The primary role of the Mount Allison Libraries & Archives collections, in all formats, is to support the research, learning, teaching, and success of our students, faculty, and staff. In addition, our materials contribute to the regional information ecosystem of Atlantic Canada and to the global community of institutions dedicated to the preservation, dissemination, and sharing of knowledge.
In order to meet these aims, our librarians engage in a practice called collection development. It includes ongoing activities such as reviewing subject areas for new and updated materials, consulting syllabi for emerging or evolving areas of study, addressing Truth and Reconciliation calls to action and other equity initiatives, and withdrawing (weeding) materials that no longer serve the goals of our collection. These activities form a holistic approach to maintaining a collection with an appropriate amount of depth and breadth.
A focused collections assessment project will be undertaken between May 2024 and December 2026 in order to prepare the collection for moves into the Interim Library in 2027 and ultimately the newly renovated R.P. Bell Library Centre for Innovation and Learning in 2030.
Collection review should be done as part of regular collection development practices on an ongoing basis. Due to limited resourcing and attention to other priorities, however, it has not been done in an intentional way at R.P. Bell for the last two decades. The primary goal of this time-bound review project is to identify library materials that are no longer appropriate for our collection so that, at the time of the move to the Interim Library, we have addressed this gap in attention. Further, it will give us the opportunity to ensure that our collections indeed support the academic mission of our institution and affirm our duty as responsible stewards of library materials in the Atlantic Region.
As the name weeding—or the more elegant French term élagage, meaning pruning—might suggest, the process of removing items that no longer serve our users allows the best parts of our existing collection to blossom and shine while permitting new growth and long-term improvement for future resources. In addition, it makes the collection easier to navigate and improves what librarians call “findability.” Academic libraries frequently employ a methodology such as CREW (continuous review, evaluation, and weeding) alongside commonly-applied criteria such as MUSTIE (misleading, ugly, superseded, trivial, irrelevant, or obtained elsewhere) (ALA, 2017).
Evaluation criteria for withdrawal of material from the collection often includes the following, among other considerations:
Collections decisions are made using professional judgement after considering multiple factors, often qualitative and quantitative as well as subjective and objective. The criteria listed above are not applied with equal weight across subject areas: this is why librarian expertise, faculty engagement, and user needs are vital components of the collection assessment process.
When engaging in a holistic collection review process, librarians may consult peer librarians with expertise in a particular discipline or with a particular format, teaching faculty outside the library, or the Dean of Libraries and Archives (ALA, 2017). Engagement with and seeking input from users can be a critical part of the collection assessment process, and liaison librarians will engage with relevant stakeholders as appropriate as they make collection decisions. We encourage faculty, students, and community patrons to talk with their subject librarians about the collection and their needs.
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1977)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1998)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1992)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1998)
Example of a duplicate item selected for withdrawal (1949)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1994)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1997)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1978) due to lack of circulation and availability elsewhere
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1989)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1997)
Example of an item selected for withdrawal (1930) due to physical condition and replaced by newer copy
For the most up-to-date information on the Library renovation project, visit R.P. Bell Library: Centre for Innovation and Learning
If you have questions about this project or any other aspect of the library renovation, please contact Dean of Libraries & Archives, Rachel Rubin rrubin@mta.ca.