120 · Representative Documents: On-site Shelving Strategies
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Collection Retention Working Group: Report and Recommendations
10
Collections Retention Policy Working Group Recommendations
I. Define Penn State’s responsibility as a leading research library in relation to other
ARL and CIC institutions and within Pennsylvania
Recommendation: Define PSUL’s mission and philosophy regarding collection
development, management, and preservation of our cultural heritage, core collections, and
collections of distinction (short term).
Recommendation: Define PSUL’s responsibilities regarding access and preservation of
collections within the various spheres of responsibility: Penn State research and teaching,
Pennsylvania, CIC, ARL (short term).
Recommendation: Develop criteria for identifying and reviewing unique, distinctive, and
other core collections. Collection status helps selectors understand the role of these
collections in larger initiatives, and could be recorded in appropriate sources, such as the
CRL Print Repository (short term).
Recommendation: Upgrade the quality of our remote storage facilities to enable PSUL to
be a leader among our consortium partners for preservation and retention of materials
II. Find appropriate balance for space committed to user, collection, and service needs
Recommendation: Evaluate and identify reference titles to convert to digital equivalents.
Allocate or reallocate funds annually to purchase digital equivalents of print reference
sources (continuous).
Reinstate the Electronic Resources Task Force (or a similar group) focused on reference
sources that could be converted to digital formats for space and access reasons (short
term).
Develop a process for identifying and selecting reference titles for this conversion (short
term).
Recommendation: Minimize print holdings footprint in the annex, stacks, and campuses
and increase swing-space in annex for major reconfiguration
De-duplication of journals: Where there are multiple print runs of serials/periodicals that
are also available in trusted digital repositories, identify and withdraw duplicate print
runs considering runs held at all library locations (short term). Establish a “last copy”
process for journals similar to that for monographs (short term).
De-duplication of print monographs: identify duplicate copies of monographs to
consider for withdrawal (continuous).
Transition to digital access fewer physical formats retained: Evaluate and identify for
withdrawal widely held journals/serials runs that may no longer be heavily used in
physical formats, but which are accessible in trusted print or digital repositories. This
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Collection Retention Working Group: Report and Recommendations
10
Collections Retention Policy Working Group Recommendations
I. Define Penn State’s responsibility as a leading research library in relation to other
ARL and CIC institutions and within Pennsylvania
Recommendation: Define PSUL’s mission and philosophy regarding collection
development, management, and preservation of our cultural heritage, core collections, and
collections of distinction (short term).
Recommendation: Define PSUL’s responsibilities regarding access and preservation of
collections within the various spheres of responsibility: Penn State research and teaching,
Pennsylvania, CIC, ARL (short term).
Recommendation: Develop criteria for identifying and reviewing unique, distinctive, and
other core collections. Collection status helps selectors understand the role of these
collections in larger initiatives, and could be recorded in appropriate sources, such as the
CRL Print Repository (short term).
Recommendation: Upgrade the quality of our remote storage facilities to enable PSUL to
be a leader among our consortium partners for preservation and retention of materials
II. Find appropriate balance for space committed to user, collection, and service needs
Recommendation: Evaluate and identify reference titles to convert to digital equivalents.
Allocate or reallocate funds annually to purchase digital equivalents of print reference
sources (continuous).
Reinstate the Electronic Resources Task Force (or a similar group) focused on reference
sources that could be converted to digital formats for space and access reasons (short
term).
Develop a process for identifying and selecting reference titles for this conversion (short
term).
Recommendation: Minimize print holdings footprint in the annex, stacks, and campuses
and increase swing-space in annex for major reconfiguration
De-duplication of journals: Where there are multiple print runs of serials/periodicals that
are also available in trusted digital repositories, identify and withdraw duplicate print
runs considering runs held at all library locations (short term). Establish a “last copy”
process for journals similar to that for monographs (short term).
De-duplication of print monographs: identify duplicate copies of monographs to
consider for withdrawal (continuous).
Transition to digital access fewer physical formats retained: Evaluate and identify for
withdrawal widely held journals/serials runs that may no longer be heavily used in
physical formats, but which are accessible in trusted print or digital repositories. This
