Adios Paper Journals

John Abbott & Mary JordanCM coordinator CM technician

Appalachian State University

07 November 2014

What did we do?

• Removed & recycled 1.25 miles and 80 tons

• Met no teaching faculty resistance

• We are still rolling….and a long way to go

• It is about communication and preparation

About AppState

• Carnegie Masters/L

• 18,000 students (1800 grad students)

• Opened a new library in 2005

• Installed $500,000 of compact shelving

• Turned the corner on digital

• Midsize libraries are not about retention

• Moving to new services and creative space

About Appstate

10,000 sq ft

About Appstate

About Appstate

Thought process and Risk tolerance.

1. Make a decision about risk

2. What appears reliable down the road?

a. # of servers sites

b. Dark archives – Portico

3. Other state and national collections?

4. Opportunity costs of not changing.

What would be spared?

1. The use relies on the quality of illustrative materials (photos, adverts, musical or math notation, etc.)

2. Journal is an artifact in itself vs. articles.

3. Heavily-used paper volumes

4. Significant regional interest

Reassurance and communication.

1. Clear, forthright communicationWhat are important points about this project?

1) No article content will be lost

2) No current digital subscriptions canceled

3) No paper subscriptions will be canceled

2. Not a ground-breaking action

3. Frame in context of new services, etc.

I Timeline with details

Phase I – JSTOR (September 2013 to May 2014)

-Library admin said, “Go!”

-Students compared JSTOR to ASU holdings lists

• Confirmed first & last holdings and e-access

• Time: 3 months

-Selectors save a ~dozen ‘must keep’ titles – Art…

I Timeline with details

Phase I – JSTOR (September 2013 to May 2014)

-Campus notified via provost email in April• LibGuide with exhaustive FAQ

• 3 week response window with Survey Monkey form

-10 faculty comments

• Retained in collection or gave volumes to a department

• Some comments were “It is about time, etc.”

I Timeline with details

Phase I – JSTOR (September 2013 to May 2014)

-Physical removal – 2 weeks in May

1. Worked from an alpha list (titles are in alpha order)

2. Pulled one volume for catalog maintenance

3. Pulled remaining for recycling – ‘Green’ efforts

II Timeline with details

Phase II – ScienceDirect, Wiley, Sage (Summer 2014)

-Found vendor holdings online

-Mary compared ASU holdings with vendors’

-Removed selected titles (very few)

-Campus notified, 3 wks to comment,

II Timeline with details

Phase II – ScienceDirect, Wiley, Sage (Summer 2014)

-Printed bib records and worked from those

-Pulled 1 vol for catalog maintenance

• Marked 2nd vol and last vol with a Sharpie: P & S

• Recycling issues

• Space and ability to sell the paper

III Timeline with details

Phase III - Clean-up the Canceled Titles (2014-2015)

-Titles canceled prior to 2003

-Ran an inventory list from our ILS

• Sorted by selector subject areas

• 2400 titles to be examined

- Students printed off bib, item & online access records

III Timeline with details

Phase III - Clean-up the Canceled Titles (2014-2015)

- Worked from ‘decided’ bib records

- 3 weeks prior to fall break pulled the 1st volume

• Marked 2nd vol and last vol with a Sharpie: P & S

- At fall break, students pulled volumes

- Colored-coded the inventory list for “Keep” &“Weed”

- Updated check-in record with selector decisions.

Lessons Learned

1. Preparation is the key

a. Thorough review of holdings

b. Will uncover 100’s of holdings errors in OPAC

c. Anticipate faculty questions and be proactive

2. Plan with all partners involved

a. Selectors, catalogers, web master, facilities manager

b. Present well-formed plan to Library admin.

3. Understand limits to recycling

a. 80 linear feet = 1 ton = 1 ‘gaylord’ container

Lessons Learned

4. Student workers – the key element

a. Consistent crew of students – choose well

b. Staff supervisor always present

c. Train students and shape their attitudes to the work

d. 8 workers rotating: 4 pulling, 2 moving trucks, 2 loading dock

e. Provide snacks, water, & dust masks

5. Project will remove less than expected

6. No campus backlash.

Outcome

Questions?