Weeding: It's Not an Option (LE@D)

A self-paced, web-delivered course offered by LE@D - University of North Texas. You will need an account with WebJunction to register for this course. The WebJunction account is free; the LE@D course costs $40. LE@D's course description follows:

Description:

During the early history of libraries, it was not anticipated that, at some future point in time, libraries would actually willingly wish to divest themselves of acquired items. However, with the information explosion, it became increasingly obvious to all types of libraries that a new philosophy concerning the management of information and literature in all formats was essential.

This course will discuss the reasons for weeding, the criteria for weeding, the steps in the weeding process, and then help you design a weeding project.

Objectives

By participating in this course, you will learn and practice these objectives:

• Understand the rationale for weeding materials from the collection
• Trace the library history that has resulted in changes to our weeding practices
• Develop appropriate weeding criteria to be used in various segments of the collection
• Identify appropriate tools to aid in the weeding process
• Practice the identification of materials for withdrawal from existing collections
• Consider the practical issues related to the out-processing of materials selected for weeding
• Design a weeding process and project to be implemented in your library
• Gain confidence in your weeding decision-making