The  paper  deals  with  the  need  of  guidelines  and  benefits  of  evaluation  collection  in  Academic

Librarie

Joshi, A.V.

Konnur, P.V.

ePrints@Bangalore University

      www.IndianJournals.com            Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale     Downloaded From IP - 14.139.155.11 on dated 1-Jul-2016Pearl 70Evaluation of Collection in Academic Libraries :  Need of  TodayDr.P.V.Konnur*Smt A.N.Joshi **ABSTRACT:The paper deals with the need of guidelines and benefits of evaluation collection in AcademicLibrariesIntroduction:Over the years, the academic institutionshave nurtured the appetite of the students andteachers for information through an institutioncalled ‘The Library.’ The library has been cateringto the needs of academic community all theseyears. But with passing time the rapid strides ininformation generation has resulted ininformation explosion. Correspondingly thelibrary collection has also grown but accordinglythe space to keep them has not increased in thelibrary especially the academic libraries. Hence,to meet the changing needs of its clientele, theselibraries have to procure the Space to the varieddocuments to keep in pace with fast developmentsof various academic fields.Collection Evaluation:Collection Evaluation can be defined as,the evaluation of the existing collection andwithdrawal of unused items making the collectiona working collection which will satisfy most ofthe demands of the users.Need for collection evaluation:The library collection has become acombination of various documents some in non-print and others in print form. The collection isnot only varied in subject content and form butalso in physical condition. Some are brand new,* University Librarian, Bangalore University, Jnana Bharathi, Bangalore-6.**Assistant Librarian. Prof.S.S.Basavanal Library, Karnatak University, Dharwad.some heavy used, some less used while someothers are ragged, smudged, obsolete and unusedbooks. Coupled with this the steady increase inthe collection has made it difficult for the librariansto maintain their collection. Many a times evengood books go unnoticed in racks of such books.The only way to keep the required, current andmost sought after information easily available tothe users is by periodically evaluating the collectionof the library.Collection Evaluation Policy:Collection Evaluation can be said to be themost effective tool to make the collection easier tomaintain for the librarians and helpful to the usersto search the information. It should be an integralpart of library activities to make the collection aworking collection. During the process ofcollection evaluation librarian will come acrossdifferent kinds of books which have to be dealtdifferently. The librarians need a collectionevaluation policy to substantiate their viewsregarding the destination of various weeded  outmaterials.In an academic setup for drafting such apolicy, awareness of the needs of the usercommunity makes easier to decide what shouldor should not remain in the collection. The policyshould ensure the institutions vision, mission, roleand polices. It should be on a positive note      www.IndianJournals.com            Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale     Downloaded From IP - 14.139.155.11 on dated 1-Jul-2016Vol 2, No. 2, April - June - 2008 71emphasizing the merits of evaluation and alsowhat is to be done of the weeded material.The purpose of the policy should be toguide the libraries professional staff and to informthe users about the principles on which evaluationof the materials is made. The policy should bepassed in the Library Advisory board or any othersimilar body, which formulates the rules andregulations of the library.What to weed:Once the librarian has decided to make hiscollection slimmer by evaluating the existingcollection, he has to decide upon what to weed.Guidelines regarding this given by The CREWmethod of evaluation developed by Joseph P. Segal,would be beneficial to the librarian to under takethe task smoothly. The CREW method is supposedto be the best method for balancing the collection.CREW stands forC-ContinuesR-ReviewE-EvaluationW-WeedAS the acronym suggests, the evaluationof the collection should be a continuous processand after evaluation what is found to be not usefulmust be weeded out. It proposed MUSTIE anacronym, which indicates the item to be deselectedfrom the collection. The acronym stands for:M-MisleadingU-UglyS-Superceded by new editionT-TrivalI-IrrelevantE-ElsewhereM-Misleading, when the information in the bookis misleading or factually inaccurate. Datedreference sources like dictionaries andencyclopedias will not be including new wordsor the same words might be having differentmeaning in older version, but as our language isconstantly changing older sources will not be ofmuch help. Incorrect information is often worsethan no information.U-Ugly-Those books, which are tornbeyond repair, the pages turned yellow with age,with brittle paper and with broken bindings. Thepresence of such books makes the user reluctantto browse.Destination of the weeded out material:Streamlining of the collection is important.But more important is proper destination of theweeded out collection. If this is not done, thepurpose of collection evaluation is not served.Hence, before physically weeding out the books,the labels are to be put on the books indicatingwhere the books should go like binding,discarding, recycling etc should suitably be fixedon the concerned books.Once the physical removal of the items isover, they have to be separated as per the labelsaffixed on them as binding, replacement,reconsideration etc. The destination of the saiddocument should be highlighted in the cardcatalogue. The possible destinations could be1) Offsite shelving: The less used but usefulbooks can be shelved offsite, which saves thespace of the library and the books will alsobe available as and when required.2) Rebinding: The cost of rebinding is to becompared with the purchase of a new book,if the new edition is inexpensive and moreappealing, rebinding may be dropped.3) Replacement: If it is felt that the book wouldbe better used if the classification number ischanged. In this era of interdisciplinarystudies, the book may be better used if placedalong with books of other subject. Suitablechanges in the call number and catalog mustbe made and the book must be reshuffled.Konnur, Smt A.N.Joshi      www.IndianJournals.com            Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale     Downloaded From IP - 14.139.155.11 on dated 1-Jul-2016Pearl 724) Sell: an exhibition of the weeded out bookscan be arranged for sale and interestedstudents and teachers can buy these books.5) Exchange: Some of the weeded out books maynot be useful in the university libraries butmay be useful in public libraries. Such bookscan be exchanged