VIII. Maintenance of the Collection

A. Location

Library materials paid for with library funds must be housed in Andersen Library.

B. Binding

Binding preserves the physical condition of the print collection. Periodicals are commercially bound except incomplete volumes and online/CD-ROM or microform-replaced titles which are in-house bound. Hardbound books and paperbacks are rebound as needed. The head of each public service area is responsible for evaluating the physical conditions and contents of titles in his/her area to recommend rebinding, withdrawal or replacement. Technical Processing Service coordinates the binding/rebinding operation.

C. Replacements

A separate account (721) pays for replacing missing, lost, or damaged materials. However replacement is not automatic. The merit of the book, serial, or audio-visual material must be evaluated by the librarian in charge of the collection. Demand for the resource, its value to the collection, and whether or not it has been superseded by a new edition or other newer materials are some of the criteria used for evaluation before any recommendation for replacement.

Replacement account cannot be used to systematically replace older editions or less desirable formats.

When damaged materials can be repaired through re-binding, tipping-in of photocopies, etc., such alternatives should first be considered before replacement is made.

For missing items, replacement should be initiated only after thorough searching and sufficient time (possibly one to two years) has lapsed to avoid unnecessary purchases. Heavily used items may be replaced immediately as an additional copy.

Schedule for Replacement (added 7/99):

• Lost and paid for - each July Circulation will forward "lost and paid for" non-government document titles to the librarian responsible for the subject for replacement consideration. Government document titles will be forwarded to Documents Librarian.
• Patron Lost items - each July after a year that an item has been declared "patron lost," Circulation will forward the title to the librarian responsible for the subject (non-government document material) or Documents Librarian (documents) for replacement consideration.
• Missing items - each July after two years that an item has been declared "missing," Circulation will forward the title to the librarian responsible for the subject (non-government document material) or Documents Librarian (documents) for replacement consideration.

Bibliographic records of those titles not replaced will be withdrawn from the online catalog at this time.

D. Weeding

Weeding or deselection of library materials is essential for the maintenance of an active, academically useful collection, and for the best utilization of limited space. Same criteria for selection will apply to de-selection. In addition, the following factors may be considered:

1. Past and projected use as substantiated by circulation statistics
2. Physical conditions
3. Age of the titles in relation to the subject matter. Does the collection reflect the current literature of the discipline.
4. Multiple copies
5. Broken runs and short runs of dated periodicals
6. Obsolete media
7. Superseded editions of no value

In evaluating the collection for weeding, standard bibliographies such as Books For College Libraries and other appropriate sources are consulted. Whenever possible, faculty members most directly concerned with possible future use of the materials will be invited to participate in the weeding process to assure that materials of historical or research interest are not inadvertently removed.

It should also be noted that since weeding involves the changing of official records (local database and OCLC), it is a fairly costly operation; therefore, the selection of titles for weeding must be done carefully.

E. Database Maintenance to Reflect Collection

The online catalog and OCLC utility must reflect the collection. A weeded title should have its bibliographic record removed/suppressed from the online catalog and holdings symbol deleted for the OCLC database as part of withdrawal process. Missing items should be so identified in the online catalog. A lost item, when missing for two year, a decision must be made whether to replace or not. Non-replaced titles should be treated the same way as weeded titles.