Comments on: Every book its libraries: or, Taking care in withdrawal

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 01:49:33 +0000

I’m wondering about the process. The book was and still is in the library system (the minuteman system is massive), and there’s a stamp from 1948 from the collage library, so I think it belongs to the collage library. And I think the nypl is awesome

By: John Mark Ockerbloom

John Mark Ockerbloom — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:57:50 +0000

I might not understand your question, but if you’re wondering why a book you’ve gotten from one library has the stamps of another college library, it’s quite possible that the library from which you borrowed the book bought (or was given) the book from the original library. (It’s not unusual for libraries that weed their collections regularly to pass along their books to other libraries that keep long-term research collections. The New York Public Library, for instance, has many books in its research collection that were acquired from other libraries that were clearing out old books to make room for new ones.)

If that’s what you’re referring to, you shouldn’t try to return it to the college library that used to have it, since it’s no longer theirs. Instead, return it to the library you borrowed it from.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 00:32:45 +0000

I have a rare book from the library and am trying to withdraw it from the system to the collage where it was from. Any tips?

By: Tuvie

Tuvie — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:53:42 +0000

You know, I really want them to keep the books, because not many people love digital books version. Like me, I still prefer to hold physical books than a kindle or an ipad.

By: Ricardo Reis

Ricardo Reis — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:02:40 +0000

Reis, not “Resi”, typo, sorry

By: Ricardo Resi

Ricardo Resi — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:02:10 +0000

One thing to consider is loose with digital copy and DOP is that the book itself, kind of cover, paper, etc is a testimony of the past and tells us something about the social, cultural, economical and technological context of the time.

By: John Mark Ockerbloom

John Mark Ockerbloom — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:19:47 +0000

Dorothea: Yes, print on demand might help as well with replication, as long as the product is checked page by page somewhere along the line. There are some pretty bad PODs of digitizations currently on the market. (Roger’s report also mentions page by page checking.)

Roger: Thanks for the clarification about your report. I’ve made a slight edit in my post in response. And I may well track down the St. Clair book; it sounds interesting!

By: Roger Schonfeld

Roger Schonfeld — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:03:42 +0000

Thanks for this very thoughtful and comprehensive post on some of the key issues facing libraries as they consider retention and withdrawal decision. As you point out, it is critical to ensure, upon withdrawal, that content is not lost to the community, such as when materials are appropriately weeded from public/school library collections. If you haven’t seen it, there is some intriguing evidence in William St. Clair’s The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period about the particular challenges associated with preserving some of the most commonly-distributed and inexpensive books.

Let me clarify one small detail, which is that in Ithaka S+R’s What to Withdraw framework, we do not recommend that any individual library retain or withdraw any particular item. Rather, we group materials according to their print preservation status (as measured against community requirements) so that librarians can utilize this framework as part of a broader decision-making process specific to their individual institution.

Thank you again,
Roger

By: Dorothea Salo

Dorothea Salo — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:39:13 +0000

One detail that I haven’t seen anyone suggest is that print-on-demand, from a preservation-quality digital copy (i.e. probably not GBooks!), might be additional insurance against loss of one of the last few copies.