---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 10:06:46 -0500
From: Steve Black <blacks@MAIL.STROSE.EDU>
Subject: Re: When do periodicals become outdated?

If you plot the citation of journals in a discipline, the age of cited
articles rises quickly from 1 year old (or less) to a peak rate at 3-5
years, then there's a gradually declining rate of use of older and older
articles.  Some disciplines have a high spike of use and a relatively quick
drop-off, and others have a flatter curve.

Either way, when you weed, you're cutting off the tail, which represents
some percentage of potential uses.  The only way to plot the curve and
estimate what date marks, say, 10% of use is to have accurate use data on
the individual volume level.  Good luck to anyone who tries to undertake
that with print volumes!

To make matters worse, as they always warn about mutual funds, current
results can't predict future performance.  For example, one new professor
with a different emphasis can dramatically change use patterns.

Weeding is one of the most difficult jobs in librarianship, IMHO.  That may
sound nuts to anyone who hasn't gone through the process, and perhaps like a
truism to anyone who has.

We have a storage room for some back issues, and we keep a tally of what's
being used.  Over the years, we can then tell what's gotten zero use.  Those
zero use titles then become the weeding candidates.  If it is at all
possible, I'd suggest pushing for some kind of storage of the journals that
you need to weed.  That may not be possible, but if you can pull it off,
then you can keep records of what's being requested from storage, and then
have a much better idea after 3,5, 10 years what can be weeded.

Finally, for every journal you weed that a patron wants, there are probably
10 that you never had in the first place.  So there's really no sense in
agonizing over wrong guesses.  Do what you have to do, make your best
educated guesses, and it will work out.

Steve Black
Reference, Instruction, and Serials Librarian
Neil Hellman Library
The College of Saint Rose
392 Western Ave.
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 458-5494
blacks@mail.strose.edu