Re: Vertical Files

[Earl Sande <sandes@CODETEL.NET.DO>]

I'm not so sure if I'd toss out a vertical file or not develop one if it
weren't present in any library I worked in.

Frankly, I'm a little distressed to throw out great articles from
magazines, booklets that still contain relevant information, write-aways
that answered some questions posed, and on and on.

The information, however, must continue to be relevant and, I think, this
is the key to both the development and weeding of such a resource.

I used to do write aways (form letters) requesting information on topic a,
b, or c ; I used to go through great magazines (Smithsonian, National
Geographic, et al) and make booklets out of the still great articles ; I
used to purchase items from the Vertical File Index.  I applied a quick
subject heading and we filed them into appropriate folders - the result, an
unbelievable 43 file cabinets chuck full of information that would not be
available in any other way (the financial costs alone would be staggering).

The individual items could be signed out by the users for a regular loan
and we kept old manila envelopes to keep them together.

If I were to do it over, I might use the computer to ensure that we
maintain some index system (beyond the subject heading), not only to keep
us informed about our holdings, but as a guide to what needs to be withdrawn.

And here is the problems : as Janet so aptly points out, the problem is the
maintenance, especially the weeding.

My methods, while beneficial (and, by the way, conservation minded!), would
provide a daunting task to indexing and generate tremendous workloads.  I
might, however, actually increase the quality of the collection by taking
this extra time for data entry.

I suppose I might do it again, but with a much more careful look at the
amount of work involved to the amount of time available and to the hidden
expenses that none of us can really put our finger on.

Yes, I would!  But, I would ensure that this part of the effort reaped the
same gains that other forms of information provided.

Earl


Earl P Sande
Elementary School Librarian
Director of Library Services
Carol Morgan School
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
e-mail :  sandes@codetel.net.do

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