Posted: Monday, June 22, 2009

June 2009

As part of changes to Library services to the OVC Learning Commons, the Library will be undertaking a weeding project of the fifth floor book collections in the McLaughlin Library. The McLaughlin review and weeding project is being undertaken in order to accommodate the immediate need for space within this library for books that will be transferred from the OVC Learning Commons Library. Periodic collection reviews are an ongoing type of activity undertaken by the Library to alleviate over-crowding and to ensure optimal currency and usefulness of materials to our students and faculty.

Collection Evaluation, Review and Weeding / Disposal Criteria

The evaluation and weeding of the fifth floor will be staged in two phases as outlined below. In each phase, candidate books to be weeded will be identified using the following general criteria:

• Publication date of 1995 or older
• Zero (0) circulations for the last 10 years
• Within identified Library of Congress call number class ranges (Q, R, S, T, U-V)

Using these criteria, the Library will identify titles which can potentially be withdrawn from our active circulating collection in the McLaughlin Library building. Decisions about these titles will be made in accordance with the Tri-University Group (TUG) Preservation of Last Copy Agreement (TLCA), which stipulates that books which the Library has designated for withdrawal from our collections must be evaluated to determine if they are a last copy/uniquely held within the TUG TRELLIS system. If a book is determined to be a "Last Copy", it may be transferred to the TUG Annex storage facility. Books which are designated for withdrawal but which are not unique within TUG (i.e. there is a copy at another TUG library) will be disposed of in accordance with the UG Library Collections Relocation & Withdrawal Policy: http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/services/information_resources/collections_relocation_&_withdrawal.cfm

For all materials designated as TUG Last Copies (e.g. uniquely held books), staff will move the materials to a temporary storage area in the Library's Archival and Special Collections area. Information on all "Last Copy" books will be compiled into lists to be reviewed by both Guelph Librarians and TUG Partner Libraries. All materials that are designated for retention will be sent to the Annex for long term storage.

* The exception to the above criteria shall be where the library has permanent and secure electronic access to an individual book. In such cases, the equivalent print volume will be disposed.

Phase I of the collection weeding will concentrate on call number ranges R and S, where there is an urgency to find space within the R and S call number ranges to accommodate the materials that have been identified for transfer from the OVC facility. All duplicate materials in the R and S call number ranges (held elsewhere in TUG) will be disposed of following the Collections Relocation & Withdrawal Policy. Where books to be relocated are part of a series, consideration will be given to how much of the set will be relocated to the Annex for storage.

Phase II collection weeding will focus on alleviating the remaining crowded areas of the existing collections on fifth floor, focusing on call number ranges Q, T and U-V. For all materials in the Q, T, and U-V ranges, only duplicate materials (held elsewhere in TUG) will be identified for weeding and disposal.

As these materials are not uniquely held Last Copies, they will be disposed of in accordance with the Collections Relocation & Withdrawal Policy.

For further information, please contact:

Scott Gillies
Head, Information Resources & Collections