Do you have the need … to WEED?
Let collection development products from Bowker help.
Academic libraries face this task on a regular basis, collection development policies are built on this, and there are many good reasons why :
- To ensure currency and relevance – purge outdated materials
- To protect or discard worn items
- To provide access to the right titles per core recommendations
- To increase shelf space for print titles or make way for the new learning commons
- Or to determine and take action on gaps in the collection
But weeding is hard and downright emotional at times, not to mention costly in time and money. With the right toolset from Bowker, weeding projects can be streamlined, decision time capped, resources and budget saved and collections, developed!
Let Bowker’s Resources for College Libraries (RCL) and Book Analysis System (BBAS) help.
Resources for College Libraries (RCL) is the essential bibliography for four-year undergraduate institutions. It covers 70,000 works across 61 curriculum-specific subject headings, offering a recommended core collection for all academic libraries.
When weeding, staff can consult RCL to ensure that core items on the chopping block are kept or replaced with newer copies. Within RCL, all titles are part of core collections, so there’s no chance of discarding a core title. Also, many records in RCL provide Choice reviews or Outstanding Academic Title (OAT) designations to aid in the decision to keep or discard.
Bowker Book Analysis System (BBAS) is a powerful collection-analysis tool essential for the academic collection librarian to electronically compare a library’s collection against RCL.
BBAS is perfect for large-scale weeding projects. This customizable, self-service analysis tool will eliminate the need for manual comparison and reduce human error associated with one-by-one title look-ups. Leveraging the enriched data in Books In Print®, BBAS enables the most comprehensive look at your collection because your collection will be compared to all editions and formats of each title. Simply upload your list of discards to BBAS, and the resulting reports will show percentages and statistics of items that are and are not core, as well as a clear indication of titles in each case.