SPEC Kit 337: Print Retention Decision Making

by Scott Britton

The purpose of this SPEC Kit is to examine research libraries’ print retention decision making strategies related to storage of materials in three different types of facilities or on-site, staff-only shelving, remote shelving, and collaborative retention agreements. The survey also examined the decision making and practices surrounding the deaccession of library material. For each retention or deaccession strategy, the survey includes questions on the on-going or project-based nature of the work, the involvement of stakeholders, the selection process and criteria for materials to be retained or deaccessioned, the communication strategy with internal and external audiences, and the responses from the libraries’ internal and external audiences to these endeavors. The SPEC Kit includes examples of collection management policies, on-site, off-site, and collaborative shelving strategies, last copy agreements, and procedures for retrieving materials from storage.

210 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2013