Abstract
This paper titled ‘Weeding: A strategy for effective management of library stock at University of Ghana Medical School, Korle-bu’ covers the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) library and the population for the study consisted of all professional and para-professional staff of the UGMS Library. A survey design making use of structured interviews were used to elicit data. The study showed that there was no weeding policy in the UGMS Library, that lack of funds, fear of creating space without replacement and lack of time among others accounted for non-weeding in the library. Also, weeded items were kept in a special store room, donated to other schools or sold at moderate prices to students. It was recommended that a collection development policy be formulated by the UGMS library which will include all aspects of the weeding process. Key words: Weeding, academic libraries. medical school libraries, collection building, collection management.
Highlights
The changing nature of the academic library has seen more users relying more and more on electronic resources
The purpose of the study was to find out how weeding the collection could improve the Library stock at the University of Ghana Medical School library and make recommendations for effective collection management
The main purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness and relevance of weeding a library collection
Summary
The changing nature of the academic library has seen more users relying more and more on electronic resources. The increasing availability of certain types of information in non-print form, the continuing rise in the price of books and especially, periodicals, and the general pressure on library budgets raise complex issues of stock collection and management. To worsen matters stock and space have become key issues for many libraries, such that pressure on especially space is reaching critical levels. Managing space in an academic library is an issue that needs to be critically looked at in many universities as student numbers and stock greatly increase. All types of libraries must at some point remove older, irrelevant, or infrequently used materials to make space for new acquisitions. This process is sometimes referred to as weeding the collection
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