Library collection policies

The University of Melbourne Collection Policy 2006

APPENDIX 1: Weeding Policy Guidelines

A weeding policy is in place within University of Melbourne Libraries.  Weeding is the process of keeping collections usable and relevant by continually assessing print material in terms of value to the collection, and removing it from open access shelves if necessary.  There are various outcomes from this process; material is relegated to storage or deselected and removed from the catalogue. 

With a collection of over three million volumes, and over 60,000 new volumes acquired by the University each year, weeding is an activity that must take place regularly to ensure students and academics are able to find what they are looking for in the collections.   Student feedback from the University of Melbourne Library Client (Rodski) Survey of October 2005 and the Quality of Administrative and Support Services for Students (QASSS) Survey 2005 shows that quality of the collections, and ability for students to find what they are looking for in the collections, are of prime importance. 

Weeding is particularly appropriate in large undergraduate collections where copies of outdated material can be mistaken for current editions; and new material can be difficult to find due to overcrowding and consequent slowness of reshelving.  It is also relevant in large research libraries where size of the collection and low levels of usage of older material is increasing the need to weed and relegate material from open access shelving to lower use locations, thus maximising the usability of the open access collection. 

1. Definitions

Weeding: Library staff ‘weed’ or assess materials (all formats) currently housed on open access library shelves using a number of criteria, for the following reasons:

• Optimizing space and shelving for the collection; the library receives around 55,000 new monographs and 5,000 serial volumes every year.
• Removal of damaged, redundant and obsolete material from the open shelves to ensure a higher relative proportion of recent, relevant material is available.

Open Access: Items on open access in the University of Melbourne Libraries are located in any of the branch libraries listed in the catalogue.  All library users may freely access the material for use within the branch library, and most items are available for loan.

Deselection: Library materials that are deselected are no longer owned by the University of Melbourne.  They may be discarded or sent to theCARM Centre.link to no. 7 below

Relegation: Relegated library materials are relocated toUniversity of Melbourne Store. Link to no. 6 below These materials may be returned to open access if their anticipated demand changes.

Discard:  Discarded items are in most cases disposed of.

2. Responsibility for Weeding.

Weeding programs are undertaken by Information Services staff as part of routine collection management.  Staff have specialist knowledge and expertise in their subject areas, including information on the use of the collection.  Accordingly responsibility for weeding is allocated thus:

• Staff selects material proposed for weeding according to Policy which follows, and which has been endorsed by the University Libraries Committee as part of the overall Collection Policy.
• Academic staff are given the opportunity to review lists of last copy items identified by Information Services staff for deselection.

3. Weeding Guidelines

Weeding guidelines – monographs - Information Services staff will select monograph material for weeding, taking into account the following factors:

• Relevance / Currency
  • Material from all disciplines will be considered for relegation to Store or deselection.
• Nature of item, The following categories of material will regularly and routinely be relegated or deselected:
  • Superseded textbooks, school textbooks and secondary compilations
  • Duplicate and multiple copies
  • Non-scholarly, popular treatment
• Language
  • Material in languages not currently taught at the university will be considered for relegation or deselection
• Usage
  • Material which appears to have been consistently used, based on loans and interlibrary loan records, photocopy and re-shelving records and local staff knowledge, will be retained.
  • Items seldom or never used will be considered for relegation or deselection.
• Physical condition/Damaged items
  • Items in poor physical condition as a result of consistent usage, will be regularly and routinely discarded, if library staff deem them unrepairable and unlendable.
  • The decision regarding replacement of damaged items will be made by library staff, and if available within reasonable timeframe and expense.
  • Repair or rebinding of materials may be undertaken as a by-product of the weeding program.
  • Poor physical condition of little-used material may suggest the costs of repair or re-binding and retention are unjustified.  Special Collections will be consulted when items are considered to be of historic or rare value.
• Subject
  • Where Library staff are aware that the University is not currently teaching or researching in a particular subject area, and is unlikely to resume in 5 years, the collection may be weeded to those items considered desirable to provide basic information about that area.

Weeding guidelines – serials - Library staff will select serial, journal or periodical titles for weeding, taking into account the following factors:

• Current subscription status of serial titles:
  • Bibliometric studies have suggested that back issues of cancelled or ceased titles are less likely to be consulted than the back issues of titles of equivalent age to which a current subscription is maintained. Therefore:
  • Backsets of titles to which the library currently subscribes will be retained, but will be subject to availability of titles in the electronic archive, JSTOR. If an electronic archive copy of a title is available, consideration will be given to relegation to storage of the print volumes.
  • If a title has been cancelled or ceased publication, consideration will be given to relegating or deselecting the complete set

• Nature of title
  • Titles containing research findings, historical information, statistics or similar prime source material, will usually be retained.
  • Titles with directory information, newsletters and other ephemeral publications will be considered for weeding.
• Usage
  • Usage will be determined from loan records, photocopy and interlibrary loan requests, and re-shelving required.
  • Titles seldom or never used will be considered for relegation or deselection.
• Completeness of set
  • A very incomplete serial or journal set may be relegated or deselected.
• Physical condition
  • A set which is unbound or in poor physical condition may be relegated or deselected. If there is evidence of high usage, microforms or electronic access will be considered.
• Subject
  • Where Library staff are aware that the University no longer teaches or undertakes research in a particular subject area, and is unlikely to resume in the next 5 years, holdings of serial titles may be reduced to those considered basic to providing information about it.
• Holdings in other libraries
  • A title not held elsewhere in Australia will be retained, as a matter of principle, in support of scholarship and research.
  • A title not held elsewhere in Victoria will be retained unless the case for disposing of it is very strong.
• Electronic vs print journals
  • Decisions on whether to replace a print journal subscription with an electronic subscription will be made after consultation with academic staff and reference to the Electronic Collection Policy.  Link to 6.1 Electronic Collection Policy in the main policy document above.

3.  Superseded formats and editions

Earlier editions or formats of print and other material will be considered for deselection.  Print versions of items available electronically, (eg. E-books) will be considered for relegation or deselection also.

4.  Non – print materials

The criteria for weeding above will be applied to all formats of library material (print, electronic, audio visual, computer software, realia, etc.) where appropriate. 

5.  Cultural Collections

Management and retention of Cultural Collections owned by the Library are governed by the Policy and Minimum Requirements for Cultural Collections 2006. http://www.unimelb.edu.au/culturalcollections/links/university.html  

6. University of Melbourne Library Store

The Library Store exists to house materials that are low use but are still required by University researchers and students.  Only one copy of each edition of a monograph, and one run of a serial title will be held in the Library Store.  If demand for particular items located in Library Store changes, items can be returned to open access.  Not all of the material held in the Library Store is listed in the Library's online catalogue.  Material located in Library Store is identified on the catalogue ‘copy availability’ screen by the location name "UniM Store".

7. CARM Centre

The CAVAL Archival and Research Materials (CARM) Centre is a storage facility jointly founded and co-owned by the University of Melbourne and other major research libraries of Victoria.  CARM is a purpose built high-density storage facility for lower use research material, to ensure the availability of this material for current and future generations of scholars.  Material identified for deselection is routinely checked for eligibility for the CARM Store.  Items sent to CARM are not ‘owned’ by the University of Melbourne and cannot be returned to open access.  However, they can be ordered by staff and students for borrowing.

In addition to contributing to the CARM cooperative collection at the CARM Store, the University of Melbourne Library also leases space to store collections that are identified as being at risk and that need special storage conditions that are provided at the CARM facility. Items in these collections can be requested through the Library catalogue and are made available for loan to requestors. This space is in addition to the University’s Library Store facility.

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