| How
to Feed and Weed Your Collection |
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| What
is collection development?
 As
you weed your collection, you will also want to purchase
new, up-to-date, more relevant items. Collection development
refers to an ongoing plan not only to weed, but to locate,
select, acquire, organize, access or otherwise make available
the resources your students and your teachers need.
The
responsibility is yours. . .
You
must accept the responsibility for maintaining your media
collection. You are the professional responsible for selecting
the best materials to add to your collection as well as
for weeding. SUNLINK is just another of the many tools that
are available for you to use in the process of collection
development. SUNLINK is a union database of K-12 library
media items, not a list of recommended titles. Use standard
collection development criteria (accuracy, appeal, appropriateness,
currency, relevance, format, need, curriculum, etc.) in
making a final decision to add or delete an item to your
collection.
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| How
SUNLINK Can Help |
While
there are some unique needs for curriculum materials in
every school, there are generally trends and issues which
are of statewide or even national interest.  By
using SUNLINK, you can see what others in the state have
purchased. If you have an occasional need for an item, you
can borrow it through SUNLINK's interlibrary loan system.
How
SUNLINK can help with weeding. . .
- If
your media center is automated, print a list of all titles
in the targeted subject area. Include dates of publication
to assist in identifying out-of-date titles.
- If
your media center is not automated, check the appropriate
Dewey ranges in your card catalog.
- After
evaluating the obvious weeding targets from your listing
by comparing the title content with the publication dates
(such as Modern leaders in Africa, published in 1978),
review the subject area by visiting your shelving areas
in the suggested Dewey ranges in Weed of the Month for
that topic. Apply general and specific weeding criteria
to all those titles on the shelves to find any that should
be weeded.
- As
a SUNLINK school, you can also use the SUNLINK "Age
of Collection" (http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/publications/appendix.html)
feature to provide additional support for your weeding
activities by comparing your overall collection age with
others in your district or the state averages.
- Remember
that the K-12 school SUNLINK's Top 500 is
also a tool to use for collection development.
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