Weeding Reference Books Based on Free Online resources available?

Hi,

I have been given a very interesting project to work on. Our
Reference
librarian wants me to review our reference collection and
let him know
which ones' content can be found online for free. This will
be the
beginning of a weeding project.

Has any of you done something like this? Do you have any
suggestions as
to what is the best way to approach this project to get the
best result?


His motivation is the article called, "A Time to
Weed" by Laren
Lampasone published in Library Journal on May 1, 2008.

 

Thank you very much.

Salomeh Pourmoghim

Librarian

Fresno City College Library

 

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For me, the issue isn't which books are duplicated online
for free (or otherwise, like through a licensed database).
The issue is more, can *similar* information be found
online? What databases does your library subscribe to? Which
reference books do you never touch? Which books do you not
touch but which you might need to have because of their
uniqueness? How proficient are you and your staff at
searching online, and how confident are you that you can
still answer questions if a particular book is gone? How
much does your circulating collection overlap, either
directly or indirectly, your reference collection? What is
your book budget like - can you afford to keep updating
certain reference books, especially multivolume sets?
 
Really, weeding reference is not much different than weeding
the circulating collection except that you don't have the
check-out stats. Outdated, superceded, worn items should be
removed. Whether you replace or update such items is up to
your library. (My experience has been in public libraries so
perhaps some details differ from university libraries, but
as long as you can get current, relevant, authoritative
information, the kind of source, print or otherwise,
shouldn't really matter.)
 
I recently went through a heavy reference weeding project in
preparation for a building renovation, so feel free to email
me directly if you have more questions and I'll answer as
best I can: mpiersoncwmars.org
 
Marcie Pierson
Reference Librarian
Grafton Public Library
35 Grafton Common 
Grafton, MA 01519
508-839-4649
508-839-7726 FAX

________________________________

From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org on behalf of Salomeh
Pourmoghim
Sent: Thu 5/1/2008 5:25 PM
To: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Weeding Reference Books Based on Free
Online resourcesavailable?



Hi,

I have been given a very interesting project to work on. Our
Reference
librarian wants me to review our reference collection and
let him know
which ones' content can be found online for free. This will
be the
beginning of a weeding project.

Has any of you done something like this? Do you have any
suggestions as
to what is the best way to approach this project to get the
best result?


His motivation is the article called, "A Time to
Weed" by Laren
Lampasone published in Library Journal on May 1, 2008.



Thank you very much.

Salomeh Pourmoghim

Librarian

Fresno City College Library



_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/



_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Hello Salomeh,

Free online doesn't mean that it will stay free or that it
will stay online.  If it is something subscription, then you
might feel a little better about keeping it.  We have one
group who has weeded out everything that was an ebook.  I
ask myself each day who really wants to sit at a computer
screen and read Pride and Prejudice?

There are also a few resources that work easier in paper
that in print.  It's a tricky call to make and one that some
of us old pencil and paper pushers are wrestling with.

Also to consider would be the number of times it goes off
the shelf.  If it is a go to book, then I wouldn't toss it. 
If the money subscribing to the online version is stable
(the library would close the doors when the subscription
lapsed) then I might be a little more cheerful about pulling
something off the shelf.

I've found that some of the older ref books do quite well in
the circulating collection too.

Melinda Harvey

Reference Department,
McClellan Library, 
Gadsden State Community College
256-549-8333

 "In the nonstop tsunami of global information,
librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to
swim."  Linton Weeks


--- On Thu, 5/1/08, Salomeh Pourmoghim
<salomeh.pourmoghimfresnocitycollege.edu> wrote:

> From: Salomeh Pourmoghim <salomeh.pourmoghimfresnocitycollege.edu>
> Subject: [Web4lib] Weeding Reference Books Based on
Free Online resources available?
> To: web4libwebjunction.org
> Date: Thursday, May 1, 2008, 4:25 PM
> Hi,
> 
> I have been given a very interesting project to work
on.
> Our Reference
> librarian wants me to review our reference collection
and
> let him know
> which ones' content can be found online for free. This
> will be the
> beginning of a weeding project.
> 
> Has any of you done something like this? Do you have
any
> suggestions as
> to what is the best way to approach this project to get
the
> best result?
> 
> 
> His motivation is the article called, "A Time to
> Weed" by Laren
> Lampasone published in Library Journal on May 1, 2008.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you very much.
> 
> Salomeh Pourmoghim
> 
> Librarian
> 
> Fresno City College Library
> 
>  
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/


     
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