LIBE+463+Assignment+4

=LIBE 462 Assignment 4: Weeding=

10 Weeded Collection Items:

 * 1. Title:** Etre astronome aujourd'hui
 * Author:** Isaac Asimov
 * Date of Publication:** 1992.

This book is old with images that are dated. Many technological changes have occured in Space Exploration since this book was published and newer information about being an astronaut should be provided to students. It had also never circulated.


 * 2. Title:** The Space Atlas
 * Author:** Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest
 * Date of Publication:** 1992



This book is old with images that are dated. Many technological changes have occured in Space Exploration since this book was published and newer information about planets, including the fact that Pluto is now considered a dwarf-planet, should be provided to students. This item had never circulated.


 * 3.** **Title:** Pluto
 * Author:** Robert Daily
 * Date of Publication:** 1994



In 2006 Pluto was reclassified as being a dwarf-planet. The information in this book is therefore out of date. The science 6 curriculum also doesn't look specificly at the different parts of the solar system but rather focuses on the challenges of exploring space in terms of an extremem environment.


 * 4.** **Title:** Planètes: pour les faire connaître aux enfants
 * Author:** Agnes Vandewiele and Pierre Bon
 * Date of Publication:** 1997

While this book was published more recently that other items that are being weeded this one has a target age that is too young for a middle school collection. The book seems to be aimed at a primary level reader and would not appeal to students in grades 6-8.


 * 5.** **Title:** The Arctic Coast
 * Author:** Douglas Wilkinson
 * Date of Publication:** 1970

There are two of this title, at least one should be removed. Ideally both would be removed due to their age. New research into the Arctic region since 1970 has been substantial. A more recent resource that reflects the newest findings regarding the Arctic should be made available to students.


 * 6.** **Title:** The land and wildlife of tropical Asia
 * Author:** Sideny Dillon Ripley
 * Date of Publication:** 1964

The age of this item makes it unapealing. The pictures are very outdated and, to be honest, this book smelled funny.


 * 7.** **Title:** The last rain forests
 * Author:** International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
 * Date of Publication:** 1990



This resource is now 20 years old and should be updated. Conservation issues are constantly changing and and students need the most up to date information as possible. A newer book that talks about the most recent developments in rainforest conservation should be purchased.


 * 8.** **Title:** Shells
 * Author: Graham** Saunders
 * Date of Publication:** 1980

This book has outdated images and fonts. The book is over 30 years old and there are other books about shells in the collection to properly cover the topic.


 * 9.** **Title: Virunga:** The Passion of Dian Fossey
 * Author:** Farley Mowat
 * Date of Publication:** 1988

There are two copies of this book. One should be discarded. Despite the age of the item, one copy should be kept as it is an account of Dian Fossey's life, a woman that students may study as part of their science or social studies courses.


 * 10.** **Title:** Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections
 * Author:** Stephen Biesty and Richard Platt
 * Date of Publication:** 1992

This book is in poor condition, with pages curled up and the spine having been repaired once already. While this book is getting old in terms of age it is recommended that it be replaced as it is clearly used lots and has a good circulation record.

Weeding Project Reflection:
The first aspect that was challenging about this assignment was the fact that I was not able to really truly weed the collection as I am not the Librarian at my school. Instead I had to do a similated version of the assignment, something that I think might actually have been more difficult than actually going through the process. Doing the process for real might have allowed me to see more clearly what aspects of weeding are easiest and which are more challenging. While I tried to ask the Librarian and the Library Assistant as many questions as I could I did not have the courage to ask if I could actually weed the collection. Unfortunately our Librarian is sometimes difficult to approach and I find that she is often stressed by end of year tasks so I felt it more cautious to do the simulated option of the assignment than to bother with an additional disturbance at the end of year. Despite having only walked through the exercise of weeding I do see that it can be a difficult task but that the benefits can also be great.

In my opinion, our library collection is in much need of updating, particularly the non-fiction section. The average age of the collection is approximately seventeen years old, with the librarian admiting that new purchases in recent years have mostly been fiction. Therefore, working through the non-fiction area, finding items to weed was not particularly difficult. Instead, I think the challenge in weeding our library is in the fact that if we were to weed the collection properly we risk having entire sections wiped out. On the flip side, I think there are entire sections not being used because they are too outdated. I did question the Librarian about how she weeds her collection. She summed up her stategy by saying that she tries to weed anything that is too old (which she couldn't define for me), but, that being said, if there weren't other items on the topic she would still keep the item despite it's age. Our Librarian is therefore keeping items that are outdated because she feels like old material is at least better than no material on the subject at all. I think that the problem with this approach is that staff and students have simply moved away from using the collection. In informal discussions with Staff members they have commented that they simply don't use the collection at all or that they only come to the library for students to check out fiction items. I could only find about five teachers, out of twenty-two, that use the library for non-fiction inquiry based projects.

