Let's Get Rid of It:

A recent survey revealed that very few libraries were doing any significant weeding in their reference collections. Yet weeding the reference collection may have as great an impact on the library as a whole as weeding the general collection. This article discusses some of the author's experiences weeding the reference collection at Georgia State University and the ways in which general weeding concerns, such as planning for staffing, establishing criteria, and formulating selection policies, may be applied to the reference collection. Reference materials differ in nature and use from materials in the general collection, and this article analyses the impact these differences have on the weeding effort.