Re: Disposal of Abstracts and Indexes Aline Soules 29 Jan 2008 18:27 UTC
I've worked in 4 different libraries in my career and have faced this issue in every one of them. It's not been a consideration of online or not online. It's always been prompted by space considerations. Whether something's online or not, if you have the space, you aren't faced with the dilemma of how to deal with the need for physical expansion. That's one issue. The other issue is combating the idea that with "everything online," the library doesn't need as much space. The administration will come and take it if they need more office space, classroom space, meeting room space, etc. Sometimes, they couch it in euphemistic terms - department X and the library need to work together, so proximity is great progress. Ultimately, the library loses physical space. So if it's not a space issue, per se, it's a space issue coupled with campus/department politics. If you don't want to comply, you need to find a compelling reason. If you don't have a compelling reason, you might as well give in graciously and make it work - otherwise, you will not be considered a team player and you will lose credibility. This, of course, may have nothing to do with collection or library needs. It is, however, what I've dealt with and I consider it the reality of our library lives. Aline Aline Soules Cal State East Bay 510-885-4596 aline.soules@csueastbay.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Connie Foster Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:39 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Disposal of Abstracts and Indexes Is anyone "letting go" of print indexes and abstracts for space and online considerations? Ex., sociological abstracts or others. Some librarians have a reluctance to discard for fear of cancelling online products "in the future" and not having a fall-back and, thus, would move to storage. Any opinions and experiences you have are appreciated. This could also extend to the JSTOR/MUSE type titles and what criteria you use to decide what goes away permanently, what goes to storage and what stays within reach. Connie Foster -- ***************************************************************************** ************* Connie Foster, Professor and Head, Dept. of Library Technical Services Western Kentucky University Libraries Editor, Serials Review 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11067 Bowling Green KY 42101-1067 connie.foster@wku.edu tel:270-745-6151 fax:270-745-3958 "Creating Information Possibilities" TopSCHOLAR(tm) http://digitalcommons.wku.edu Serials Review electronic submission for authors: http://ees.elsevier.com/serrev http://sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00987913