HIT:Weeding Periodicals

[Amy Webb <awebb@ALEXIA.LIS.UIUC.EDU>]

I had asked about a month ago for high school librarians to share with me
how long they keep periodicals and newspapers in their library.  The
overwhelming majority keep general periodicals for 5 years.  Many also
keep news magazines for 10+ years.  The range seemed to be from 2 years to
10 years for length of time periodicals are kept.  Some interesting and
valuable suggestions were made as well...

1.  It was suggested that periodicals on quickly changing topics such as
computers be kept for only 2 years.

2.  Many people mentioned that CD-ROM and online resources that offer
indexing and full-text has changed their weeding patterns.  If the
material is available in one of these resources, they seemed more likely
to weed the paper resource.

3.  Having magazines on microfiche or microfilm also affected weeding, and
led to the paper copies being tossed.

4.  Many also mentioned only keeping what you have indexes for.  Students
will ask for what they find in an index, so if it's not listed in an index
you hold, it probably won't be requested.

5.  Some mentioned cutting major articles out of magazines and newspapers
before discarding, and placing the articles in the vertical file.

6.  One person mentioned they keep year and decade retrospective issues of
magazines, such as Life.

7.  Some put old magazines and newspapers in a "cut-up" box to be used for
school assignments.

8.  There seemed to be a difference of opinion as to whether old magazines
should be kept.  Some said anything over 5 years is outdated, but many
responded that older issues are used in the curriculum for historical
research assignments.  I think a use study will be the first thing I do to
see how our collection is used.

Newspapers varied quite a bit, with people discarding them the next day,
or keeping them for up to a year.  In order of preference, 7 keep theirs
for one month, 6 for one week, and 5 discard the next day.  A few keep
local weekly papers for anywhere from 6 months to one year.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with this question.  You gave me many
new things to consider before I start weeding.

Amy Webb
Librarian-St. Joseph-Ogden H.S.
St. Joseph, IL
awebb@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu

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