Collection Development - Collection Maintenance

A. Weeding
Weeding is an integral part of collection growth and management. With limited space available for further collection enlargement, a policy of no growth has been put into place. Collection review is done on a rotating basis with the whole collection examined every five years.

A - F year 1
G - J year 2
K - N year 3
P year 4
Q - Z year 5

Criteria for removal from collection shall include:
1. Age
2. Duplication
3. Condition
4. Program changes
5. Use (past circulation record)
6. Faculty judgment as to the usefulness and authoritativeness
7. Titles of little curricular value
8. Titles where information has been superseded or presented in newer, more comprehensive or more accessible formats.

Materials being considered for removal will be checked against Books for College Libraries and other authoritative lists as appropriate; in addition items selected for removal are noted by subject matter and appropriate department(s) are asked to review materials before discarding. Those materials removed are offered at the annual library book sale for purchase; all materials left are discarded.

B. Duplicates

The library does not purchase duplicate copies of a title except in the following situations:
1. As discussed above, two copies of each work published by a UW-Superior faculty member are purchased.
2. Multiple demand and heavy continuous use of individual titles as evidenced by circulation or mending statistics and verifiable patron requests may provide a reason for duplication. In either case, a limit of one extra copy for every 40 students at most will be purchased.

When it is determined that a duplicate copy needs to be purchased the second copy will be of the cheapest possible format except in the case of number 1.

C. Lost Items and Replacements

Resources that are missing, lost, or withdrawn because of wear are not automatically replaced. Such materials are replaced using the following criteria:
1. Importance of the item to the collection
2. Demand for the material
3. Availability
4. Available funding

A search for missing material is conducted for up to one year. Materials not found during that time period are declared lost and replacement is based on the above criteria.

D. Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration

Where preservation of content is more important that the integrity of the physical format, materials are preserved by reinforcing existing bindings and adding covers. Paper copies of most titles are purchased due to much less expensive cost. Some paper covers are reinforced with plastic by the vendor and others are selected to be sent for binding. As much as possible, materials damaged by use, etc., will be repaired in house. Those not amenable to such repair will be reviewed and considered for binding by the State's contractor. Criteria for binding are noted under lost items and replacement.