It is not current practice by our Librarian to seek input with regards to weeding materials, but I think it would help identify any areas that are not being used, which areas of the collection users would like to see updated, and which areas could be weeded entirely. The goals of weeding, and selection, in our library needs to re-focus on meeting the needs of students and staff and away from simply having a well rounded collection.


 * Policy/Criteria:**

I think that some of the difficulty that our Librarian has in weeding the collection is due to a lack of policy regarding weeding and perhaps also a lack of criteria on which to base weeding decisions. The librarian has mentioned that another librarian in the District was fired for not maintaining proper inventory of the collection and I think that sometimes the fear of having her decisions challenged may hinder our Librarian's weeding efforts. Currently there are no written policies regarding weeding at either the District or the school level but I think that writing some some would go a long way in encouraging the development of a stronger library collection at our school. If the Librarian were able to explain her weeding decisions based on a set of clearly defined criteria she might have more confidence to deselect items that are no longer serving a purpose.

Again I think that gaining input from library users is a good idea. Not only does it make it easier to justify deselection decisions becaus others also agree that the item is no longer useful, but it allows users to feel more connected to what is happening in the library, and allows you to gain input that you might not get otherwise. Including users in the decison making making process also helps ensure that the collection is meeting their needs. When I was going through the collection for this assignment one of my greatest concerns when making a weeding decision is that perhaps the circulation data for the item isn't a true reflection of the items usage. I noticed during my observations for the collection analysis assignment that many non-fiction books that are used a lot don't necessarily get checked out. In fact, most often an entire section will get pulled and put on a cart so that all the students from a particular class can access them but this means that students aren't allowed to check the items out. I like Bishop's suggestion of placing a slip indicating the intent to deselect the item on it and allowing it to be part of the collection for another length of time (pg 125). If someone uses the item and feels that it should be kept they can return the slip to Library staff with input as to why they think it should be kept. This system would help to indentify high use items that the Library was unaware of. I also think that it would be good to develope a system for keeping track of in house use of the collection that can be tracked in the computer and printed as a report.

In making decisions about what to weed from the collection and what to keep I tried to follow the MUSTIE criteria as described by Moore (pg 6). A little ways into the process I felt like the criteria just didn't fit well, I needed a bit more detail from which to go on and I moved to the list of criteria defined by Bishop (121). In the end I just felt like Bishop's criteria was clearer and, therefore, easier to use. As part of my weeding policy I would develop a form to fill out for each item that I deselect that has this list of criteria as well as some space for notes and informaiton about the item, these forms would be kept in a binder as a record of what has been weeded in the past. I think it would be good to have some documentation about what has been deselected in case any concerns arise about a specific item no longer being in the collection and to refer to for comparison if items are being debated in the future.


 * Discarding Material:**

I agree with Bishop when she notes that it can be difficult to simply put books in the trash because staff and public members don't understand why the materials are being discarded (pg.125). When I am discarding French materials from my classroom collection I box them up and personally take the box to the recycling. It is hard enough to make the decision to get rid of items, but even harder if people begin challenging your decision. I am not sure that I agree with the idea that weeded items can be offered to teachers for classroom use. I guess it would depend on why the item was weeded. If an item was deselected due to age, inaccuracy, or inappropriateness I think it needs to be recycled and not given to someone else that will still be using it with students.

Something that I observed at year end when they weeded the teacher resource area of our Library this year is that the Librarian didn't actually write "Discard" on the books. The Library Assistant said it wasn't something to worry about because if they try to scan the item it won't show up in the computer. My concern with this is that she may not remember that it was deleted from the system and instead think that it wasn't inputed properly and will input it back into the system if it reapears in the Library. Secondly, if the materials have been repurposed to someone else it is nice for that person to be able to show others that it is indeed a discard item and not something that they have taken without permission. Books without a discard indication will tend to migrate back to the library and eat up staff time with them having to double check that it no longer belongs in the collection.

While I was not able to actually weed the Science area of the collection and practice all of the deselection process I have found doing the assignment a valuable experience. Knowing more about the benefits of weeding will ensure that I don't shy away from the task and rather, that I plan for and anticipate it. I will especially take away with me the importance of using criteria and policy to guide the weeding process.

References:

Bishop, Kay. (2007) //The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and Information Sources//. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Moore, Jo Anne. "Guidelines for Collection Evaluation and Weeding." Texas Education Agency. Retrieved from: []