New link to Arizona Collection Development Training -- Weeding

http://www.lib.az.us/cdt/weeding.aspx

Weeding thye Library Collection

The Weeding course taken on Webjunction was nice. I liked that it covered all the main issues for weeding materials and also had some interesting titles to look at that others have choose to weed. I believe that weeding is very important to a collection. But I also have a bit of resent for getting rid of some titles or materials from a collection too. That is why the idea it stated that we can make a display for last chances to get a material circulated or it had an idea to display creative ways when weeding an old book title, to possible get that title to seem important again.
Overall, I feel that it is a diffucult task yet extremely important. The assignment on weeding is not neccesary going to be easy now because there are many factors than just looking at a title to know if i would weed it. I will hope I can not be so overwhelmed by this project as the course said not to take weeding on at long periods rather to do it in intervals and patiently. Also I was going to do the JJC library and I spoke with someone about the project and they have already started weeding :( now I need to find a library I know more about and have more info to take into consideration instead of just going by MUSTIE. Or I might end up thing them all as UGLY ......LOL

Trends in Children's Literature

I took the class titled "Trends in Children's Literature" because I found it applicable to this class because it talks about various techniques when it comes to selecting books for children. This course reviewed the basics of children's literature, examined contemporary books and looked at trends for students K-5. The course emphasized books published since 2000. More than 7,000 new juvenile books are published annually. Books written specifically to meet the interests of young people is a relatively new phenomenon. Many stories that are now considered to be for children especially fairy tales, myths, and folktales, were in reality attempts to understand society, the natural and spiritual world, or to record some aspect of the culture or history of a group and were not written for children's enjoyment. In fact, many examples of classic "children's" literature weren't appropriate for children at all. It's reasonalbe to expect that social values and interests will be reflected in children's literature and the very factors that make the books appealing to young readers may also cause concern for adults. The course had me shelve classic children's books by publication date. The course goes on to break it down by age and tell what these groups are interested in when it comes to literature. Some more trends are talked about such as graphic novels, book packagers, and licensed characters. Once again, the course encompassed so much information, it would be hard to talk about all of it. I did enjoy the class and would recommend it to someone else.

Weeding the Library Collection

Like many of you already have, I decided to take the Weeding the Library Collection class. Although I was originally going to take Weeding: It’s Not an Option, I completely forgot that the LE@D classes take 2-3 days to receive the login information (SO inconvenient), so I opted for this class instead. Although I was still impressed and thought it was very informative. They give a lot of great tips on how to create a weeding plan for your library as well as how to maintain it. My favorite part was definitely all of the examples of different items people have weeded, particularly the recipe book for how to make play-dough out of asbestos! Crazy! Overall I thought this was a great class and I now feel well-prepared for our weeding project. :)

Master of Disaster: Developing a Disaster Plan

The second class I took was on developing a disaster plan. It covered the different ways to identify possible hazards, prepare for disaster, create an action plan to prevent chaos and write a disaster plan the includes a strategy for recovery. I found the course interesting. It gave several good ideas what to do before the disaster to help facilitate getting back to business asap. One thing they mentioned was to make a call list of people to notify of the disaster. Another idea that I especially liked was how they prioritized the items into 3 categories in case of a disaster. The three priorities are:
1- salvage at all costs. This would include financial records, local histories, and reference.
2-salvage if time allows. this would be non-fiction and out of print items.
3-easily replaceable items. this would be mass market paperbacks, computer equipment etc...
The items in the groups would vary on the individual establishment.
Another thing they recommended (that I never thought about) is to make a list of local companies that clean carpets, spray for bugs, freeze dry valuable papers etc.. before the disaster so you can access their phone numbers easily and get the help you need fast. They also recommend that you keep a copy of the disaster plan and any lists off site in a safe spot so that if a disaster did strike the library the plans wouldn't be destroyed.
While some of this is in the safety plan where I work there are several things that were new. I think everyone would benefit from this. You can never be too prepared for a disaster!

Weeding the Collection

I took the Weeding Library Collection on Web junction. I have personally never been involved in a weeding project yet. This is one of the main reasons why I am looking forward to the Weeding project. I found much information that this class had very interesting. It will be very helpful for the weeding Project. It goes over the reasons why a Library needs to weed. Not just for Space but to also keep the collection looking nice. As well as helping patrons understand why libraries need to weed. This is a task that can sometimes be difficult or so I have heard. Another area that the class went over was working on a plan of when to weed/Policy. I found this class to be very useful.