for more useful books.6) Donations: Books in good condition, ifsuitable, can be donated to homes for the agedor nursing homes.7) Recycle: The library must contact theagencies that take up recycling of paper andsend the weeded out books to them to avoidwastage of paper.8) Destroy: Though this may be considered asthe last alternative, but those books whichcannot be disposed by any method have tobe essentially destroyed according to themethod mentioned in the collectionevaluation policy.The process of collection evaluation does notend here. Only when the weeded out titles aresuitably changed in the library holding databaseand the union - catalog, the process is said to becompleted.Benefits of collection Evaluation:The Regular collection evaluation helps  :1) For easy maintenance: A slimmer collectionis always easy to maintain as it facilitatescleaning, fast shelf reading and quick mergingfor library staff and enables the user for clearbrowsing.2) To Save space: Most of the university librariesface space constraints and often old andunused books, which must have been beprocured during the establishment of thesetup are still on the shelves in many academiclibraries. Thereby the users have to hunt forthe required information in a clutter ofragged and dated books. It is important tokeep the best things in the library for; nolibrary is large enough to keep everything.Withdrawal of dead, useless and unnecessarymaterials will make room for more circulatedand sought after books.3) To improve the quality of the collection: Inan academic set up it is necessary that thecollection is up-to-date, keeping in view ofthe rapidly changing information in theworld of scientific and technical literature, thereliable and up-to-date resources not onlyenhance the quality of the collection but alsoelevates  the reputation of the library.4) To separate the core collection: It is a factthat some of the books are frequently referredwhile some are not. These frequently soughtbooks meet most of the users needs. Thesematerials constitute the core collection of thelibrary. By weeding, the core collection willautomatically be separated. This enables theuser for quick finding  information by savinghis time avoiding going through rows ofobsolete, inaccurate and dated materials.5) Feed back for selection: The evaluation of thecollection throws light on the strengths andweakness of the collection. This will help infurther building of the collection. Thosesubjects which have to be strengthened canbe allocated with a larger share of the budget.The teachers can be informed and the gapsin the collection can be filled by theirrecommendation for purchase of books.6) To increase the budget: The results ofevaluation give justification for investment inparticular document. The collection lookslean after weeding, it will present a bettercase for budget increase as the empty spaceson the shelves is the visual evidence for theprovider of the funds. Statistics can be shownfor procurement of most highly used books.7) For repair and replacement: The periodicweeding out will separate those materialsthat are in need of repair. Those, which arein demand, can be repaired and replaced onthe shelves, there by increasing the life of thebooks.Evaluation of Collection in Academic Libraries      www.IndianJournals.com            Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale     Downloaded From IP - 14.139.155.11 on dated 1-Jul-2016Vol 2, No. 2, April - June - 2008 73Conclusion:Obsolescence, damages, space limitations,normal wear and tear make the discarding ofmaterials a continuing process. In fact evaluationshould begin at the acquisition level, the librarianshould be selective while procuring books andaccepting the gifts. If the gifted item does not meetthe selection criteria, it should not be accepted asit would be merely occupying space on the shelves.The academic institutions are built with somespecific goals the library collection should depictthem.It is the librarian who should take initiativefor the process of evaluation, as it is he and hisstaff who have to make room for the newinclusions of the library. Hardly few academiclibraries evaluate their collection periodically. Thereason for which may be, the librarians have theirown limitations like shortage of staff, consumptionof a lot of time which will affect their routineservices, a feeling that during weeding somevaluable information may be thrown out whichmay be needed by the users after some time. But itis time the librarians overcame these limitationsas the weeded out collection if found useful canbe stored at an offsite facility, where the less usedcollection can be stored compactly and makeavailable to the users as and when necessary. Thecollection will also be better maintained undercontrolled environmental factors at the offsitefacility.With the advent of e-journals, open sourcesand the availability of information in CDs thespace constraint in the libraries is reduced to someextent.  Evaluating the collection allows thelibraries to know whether future collectiondevelopment can be filled most effectively withprint or electronic resources.The whole process of collection evaluationwill be fruitful only when undertakenperiodically, just as a garden which is prunedregularly is a pleasure to one’s eyes so also aperiodically evaluated library collection is a delightto its users.References:1. Berry J.N. Making space for read weeds. Libr J. 1997, May15,122(9), 62. Stuart R.D. Weeding of library materials politics andpolicies Collection Management 1985:7(2),47-58.3. Roy L. Does Weeding increase circulation? CollectionManagement 1988,10(1-2),141-156.4. Weeding the library Media center collections. Availableonline at http://www.iema-ia.org/IEMA209.html5. Emanuel M. Collection evaluation in 180 hours CollectionManagement 2002 27(3/4) pp.79-93.6. smith E Assessing Collection usefulness on investigationof library ownership of resources graduate students useCollege & Research Libraries 2003, 64(5), pp.344-55.7. Agee J and Antrim P Stone buildings, cyberspae and thelibrary user New Library World 2003 104(1194/1195)pp.474-808. Rowley G & Black W.K Consequences of change: theevaluation of collection development Collection Building1996, 15(2) pp.22-30.Konnur, Smt A.N.JoshiUseful WebsitesE-Newshttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/enews/index.htmlE-Imageshttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/eimages/index.htmlE-Musichttp://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/ldpd/app/rti/results?hl=1&ps=1&sb= 1&ss=1&qt= 6&q=&hpp= 100000&hk= -1&rt=srData/GIShttp://www.columbia.edu/acis/eds/

Evaluation of Collection in Academic Libraries :

  Need of  Today

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Evaluation of Collection in Academic Libraries : Need of Today

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