Deselection Policy

Deselection of Materials

The deselecting, or weeding, of individual library materials is an essential process in the management of library collections. Deselection is the process of taking outdated and obsolete resources out of the Dupré Library's collection. Items are considered for deselection on an item-by-item basis in accordance with this policy, the library’s Collection Development Policy, and the library’s overall mission and goals. This policy applies to the general collection. Other specialized areas or collections of the Library may develop policies.

1. A schedule for deselection will be determined by the Collection Development Librarian, in consultation with the Assistant Dean of Technical Services and the Associate Dean of Dupré Library, with approval by the Dean of the Libraries. A schedule based on the Library of Congress classification areas. When appropriate, the faculty department liaison will consult in subject areas. The following individuals will be involved in the deselection decision process:
   • The Departmental Librarian for a particular subject area or discipline in consultation with the Collection Development Librarian
   • Faculty departmental liaisons for input and given full consideration. When appropriate, consulting an invited faculty representative of a particular subject area or discipline.
   • Other library faculty with subject knowledge or expertise relevant to the materials under review
   • The Rare Books Archivist to review items with inscriptions by well-known authors, limited editions, other considerations of intrinsic value, and items printed before 1900
   • The Head of U.S. Government Information/Depository Coordinator will be referred all U.S. Government Depository publications considered for deselection and will review for disposition in accordance with GPO Federal Depository Library Program requirements and the library's U.S. Government Documents Discard Policy.
   • The Collection Development Librarian has final authority over items for deselection in consultation with the Assistant Dean of Technical Services and/or the Dean of Libraries if there is a dispute.
2. A combination of the following criteria is the basis for decisions to deselect specific works:
   • Age: An item containing outdated or obsolete data
   • Condition: Items in a state of disrepair that are beyond reasonable preservation efforts
   • Duplication: The library’s policy is to retain a single copy of any specific title or edition, although the popularity of an author, title or subject matter may also warrant the retention of duplicate or multiple copies of an item.
   • Use: Withdrawal consideration for items that have not circulated for twenty or more years (This criterion will be used selectively as tracking in-house use is not currently done)
   • Format: Items in formats that do not adhere to the current Collection Development policy
3. Serials deselection: Criteria for the deselection of print serials titles include the physical state of each item, the relevancy of the subject area to the University’s research and teaching needs, the scope and length of each subscription run, and the existence of a reliable replication of the title in another format (e.g., electronic access).

Discard

Items deselected will be removed from the shelf and from the catalog. Items will be recycled where appropriate.

[ Last Revised on May 9, 2023 ]