Tech Services

I took the Web Junction course called, Technical Services: What they do, Why they do it, How it's Changing. It covered a lot of material starting with some background info about the history of cataloging and the Dewey Decimal System. It covered the different aspects of tech services, acquisitions, cataloging and classification, and processing. Collection maintenance was another part. It was interesting that it was said that repairing is not always a good option since the time and materials it takes may not be cost effective and replacement may be a better option. After each section there was an activity to reinforce what was learned, message board posting, Dewey classification exercise, and a collection maintenance activity where you decide what to do with items that need repair, replacing etc. I think this was a helpful course and a good addition to what we are learning in our class.

Intro to Cataloging for Non-Catalogers

This was the second course I took from WebJunction. It gave a brief explanation of the 4 different types of libraries and why library catalogs are needed. Cutter's Rules established in 1876 are still followed today: enable a person to find a book by author, title, or subject, show what materials a library has, and assist in the person choice by giving bibliographic information and character of the book. Card catalogs are pretty obsolete. Most libraries use OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogs). The main down side to that is that many people don't know how to use them and they are all different. The course then moves on to cataloguing which has 3 parts: descriptive cataloguing, classification and subject analysis. I found this course very interesting.

Weeding the Collection

I took Weeding the Collection as my second Web Junction course (and I'm noticing now that a few people took this one already, but I had signed up for it weeks ago, plus I still think its a useful skill to learn).

The course begins by stating the reasons why weeding should be done in a library, such as ease of browsing and aesthetics. It then provides the student with online resources that can assist in reading, such as the Texas State Library's CREW (Continuous - Review - Evaluation - Weeding) guide.

It then suggests that the student adopt published weeding guidelines to develop criteria for weeding the collection, such as MUSTIE and judging a weeded item by the number of circulations and its condition. Adopting a weeding schedule and procedures for weeding are also suggested.

The course then spends some time explaining solutions to avoid common weeding pitfalls such as "unweedable" gifts and donations, the fallacy of a recommended collection size, and the fear of admitting a selection error, as well as explaining to patrons and board members who may object to weeding why it needs to be done.

The importance of incorporating weeding into the library's collection management policy is then discussed, as well as tools associated with automated catalogs that can be used to assist in weeding, such as inventory reports and collection age reports.

The course ends by giving several example scenarios of problems associated with weeding and positive solutions for handling them, followed by a short quiz. They were informative but not very difficult.

I found this an interesting and well-explained course on the topic of weeding. As a bonus, throughout the course sample titles of weeded items are provided. Many are quite humorous, dealing with outdated topics such as gender roles of the 1950s, the Soviet Union as America's adversary, and the moon landing as science fiction. All-in-all, I would recommend this course to anyone who needs to know how to weed a library collection, and would consider it a valuable tool for both the novice and the expert.

Weedng the Collection

I took the “Weeding the Library Collection” on web junction. This class was interesting since we will be doing our “weeding project” soon and also gave some useful information for weeding the library I currently work in. The class emphasized the fact that weeding the library will save space and time, make the library more visually attractive, help you to know the strengths and weaknesses of your collection and help new materials stand out. It had great information and examples of what to weed. I am planning on using the tip to put a schedule for weeding as a weekly activity on my calendar.

Developing Motivating Messages

Hi Everyone,

I took the “Developing Motivating Messages” on web junction. This class is geared to helping people improve their communication skills. Whenever you meet with a person or a group of people take the time to learn a little background prior to your meeting or program. This may include demographics, group history and how much your group already knows about the topic you wish to discuss. They gave helpful tips on presenting your message including: keep it brief, avoid using jargon and don’t forget to let the audience know “what’s it in for them!” And lastly, don’t forget to practice your presentation several times so that you can effectively get your message across.

Dealing with Angry Patrons

Hi everyone,


I took the Dealing with Angry patrons course on web junction. As in the Description says no one enjoys dealing with angry patrons. This course went over the varies patrons angry patrons that you may encounter, the types of patrons, how to identify them. It is created to help find the most effective way to deal with the angry patrons. The course goes over understanding patrons feelings and then over helping deal with the patrons problem. This course can be used by anyone at a library no matter what desk they work at. I found this course very informative and would recommend it to my co-workers.

Developing Motivating Messages (LibraryU)

This course discussed the opportunities for library staff members to develop a wide variety of messages for any program or service. Three areas discussed were analyzing your audience, developing your message, and enhancing your message. These messages may be for outreach opportunities, dealing with the media, flyers, or Board Meeting presentations. The tools learned in this course are valuable in any situation where it will be necessary to clearly communicate the message to a specific audience.