The pragmatics of weeding

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate the language of “weeding” (library deselection) within public library collection development policies in order to examine whether such policies and practices can be usefully connected to library and information science (LIS) theory, specifically to “Deweyan pragmatic adaptation” as suggested by Buschman (2017) in the pages of this journal.Design/methodology/approachThis is a policy analysis of collection deselection policies from the 50 public libraries serving US state capitals, using Bacchi’s policy problem representation technique.Findings“Weeding” as described by these public library collection deselection policies is clearly pragmatic and oriented to increasing circulation to patrons, but the “Deweyan pragmatic adaptation” as reflected by many of those reviewed might better be defined as the pragmatism of Melvil Dewey rather than that of John Dewey.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this work reviewed policies from a very small sample of US public libraries, collection, selection and deselection language as shown in the policies studied appear to be consistent with neoliberal priorities and values in terms of prioritizing “circulation” and “customers,” which may have additional implications for the current transition from print to electronic materials in public librariesOriginality/valueJohn Dewey’s political philosophy and Carol Bacchi’s policy problem representation technique have not been widely used in policy analysis by LIS researchers, and this paper offers a number of suggestions for similar public library policy investigations.

Challenging the problem of un-democratic participation: from destruction to re-construction of heritage

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Penyiangan Koleksi Perpustakaan Umum Sebagai Dedikasi dan Tanggungjawab Pustakawan

“…Artinya dalam proses pembuatan kebijakan perlu kesadaran diri dan saling meredam ego kepentingan pribadi karena perlu diingat bahwa "policies are textual interventions into practice". (Nelson et al, 2020;Van der Veer Martens, 2022) Mengingat lembaga pemerintah sering mengadakan perputaran pegawai, kebijakan tertulis juga dapat sebagai media pembelajaran staff baru terutama bagi yang memiliki latar belakang non-perpustakaan.…”

Collection Development Policies and Practices: A Survey of Public Libraries in Punjab, Pakistan

“…The public libraries are social institutions that serve the society, render information services to all the persons living in a region irrespective to their religion, race, age, designation, and qualification level by collecting, maintaining, displaying and disseminating the required information to all the community (Hussain & Idress, 2021). Van der Veer (2022) pointed out that without an effective collection development predefined program with selection and de-selection criteria mentioning clearly, a library can never render services properly. .…”