To what extent has the library implemented a regular
deaccession/weeding cycle? Should we?
What are we already doing related to the question?
If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or
expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our
future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker
series?
Deaccession is very difficult in a research library because of the range of years over which research may take place and types of research. I think it may be beneficial to deaccession additional copies of materials to make space for more volumes, but preserving older material and preserving access is an important role of the academic research library. I often wrote papers as an undergraduate (often period architecture or fashion research) which relied on books others had not checked out in 20-80 years. These are frequently titles that are not easily obtained elsewhere.
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