2018 Charleston Library Conference

Libraries often have large legacy print collections that occupy significant space and are frequently considered the heart of the library. In the ever growing environment of e-resources, many libraries are rethinking print collections and attempting to make informed decisions on what to keep and what to discard. But how do you decide? Listen as two university libraries discuss how they used data to improve retention decisions. This session will detail how a small but scrappy group of Iowa State librarians and library staff used Greenglass to manage the leviathan that is a large-scale library project, withdrawing approximately 138,000 items in just under three years. They didn’t examine every item nor consult every possible stakeholder – instead they used librarian expertise to determine a threshold of what to automatically keep and automatically weed; subject specialists then examined the rest of the data. Learn how they worked with Greenglass staff to get the data they needed. In addition, learn how librarians at Fresno State collect and analyze local usage data for deselection. They will discuss how data is gathered and how it is used to weed a variety of different collections, including reference, bound journals, microforms, and (of course!) the main book stacks. Learn about the role of data in weeding local and consortial collections. This session will be helpful for libraries who are contemplating a large-scale weeding project and how Greenglass and/or local data can help.