Weeding policies and procedures ought be a direct corollary to selection policies, whether for the circulating or reference collections. The reasons that titles or items are weeded ought be because they no longer fit the criteria that put them into the reference collection in the first place. Library materials are generally put into reference collections for one or both of two reasons.

First, the content is of a form or value that precludes general circulation. Secondly, the content is such that constant, immediate access is desirable: were it to circulate to one patron, it would be immediately missed by many others. Certain categories of materials go into reference collections, I think, because their form of content lends itself to a non-circulating status. Tables of formulae, statistical data, collations of "facts" are usually put into reference collections because they do not lend themselves to linear reading. No one generally sits down to read a CRC Manual of Physics and Chemistry, for example. It generally enough to refer to very specific pieces of data from such sources. Other titles go into reference collections because of their completeness and authority: encyclopedias, both general and specialized fit this category. So also do specialized collections of a variety of types: literary explication, collections of film reviews, collected biographies, collections of case law, tax law and human resources legal services are other examples. Generally, the information needed by any one user is such a small portion of the whole that it is not efficient to circulate the material, and the coverage is so extensive that several users with different information needs can be satisfied by using the same resource. At Ingram Library, for example, we have several collections of literary criticism: we know that every semester students will be given assignments that call on this material, and if, indeed, every book by or about Jamaica Kincaid is checked out, some students will still be able to fulfill their assignments with materials found in reference. Additionally, accounting students need to have access to the latest legal decisions regarding tax law, but any one student's requirement will be a minuscule portion of any volume of the codes. In these circumstances, reference collections serve the purpose of general course reserves. Finally, a whole category of materials generally ends up in reference because the content is bibliographical in nature: indexes and bibliographies are ready examples of this type of material. Since they offer a framework for using the circulating collection more effectively, they are generally kept in reference for consultation. While some general indexes are common in all libraries (to the New York Times or the Atlanta Journal/Constitution, for example), in academic collections it is not uncommon to have fairly specialized indexes to periodical literature: Biological Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts, America:History and Life are fairly common examples that, I suspect, are almost always kept in reference collections.

Electronic resources, to my thinking, seriously undermine the accessibility factors that cause library materials to be placed in reference. If multiple users can access the same source (from locations in or out of the library), it really makes no sense to "reserve" these materials in the reference collection. Many items are placed in reference because of a "scarcity" of access. Electronic versions of these materials generally do away with that scarcity. While the "virtual" nature of the materials ironically means that while they are no longer reserved in reference collections, they aren't really put anywhere else, either. They are available for electronic circulation, however, to anyone that needs them. Books in Print or Ulrich's International Periodical Directory may therefore be in use by patrons all over (and off) a campus, and still be available to the librarian assisting a patron at the reference desk. Subscription to the Lexis/Nexis service means, to a certain extent, that the United States Supreme Court Reports, in its entirety, is available to all patrons, even those only needing one case. Electronic access to the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology means that there is little necessity to "reserve" that title in reference.

The title of this program is, however, weeding reference: thus far, I have only discussed replacing one set of materials with electronic counterparts. Given electronic resources generally, are there materials normally placed in reference that we simply don't need any longer? And, given GALILEO resources specifically, are there materials which we can give up individual ownership of? I believe the answer to both questions is yes. There are, undoubtedly, sacred cows: titles we simply cannot think of doing without. While individual titles may not account for very much money, a concerted and determined weeding project will free significant funds to provide greater depth to the circulating collection in accordance with our collection development policies. Mabel and I will propose specific scenarios/titles that we hope will stimulate discussion, but the following categories indicate some general directions I think all of us should have already gone.

• Directories: telephone, publishers, manufacturers
• Career information
• College catalogs
• Dictionaries, language and specialized
• Concordances
• Collected materials on specific topics (e.g., literary criticism)
• Periodical indexes
• Annual (or nearly so) compilations of facts or statistics
• Government documents of all types

Reference Weeding Scenarios

What do you do in these situations?

Scenario 1: Your library has microfilm for a resource back to 1985 and you have the same resource via an Internet subscription 1994 to date. You have sporadic requests for the older microfilm and customers are absolutely delighted when you can fax the older information from Document Delivery, but the instances are beginning to occur only a few times a year. . . . To complicate matters, the reader-printer is getting very old and needs to be replaced. What to do?

Scenario 2: Books in Print is available in two formats from GALILEO; Ulrich's is included in the free web service at http://www.publist.com. Does your library still subscribe to these titles? Why or why not?

Scenario 3: What sources do you feel are critical to have in print to prepare for times when the Internet may be excessively slow or down? Or shall we just close for a while? What do you think?

Scenario 4: What changes did you make to your Gale publications subscriptions when Gale was included in GALILEO? What changes did you make when the Gale subscription was cancelled?

Scenario 5: You previously had Thomas Register in print. Now that it is available online, you have cancelled the print, but then you realize that while general information is free, to get all the information customers are charged a fee. What to do?

Scenario 6: Since the Encyclopedia Britannica is available online, how many encyclopedia sets do you purchase? How often do you update those titles? Is this a change? Why or why not?

Scenario 7: Since there are a number of places where government information is available freely online, do you still subscribe or collect: Statistical Abstract? Congressional Quarterly? Some version of Supreme Court Reports? Economic Report of the President? Budget of the United States Government? Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance? Why or why not?

Scenario 8: Many government publications formerly provided in print are now available only online, but some customers are frustrated as they browse the catalog and the old standby is not listed. Are you cataloging Websites, linking from online pathfinders, or linking from MARC records of other print resources with similar topics?

Scenario 9: You have a feeling that a print Reference resources is not being used often. Do you have ways to determine use of non-circulating materials?

Scenario 10: Do you still collect telephone books? Company annual reports? College catalogs? Why, or why not.

Scenario 11: The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 17th edition is available free, online. Do you still subscribe to it or other medical dictionaries? Why or why not?

Scenario 12: . Since the Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection "contains 2498 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period" have you cancelled (or would you) any literary criticism collections (e.g., Magill's, Gale press publications). Why or why not?

Scenario 13: Most of the Wilson indexes are available on GALILEO; The New York Times is indexed in LEXIS/NEXIS. Additionally, the ProQuest and Ebsco databases have considerable subject searching capabilities. Do you still subscribe to the same Wilson titles you did before GALILEO became available? Why or why not?

Presented October 22, 1999 at the Georgia COMO conference (Georgia Library Association, Reference Services Interest Group), Jekyll Island by Mark McManus (with additional material by Mabel Anne Kincheloe).