NUC, Quo Vadis? Have Mid-Size Academic Libraries Retained the National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints?

Abstract

Mid-size academic libraries face the dilemma of limited funding and space but are expected to provide the tools their graduate students and faculty need to compete in research. A question faced by these institutions is whether to weed potentially useful paper finding aids of the pre-online era. One example is the 754 volume National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints (NUC). Has the content and current use of the NUC justified its retention by libraries in mid-size universities? The authors provide historical background of the NUC and the results of a survey of librarians from mid-size academic institutions that explores their perspectives on the tool's continued utility and their institutions' ultimate decisions on its fate.

The Influence of the Online Availability of USGS Topographic Maps on Weeding Decisions in Academic Libraries

“…The need for space was the overwhelming reason for weeding the collection with 74% citing that as a contributor to the decision and 33% citing it as the sole reason. As space needs are often the prime reason for weeding projects, this finding was unsurprising (Thomas and Shouse 2012, Abbott and Scherlen 2013, Anderson 2009). That online availability was not a contributor for more of the libraries and that having a printer/plotter available did not have a relationship to the decision was unexpected but may have been a result of 41% reporting the collection was weeded due to low usage and, therefore, online access and printing capabilities would not have been important.…”

“…The "Carnegie Classifications Data File" (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching 2012) provided information on the academic institution and Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (Gorte et al 2012) provided information on a state's federal land ownership. Three published survey results on libraries' weeding of unique formats or materials were used as models for survey development: Abbott and Scherlen (2013) examined the deaccessioning of the NUC in mid-size academic libraries, King (2012) investigated weeding of reference collections in ARL academic libraries, and Keogh (2012) surveyed libraries regarding considerations when deciding to retain or discard microform collections. Building on these successful surveys and using Dillman's (2007) Mail and Internet Surveys: the Tailored Design Method as a guide, questions were developed to address…”

“…Thomas and Shouse (2012, 96) point out "the changing natures of libraries from warehouses to service points puts pressure on libraries to give up stacks space for user space." The need for space has contributed to the decision by some mid-size academic libraries to discard the National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints (NUC) (Abbott and Scherlen 2013). Abbott and Schelen point out the NUC occupies "almost 125 linear feet of oversized shelving" (120).…”