I've worked in 4 different libraries in my career and have faced this issue
in every one of them. It's not been a consideration of online or not online.
It's always been prompted by space considerations. Whether something's
online or not, if you have the space, you aren't faced with the dilemma of
how to deal with the need for physical expansion.
That's one issue. The other issue is combating the idea that with
"everything online," the library doesn't need as much space. The
administration will come and take it if they need more office space,
classroom space, meeting room space, etc. Sometimes, they couch it in
euphemistic terms - department X and the library need to work together, so
proximity is great progress. Ultimately, the library loses physical space.
So if it's not a space issue, per se, it's a space issue coupled with
campus/department politics.
If you don't want to comply, you need to find a compelling reason. If you
don't have a compelling reason, you might as well give in graciously and make
it work - otherwise, you will not be considered a team player and you will
lose credibility.
This, of course, may have nothing to do with collection or library needs. It
is, however, what I've dealt with and I consider it the reality of our
library lives.
Aline
Aline Soules
Cal State East Bay
510-885-4596
aline.soules@csueastbay.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Connie Foster
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:39 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Disposal of Abstracts and Indexes
Is anyone "letting go" of print indexes and abstracts for space and
online considerations? Ex., sociological abstracts or others. Some
librarians have a reluctance to discard for fear of cancelling online
products "in the future" and not having a fall-back and, thus, would
move to storage.
Any opinions and experiences you have are appreciated. This could also
extend to the JSTOR/MUSE type titles and what criteria you use to decide
what goes away permanently, what goes to storage and what stays within
reach.
Connie Foster
--
*****************************************************************************
*************
Connie Foster, Professor and Head, Dept. of Library Technical Services
Western Kentucky University Libraries
Editor, Serials Review
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11067
Bowling Green KY 42101-1067
connie.foster@wku.edu tel:270-745-6151 fax:270-745-3958
"Creating Information Possibilities"
TopSCHOLAR(tm) http://digitalcommons.wku.edu
Serials Review electronic submission for authors:
http://ees.elsevier.com/serrev
http://sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00987913
