Washington and Lee University
Also see the Science Library Weeding Update Blog
You may still review the psychology books that are candidates for withdrawal. You have until December 22, after which the candidates for withdrawal will be removed from the Science Library. If you need a refresher on the process, please see the entries below. Even if you are not Psychology faculty, you may want to look at http://library.wlu.edu/science/psychweed.asp to see if there may be some subjects you are interested in. If you have questions, let me know.
The last day to take bound JSTOR journals for personal use is December 22. After this date, these volumes will be removed to their new homes.
As stated earlier, we have been working on preparing the Psychology books for review. This includes all books in the General Collection with a call number beginning with BF. Our method of marking books for review has changed from the red semi-adhesive dots to paper book strips. (The semi-adhesive dots were a little too "semi" to stay on the books!) Now, the books that are candidates for withdrawal are marked with bright green paper strips, which are visible on the spine from the shelf.
Each strip includes the title and call number of the book, and includes space for you to write notes.
I encourage everyone with an interest in the Psychology books to review the candidates for withdrawal. Please keep in mind that the marked books have not been checked out in fifteen years and were acquired before the year 2000. If you feel that a book should not be withdrawn, please write "Do Not Withdraw" on the paper strip and bring it to the circulation desk. You may also reserve a book for your personal use by writing "Reserve for ________", and you will receive the book after it has been processed and removed from the catalog. Any challenges to books marked for withdrawal will automatically stay in the collection, no questions asked.
The BF call number range is quite large. I suggest that you begin your review with the subjects that are most important to you, then work your way through the rest of the range if you can. To see a list of subjects and their call number ranges within Psychology, click here. If you are interested in a subject that is not listed, please contact me and I will work with you to direct you to the appropriate area. Remember that all of the science faculty are invited to review books.
The Psychology books will be reviewed until late Fall Term, and I will announce a definite date when the review will end as I see how the review progresses in the next few weeks.
Next up, Earth Sciences!
The Science Faculty are currently reviewing the journal titles we have both a print subscription for and access to in JSTOR. Discarding these overlapping titles will save much needed shelf space since most people are inclined to access articles via JSTOR. A list of the journals is available here.
We plan on ending the review period at the end of Spring Term, and will begin the physical removal during the summer. Some faculty have expressed interest in keeping certain titles either for their home libraries, campus offices, or departmental offices. Shelf measurements must be considered here, as we do not want anyone to have more volumes than they can handle. In addition, we ask that you leave volumes on the shelf until we process them out of Annie.
Discarded volumes will be donated to needy libraries, such as those destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, or libraries in impoverished areas. Those that cannot be donated will be recycled by a professional recycling company.
In addition to weeding the journal collection, the general (circulating) collection must be weeded as well for the same reasons. The shelves are full, and soon we will not be able to take on any more new books. Currently, the plan is to work by call number, beginning with BF (Psychology)*.
We will be looking at the following characteristics:
Titles that are selected for weeding will be marked with red removable adhesive dots, and all reviewers will have a chance to challenge any marked item. Books will be kept on the shelf rather than moved to a "review area" because it is best for reviewers to evaluate these books in the context of other items in the collection. Slips of paper will be available for reviewers to leave notes about specific titles (such as challenging a marked item, or identifying that they would like to acquire this item for their personal library) and we encourage reviewers to use them.
We plan on marking books for review at the beginning of summer and making an announcement to all science faculty that a range of call numbers is ready for review. Any faculty member from any department is welcome to review any set of call numbers. Reviewers are also welcome to make "anonymous" challenges. If a book is challenged, it will not be discarded.
Updates on the weeding project will be made on this page, and also via email and at the Science Weeding blog at http://bloggery.wlu.edu/sciweed/. If you have questions or concerns about any aspect of this project, please contact Mary Abdoney at abdoneym@wlu.edu or x8647.
Computer Science
Currently, Kyle Felker is evaluating the Computer Science titles, with call numbers between QA 75.5 and QA 76.95. We expect to have these titles marked by the end of Spring Term, and ready for review by the start of summer. The rest of the disciplines will be handled by Mary Abdoney and Cindy Morton.