Timely in light of the Urbana scandal now unfolding: online course in weeding

Weeding the Academic Library With Confidence

Instructor: Samantha Hines
Dates: July 1-28, 2013
Credits: 1.5 CEUs
Price: $175

All libraries need some regular weeding, but many of us don’t know where to start. An important but often overlooked part of collection development, deaccessioning materials is a vital way to keep your library’s collection useful for your institution. This four-week, asynchronous online course will provide, through readings and exercises, guidance on how to focus a library’s collection and identify where to prune and what to keep. We will explore how to keep faculty (moderately) happy during the weeding process, and what to do with the downsized materials once the decision to deaccession has been made. Students will develop principles on maintaining a manageable library collection during the course which will guide their institution well into the future, while also learning about the mechanics involved in a weeding project.

Samantha Schmehl Hines received her MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2003. In 2004 she was hired as the Social Science Librarian by the Mansfield Library at The University of Montana-Missoula and is currently the Distance Education Coordinator and Head Librarian for the Missoula College campus of The University of Montana. She writes and presents widely on issues of online library services, information literacy instruction, and library middle management, and is the author of Productivity for Librarians (2010, Chandos).

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