Government Documents Collection Development Project: A Monumental Task
Abstract
PROJECT SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
UTA Libraries was designated a federal depository in 1963. For 50 years the library received physical copies of federal documents. In 2014, the library stopped receiving print documents and instead started receiving electronic copies only. The documents collection that the library had been collecting for 50 years had never been weeded properly and approximately 50% of the material on the shelves were not cataloged and therefore, not discoverable. The physical collection occupied 31 ranges of shelving (= 3,780 shelves or 10,080 ft.). There was also a sizable print collection housed at the library’s offsite storage facility (Library Collection Depository).
OBJECTIVES
In January 2015, the UTA Libraries Access & Discovery program unit made the decision to conduct an ambitious 3-phase Government Documents Collection Development project. The project accomplished several objectives.
a) Weeded the very large print collection of outdated and irrelevant documents.
b) Cataloged the legacy print collection, making it discoverable in the library’s online catalog.
c) Whenever possible, replaced print documents with electronic equivalents.
d) Freed up shelf space and provided much needed public space that was repurposed for student success services.