article 9 :reference sections

Tough Love for Your Reference Collection.

  I wouldn't be surprised if I learned that there are students at the school where I work who don't know where the Reference section is.  And, even if they did, it might not also be surprising to know that they've never used any materials from the Reference section. With these thoughts in mind we find out that this article's author Terri Kirk has gotten rid of her Reference section altogether. She begins by telling us that she usually weeds the collection using the famous MUSTY acronym, one that I myself have referred to before in other assignments. 

In her case what she found was that for weeding the Reference Collection these handy little guidelines didn't quite apply.  She felt that she ended up keeping several items in the collection even though they might have been out of date, simply because she did find some value in them. Overall however Kirk was able to remove a whole shelf of reference materials so that she could have more space in the library for books that were getting more circulation.

Kirk, Terri.  Tough Love for Your Reference Collection.  Library Media Connection; Oct/Nov2010, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p28-28, 1p