and then the monograph spaces to make more room for books.


When will you see this happening?

We are asking you to review the journal title list and let us know your response before October 1st if possible. All review work should be complete by the end of September.

This work will take place over the summer of 2023 and continue into the fall.  We will begin weeding some items from the book stacks in the fall, and journal runs from the journal stacks in October. If someone offers to take a journal before that event, it may be scheduled for pickup. We will not be able to hold materials past a scheduled pickup.


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.  

We are also looking for feedback to identify special cases where a journal title should be kept in print as well as online for scholarly reasons.  


Can faculty take the books and journals that are being weeded?

Print 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 library requests get first priority; if multiple individuals request the same journal, we will give it to the first requestor.  If we find there is a quality problem with the digital version, the Libraries will keep the print journal.

Print Books

Yes, and no. As is usual, some of the books that are being weeded will be made available to everyone via Howe Library’s free books shelves on the Ground Floor near the Government Documents area.

Others will be sent to Baker & Taylor's Sustainable Shelves group or the Internet Archive in order to make them available to other libraries, or in the case of damage or very low demand items such as state govt documents, recycled.

 

Where can you find out more?

UVM Libraries Collections Deselection Guide

Weeding FAQ

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