Guidelines for Selection of Materials for Off-site Shelving

Background & Rationale

Selection of Material

General Criteria

Practical Considerations

Specific Procedures

Items Suitable for Consideration

Items Not Suitable for Consideration

Appendix: Recommendations for handling Rare Books, Special Collections and University Archives Materials

I. Background and Rationale

The Fondren Library has experienced an acute shortage of space in which to house its collections. Although some space-saving measures have been used, the library is now at a point where the existing facility cannot accommodate currently held materials and anticipated acquisitions. Therefore an off-site shelving facility, the Library Service Center, was proposed as a way to economically house important but low-use materials. In addition to relieving the crowded conditions at Fondren, the Library Service Center offers better security and preservation measures for fragile or rare items than can be achieved within the Fondren Library building. Far from being a "first step toward withdrawal/destruction," therefore, the decision to house a volume in the Library Service Center is a commitment to long term retention and preservation.

In order to select the material most appropriate for inclusion in the facility, the library is setting forth the following procedures. The procedures given below are based on standard library practices (e. g, Guide to Review of Library Collections: Preservation, Service, and Withdrawal, Chicago: American Library Association, 1991) and modified to meet our unique needs. To insure that our facility will be state-of-the-art in terms of service and shelving, we have been in contact with the managers of library off-site shelving facilities at Harvard, Brown, the University of Texas at Austin, Yale, and other universities who have successfully implemented such programs.

II. Selection of Material for Off-site Shelving

All disciplines, subjects, and formats of materials in the Fondren Library are subject to review for selection and transfer to the Library Service Center. The subject bibliographer responsible for collection development in a particular discipline is responsible for the selection of materials to be transferred to the off-site shelving facility. Each discipline may have its own requirements for the kinds of material that must be retained on-site. Subject specialists will work with their respective faculty to ensure the least disruption to their important research materials. A guiding principle is that all Library Service Center selection decisions are reversible, and materials selected for off-site shelving may be returned to the collection at Fondren Library whenever the need arises.

A. General Criteria

The overriding principles in selecting material for off-site shelving are use and value to the current curriculum and research needs of Rice University affiliates. These general criteria are applicable for all disciplines, though the specific guidelines may vary from discipline to discipline.

1. User demand for the material, generally indicated by circulation statistics.
2. • Number of copies needed.
3. • User interest and need for superseded or revised texts.
4. • Value of variant editions.
5. • Level of interest in current or retrospective materials.
6. • Artifactual value of the material.
7. • Reference value (i.e., is this something that would normally be used in place for a short period?)
8. • Physical condition of the material (in consideration with preservation, placement, reformatting options, or possible withdrawal).
9. • Availability of the material elsewhere. (Is it available in microform? Is there a digital version?)

B. Practical Considerations

Selection and processing of material for off-site shelving are labor-intensive operations that take a considerable amount of time to complete. Initially, therefore, the librarians will strive to identify groups of low-use collections or materials for transfer. Faculty will be given the opportunity to respond to these selection decisions within a limited time frame. Detailed procedures for the faculty review process will be forthcoming. No medium (e.g., flat files, microforms, archival boxes, etc.) is exempt from consideration. Usage will be determined by statistics from both the online circulation system and from books reshelved after use within the building.

C. Specific Procedures

Selection for off-site shelving will be an ongoing process. Consequently, these procedures will not suffice for every situation that may arise. In such instances, the professional librarians will employ their judgment, based on experience and knowledge.

Materials Suitable for Consideration for Selection and Transfer:

1. Out-of-date materials.
2. Print runs of serial titles which have ceased publication or been cancelled by Rice.
3. Print runs of serial titles duplicated electronically.
4. Print runs of serial titles: Science and technology periodicals, more than 20 years old; Social and behavioral science periodicals, more than 30 years old; Humanities (including History), more than 40 years old.
5. Variant editions, regardless of date, unless a minimum number of copies are needed to meet user demand or they have compelling research value.
6. Annuals and continuations of a reference nature other than the most current year, unless otherwise warranted.
7. Monographic sets or monographic series (analyzed or not analyzed), with the provision of #2 below.
8. Monographic titles with copyright dates consistent with those of the periodicals listed above (#4), which have not circulated within the last 6 years.
9. Multi-volume sets that are bibliographic in nature.
10. Microform titles duplicated in electronic format. Books with special features (e.g., maps or plates), or those whose condition may benefit from the environment and security of the Library Service Center.
11. Rare materials not suited to the Woodson Research Center Collection but which may benefit from the environment and security of the facility.
12. Films, audio recordings, disks, tapes, CD-ROMs, and other formats for which no playing equipment exists.

Items Not Suitable for Selection or Transfer:

1. Cumulative indexes to specific periodical titles, regardless of where the serial is housed.
2. Individual volumes of multi-volume sets; neither complete nor incomplete multi-volume sets shall be split between Fondren and Library Service Center.
3. Fragile material needing extensive conservation efforts (unless or until repaired).
4. Most current edition of reference works, directories, yearbooks, encyclopedias, etc,
5. Materials requested by teaching faculty for retention in Fondren.
6. Current acquisitions, regardless of date of publication.
7. Items not represented in the online catalog.