Weeding the Printed Collections in Libraries: Policy and Practice @ IIT Delhi (original) (raw)
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Weeding the Printed Collections in Libraries: Policy and Practice at IIT Delhi
Library Herald, 2018
This paper is a case study of policy and practice followed at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi for weeding the old/damaged/obsolete/unused library collections. The paper endeavors to highlight the barriers and the need of weeding in the library. It discusses the criteria used to weed the collections in the central library of IIT Delhi as devised by the Advisory Committee for Library (ACL). The study is limited to the weeding of books from Humanities and Social Sciences, Text Book and Book Bank sections of the Central Library, IIT Delhi. The weeding procedure at IIT Delhi not only makes the collections lively but also helps in marketing of the Central Library and its resources. This study will be very fruitful for those library professionals who wish to undertake weeding of their collections to make them lively and updated.
Journal of Library and Information Communication Technology (JLICT) Vol.2 No.1 June 2013. P.65-74. , 2013
Collection building in university libraries is a continuous process getting the volumes added on shelves requiring stack space; additional stack rooms in library building, finances and staff for maintaining them. Collection development includes selection acquisition, processing, arrangement and maintenance including weeding out of reading materials. The collection of any university library contains monographs, Theses/Dissertations, Text books, books, serials, CD-ROM or online databases, reference books etc. Library’s collection development policy should help the users by providing efficient and easy location of materials quick and timely services to the users in accordance with the main organization‘s objectives. Libraries need to draw the criteria for evaluation and use of library material in terms of its significance, use and currency content of the library material. The first step is to identify the "core collection" which accounts for permanent value and use by their students, research scholars and faculty, while the later could be the special or exclusive collections, rare books those bring prestige to the library. The usefulness of earlier editions of reference books, back volumes of journals and news papers when the latest editions are purchased is to be assessed by the library. Value of the content needs to be evaluated in the context of ever changing subjects, curriculum and research projects. To avoid the junk material accumulated in the library and to maintain collection intact precautions should be taken from the selection of information material itself by procuring the latest editions of subject books, text books. Faculty also should be suggested to selecting the required books from the publisher’s latest catalogs rather than choosing from supplier’s lists to please them. Libraries should not accept all the kinds of donations or gifts unless they are rare classics that need to be preserved for future generations. Additionally certain types of library material is getting obsolete over the period and not required to be kept in the library any more. These outdated and unused books are incurring heavy costs to library and slow down or even obstructing the workflow of library management in many ways. There is no adequate space available in the library with no additional funds for extension of building to accommodate ever growing collection. Further the paper discusses some criteria and methods for evaluating the collection so that unused material in the library can be identified and weeded out. Occasional weeding of library material enable library to update the collection with useful fresh stock and make it visible to their users. As such there are no prevailing standards or procedures for weeding out the unused books. Weeding cannot be done as one time measure; it should be a continuous process. The unused and mutilated items are to be accumulated for discarding as per the policies framed according to the recommendations of the committee. National Knowledge Commission has suggested that library collection should be dynamic remains relevant to the user communities. It also mentions that except in the case of national repositories, the weeding out of books should be a regular process and should evolve a weeding out policy, approved by the competent authority. Every library thus should form their own policy for weeding out the materials in consultation with the subject experts and document it so that it will form as a guiding policy for future operations.
Weeding of Printed Books at Rev B.M Pugh Library of Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat
International journal of advances in agricultural science and technology, 2022
Weeding is a process of removing obsolete collection of books from the stacks of library. The paper emphasizes on weeding of printed books at Rev BM Pugh library. The books which were not being issued and outmoded were weeded out to maintain the space in the stacks for new arrivals. The paper also discusses the procedure and policy adopted in weeding out of superseded books. The superseded editions, unissued and torn out books were identified through the copies available on the stacks and Koha LMS. Subsequently, the weeded-out books were freely distributed to public by organizing a Book Day. The freely distributed books were recorded in the Accession Register. The weeding procedure makes the collection active and creates space for new arrivals.
Investigation of Preventive Conservation of Library Materials in National Library of India
2021
Preventive Conservation being interdisciplinary in nature has been implemented by libraries from the time when libraries were considered merely as storehouses of knowledge. Since inception, libraries have taken the responsibility to preserve the library materials for a prolonged life. The present study is undertaken to survey the preventive conservation activities in National Library of India. For this purpose, a well structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to the head of the library and concerned library professionals who are directly engaged in preventive conservation activities of the library. Results of the study show that all the basic methods of preventive conservation like pest management, climate control, access system, proper storage, binding, disaster planning, digitization and digital preservation are taken up by National Library in an effective way. It is however suggested that the library the library should work towards filing up the vacant positions of the library, specially of the Biding division-where books are immune against deterioration to survive a long life..
Collection Development and Management of Smt. Hansa Mehta Library, The M. S University of Baroda
IP Indian Journal of Library Science and Information Technology, 2021
This paper attempts to study the collection development and management of Smt. Hansa Mehta library (SHML), The M. S University of Baroda and also to know its collection development for the past five years. The author has described both the Print and Electronic resources available in the library and also discuss about the collection development policy adopted by the library and list out the issues and challenges in developing library collection, particularly in electronic and digital environment. The author has also pointed out the ways and means to adopt need based collection development policy which best suits for providing effective information services to the user community.
Seventy-Five Years of Indian Library Profession
This study discusses the importance of collection development in libraries. Various factors have to be taken into consideration while developing a qualitative collection for the benefit of the users. These factors include policies, principles, techniques and procedures, problems associated with collection development and weeding out as well. It is equally important to evaluate the collections to assess its use and moreover the usefulness of collection development in electronic environment. Authors conclude that, library professionals need to take utmost care in developing a balanced collection, which enhances the quality of the library. The study is attempted on the basis of experience.
Building Public Library Collection in India: A Study of Book and Non-book Material
2018
India is the second most populous country in the world. It has 29 states and 7 union territories. The state of West Bengal with nineteen districts has a well-established public library system. The present study covers the district of Murshidabad which has 160 public libraries, in total. Significantly, three categories of public libraries namely rural library, town/sub-division library and district library exists in whole district. Covering 21 public libraries with representation of all categories of libraries, the present work aims to study the collection development of material. Data for the present study has been collected through well-structured questionnaire. Study also highlights the various aspects which contributed in building collection in studied libraries. Precisely, these are donation from Member of Legislative Assembly, donation from Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation, complimentary copies from the authors, etc. Findings suggest that no-uniform growth has been witnessed in surveyed libraries.
Management of Collection in University Libraries of Assam A Study
2019
The present study investigated about the management of collection in university libraries of Assam, in ICT environment. The study covered the main criteria like library organizational structures, collection development policy, document selection, supplier selection, book order, resource collection, licensing policy, technical processing, organization of resources, access to collection, library services, collection maintenance, user strength etc. data collected from the library professional. The study investigates and elaborates the primary way to learn about the collection management, collection development in accordance to today's information exploitation age of ICT. Findings and suggestions have been given to make the service more beneficial in the university libraries of Assam. Though the e-resources considered as the vital components of university library collection, till now some of the reputed university library not in a position to purchase the e-resources and though some of the university library have their e-collection till now that are not fully organized, it is due to various factors like insufficient funds, inadequate trained staff in handling computers and software packages, and administrative concerns etc. Automation has been initiated in all university libraries of Assam and they are enjoying the ICT in almost all aspects such as user, resources and staff management and services. It is important to evaluate whether the progress in ICT has any impact on the library profession in these highest educational institutions or not. The study carried out through questionnaire method for collection of data and supplemented by interviews of librarians to gather additional information required.