Sarah,

  There's a summary of weeding criteria on pages 77-80 of Serials in
Libraries: Issues and Practices (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited,
2006), ISBN 1-59158-258X.

  A more thorough treatment is in Dennis K. Lambert, A Guide to review
of library collections : preservation, storage, and withdrawal, 2nd ed.
([Chicago] : Lanham, Md. : Association for Library Collections &
Technical Services; published in cooperation with Scarecrow Press,
2002).

  While all the criteria are worth considering, I think having reliable,
affordable access to online back issues has become the most important
criterion. If it's in JSTOR, or the publisher makes backfiles of the
"official" version available for free after an embargo period (e.g.
Journal of Biological Chemistry), that's the safest situation for
discarding print.

  When I discuss weeding with faculty or at committee meetings, I like
to point out that it's much like cleaning your garage or closet. It has
to be done, it will improve the situation, but inevitably a month later
you'll want something that was tossed. Folks can relate to that.

Steve Black
Reference, Serials, and Instruction Librarian
Neil Hellman Library
The College of Saint Rose
392 Western Ave.
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 458-5494
blacks@strose.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Sarah Sanford
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:55 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Weeding print periodicals

I need professional weeding/shifting advice!

We are a small academic library with approximately 1000 active print
journals. Last summer we finished shifting the entire periodicals
collection, leaving 5 years of growth for all active titles. In many
cases, we had to use the bottom shelf because of space concerns--which
means in less than 5 years we will be at full capacity.

I am not a librarian but I am the manager of the periodicals department.

All weeding has to be approved by the librarians. What suggestions do
you have to 1) create space in the collection and
2) help facilitate a weeding project?

One idea is to document all the titles which have short runs (1-10
years) and are older than 1990 and see if I can weed these. What we
can't get through ILL we would likely keep. We keep usage stats but only

on active titles. We already have a number of titles on a retention
cycle (JSTOR, etc.) and we substitute online for print where it is cost
effective. I don't work directly with departments and have no idea which

titles we need to keep for 50 years and which we only need to keep for
5. Weeding the periodicals collection will not be a priority for the
librarians, but it's one we have to do to create space.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help.

--

Sarah Monson
Serials Manager
Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library
Gustavus Adolphus College
St. Peter, MN 56082
Phone: 507-933-7562
Fax: 507-933-6292

What I'm reading: The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker