One of my librarian responsibilities is collection management; in library speak, this is often called “weeding.” What is weeding, you ask? It’s continually evaluating the existing collections for materials that are (among other things): out of date, damaged, and/or containing material unnecessarily duplicated elsewhere in the collection. It’s also a great way to fill gaps of information in the collection.
This means going shelf by shelf, book by book, and looking at every single one. It’s an ongoing process that never ends because, once all collections have been analyzed–a process that can take a year or more depending on size–it’s time to start all over again to keep the collections fresh, organized, and relevant.
I have come across books that are not in the online catalog, that belong to other libraries, or–and this is the fun part–that contain little treasures from days gone by.
~Maria
*A big thank you to awesome blogger, Amy, for assistance (and inspiration!) with this post.
Eleventh Stack 