Collection Management (CM) in small to medium-sized academic libraries Laura Turner Head of Technical Services Copley Library / University of San Diego

My CM experience . . . USD – standing order cancellation project, format weeding Elsewhere – massive weeding effort (books and journals) in a science library; format weeding projects; duplicate copy weeding tasks; govdocs annual purge My experience in weeding e-content is limited to print / ejournal overlap No previous consortial experience with the process, but I’m dabbling in that idea with SCELC

“Re-shaping the library collection” Bob Kieft, Occidental College Who’s crafting the plan? Target your objectives To reallocate space? To remove outdated material (content or format)? Target your stakeholders Users Faculty Students Community Librarians!!!

Types of “re-shaping” Automatic Facilitated Frequently one-off applications tied to the collection development policy (bypass stakeholders??) Create lists easily from the library catalog/Excel Examples include weeding duplicate copies/duplicate formats/govdocs purge Usually involves ongoing or larger projects and stakeholder feedback Can use the library catalog /Excel for retrieving data and providing a user-friendly display Examples include regular weeding in subject areas and massive weeding projects for space issues

Tools to Identify Material Methods and Tools Methods of Identifying Material Tools to Identify Material Rules of thumb Is MUSTIE still used? Access Services Subject Specialists/Faculty Library Catalog Bib-level information Call number Publication Year Format Item-level information Circulation data Copy data Location Circa / Inventory adaptations Excel - To crunch and beautify the results!

Example – Results from Create Lists / Encouraging Librarian Collaboration within Excel Call number for subject association Total checkouts of item Hyperlinked title to Webpac record Colored librarian tabs for collaboration Publisher/Publication Year

Recordkeeping Who should, and why do it? How? Even for small efforts? In the catalog? In spreadsheets? Both? Even for small efforts?

USD’s permanent recordkeeping in the catalog – at the item level Suppress from display

USD’s permanent recordkeeping in the catalog – at the bib and item level

Internal Note regarding withdrawal USD’s permanent recordkeeping in the catalog – at the bib and item level (cont’d) Internal Note regarding withdrawal

Disposition of Materials Your options depend on your institution – first ask that question What I’ve tried: Annual library booksale Donating to public library Better World Books / bLogistics Recycling (my current option) ACT (Missouri) and GreenDisk for VHS recycling (but now this activity is becoming a “local” effort)

Caveats when “re-shaping” your collection Identify last copy / scarce copy (this is difficult to do during massive weeding projects without appropriate tools or adequate staff) If you regularly add gifts to the collection, consider recent gift additions when using pub. date and circ. data to weed Involve stake-holders but manage the process (requires thinking it through very carefully) Match staff talents with appropriate weeding activities (there’s more than one way that they can be involved)

THANKS!!! lauraturner@sandiego.edu

Appendix: How to prepare a hyperlinked Excel report to access records through the OPAC display (step-by-step)

Creating Attractive, User-friendly Reports in Excel from Millennium/Sierra Learn the “ins” and “outs” of Create Lists Be careful of what you ask for – even basic oversights in Create Lists can produce messy or incorrect results Keep separate Excel files saved of your raw data and your cleaned-up data Take the time to do (or delegate) careful cleanup of your Excel file

Excel Reports (cont’d) Point your audience to the OPAC record (be sure to export corresponding bib record numbers if you export titles) Otherwise, only include what they need or want to see Make it interactive and collaborative; use color to convey information

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report From Create Lists, store Record type as Bibliographic and search Range of records fitting your criteria (call number area, location, etc.) Export bibliographic record number and title (245|a) from Millennium/Sierra to Excel (can export other fields as well for future reference) Strip out bib record number check digit and hyperlink title with bib record number for OPAC access (can do manually or program an Excel VBA macro to do this)

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Opening the Create Lists File in Excel

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Raw data in Excel

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: A little bit cleaned up

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Add a column and strip the bib record number check digit

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Add a column and “paste-special-value”

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Add hyperlink to the value

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Add hyperlink formula to pull the link to the title

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Hide all columns except the hyperlinked title

Example – Preparing a Hyperlinked Weeding Report: Click on a hyperlinked title to access the OPAC