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Collection Development & Management

CSI Library De-Selection Guidelines

The weeding policy of the CSI library is based on the weeding policy of CUNY's Office of Library Services and from criteria outlined in the deselection section of CSI library's Collection Development Policy

Weeding Policy

An active and continuous deaccession policy is integral to maintaining a viable and current library collection. Deselected or weeded items should be offered to largesse (e.g., CUNY community), to potential departments/faculty members or to organizations such as Better World Books. Overall, most subject-area resources can be weeded based on similar subject-area standards regardless of format. Specific considerations, due to format, will also be discussed below.

Deselecting is completed by the subject area librarian, in conjunction with the discipline-based faculty for the subject at hand. Deselection or weeding should be conducted on an ongoing basis, annual or biannually, in circulating stacks, reference areas and reserves. For different physical formats or other locations, such as Faculty Display, Media, etc., deselection (removal from the collections) will be conducted as needed as part of separate projects. Currently, but subject to change at the discretion of the Committee, the deaccessioning of materials will be completed without disruption to students and other services. In general, the weeding of circulating resources should be conducted during summer sessions, reference resources reviewed during winter intersessions, and reserves at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.

The deselection of digital items is as integral to deaccessioning as the deselection of print items. The deselection of digital items is generally conducted through technical services or through batch deletions through the Office of Library Services though help-desk requests on an ongoing basis. In general, weeding of subscription electronic resources through non-renewal is under the coordination of the Electronic Resources Librarian, the Acquisitions Librarian, and the Chief librarian, in consultation with the Collection Development Committee or subject librarians, and in consideration of the Library budget. The Collection Development Committee will only periodically review electronic resources, at their discretion.

All major de-accession projects must be approved by the Collection Development Committee with the consultation of the heads of the various units, including Access Services, Technical Services and Administration. All librarians are responsible for weeding their subject areas, within circulation and reference, but should not move outside their areas of responsibility unless reassigned. Unassigned or reassigned areas must be approved by the Collection Development Committee and the Chief Librarian, in consultation with the said subject-librarian.

All physical weeding, shifting and stack maintenance will be under the supervision of the Coordinator of Access Services (or Library Dean) in conjunction with another assigned member of the Collection Development Committee. Any shifting that becomes is necessary will be coordinated exclusively by the Coordinator of Access Services (Circulation/Reserves).

Format Guidelines for Deaccession:
Physical Items
● The physical condition of the item when not easily repairable or need to be replaced.
● Outdated in terms of age of content/information, especially for demographic, scientific and/ or
reference materials.
● Copies of material no longer needed/extra copies are not circulating.
● When newer editions or updated publications are available, significantly older editions will be
weeded.
● Materials no longer of interest nor supported by the current curriculum at the college.
● Items that can no longer be supported by current technology.
● Items that do not support the overall academic objectives of the collection.
Digital Items
● High cost in conjunction with low patron usage.
● Outdated in terms of age of content/information, especially for demographic,
● scientific and/ or reference materials.
● Materials no longer of interest nor supported by the current curriculum at the college.
● Items that can no longer be supported by current technology.
● Interface not user friendly/accessible.
● Items that do not support the overall academic objectives of the collection.
● Digital Rights Management restrictions that make the item difficult for patrons to use
across multiple devices.
● Accessibility and security of the item (discussed below).

Weeding