Cornell University Library Collection Development Manual: Transfers/Withdrawals

Transfers to the Library Annex

• From Central Campus Libraries to the Library Annex:
  See the Selection Policy for Shelf Space Adjustment below. Most often, this involves a joint project with Collection Maintenance, who processes the books once the macrocriteria are established.

• From the Library Annex back to Central Campus Libraries:
  Selectors may request to have Annex materials returned to the originating campus library if there is a clear sense that such titles will be needed and used. Use the Annex Transfer Request Form to initiate the return.

Library to Library Transfers (non-Annex)

• Selectors who wish to transfer circulating material from their campus library to a library unit other than the Annex or Special Collection (e.g., a Mann selector believes a title there would be more properly held in Olin) should first contact the appropriate subject selector in the destination library and obtain that selector’s consent. If the receiving selector agrees, the librarian who initiated the transfer request should send or deliver the item to Database Quality in Library Technical Services (110 Olin Library), along with a transfer form (see the box to the right) and/or a note describing the transfer and identifying the receiving selector. LTS will process the item for its new location.
  12/10/15; fm

 

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Selection Policy for Shelf Space Adjustment

The following selection process should be used for all cases in which a CUL unit needs to reduce the number of volumes (or volume equivalents) in its general stacks; this will normally happen when the units holdings begin to exceed its available shelf space. This policy will not apply, however, to those instances in which a unit needs to reduce its total holdings only temporarily, e.g., for purposes of renovation.

1. Determine Volume Numbers and Collection Segments

Decide on the number of volumes (or equivalents) by which the unit collection needs to be reduced, and the segments of the collection within which that reduction will take place. In some cases, it may be preferable to target the whole collection, rather than particular segments.

2. Develop Macrocriteria

Some examples of macrocriteria include:

• - materials that were published before a particular date or within a particular date range.
  - materials that have not circulated since a particular date.
  - ceased serial runs.
  - serial volumes other than the most recent.
  - materials in a particular language.
  - materials in a particular form (e.g., dissertations) or format (e.g., microform).
  - materials on a particular subject.

   

3. Obtain Faculty Input

Consult faculty departments and programs affected; explain macrocriteria and their rationale. Make adjustments as needed to the macrocriteria and target segments, based upon faculty input.

4. Obtain Review by RMC or Appropriate Rare Unit

Provide the appropriate rare materials selector with the opportunity to review material to be removed and to transfer selected items to RMC, another rare materials unit, or Annex Rare.

5. Search

Have all items searched that fall into macrocriteria.

6. Disposition

a. Transfer any titles to the Annex that are unique to CUL Ithaca.

b. Withdraw any titles held in any CUL Ithaca unit.

NOTE: In the case of serials, fill in any back volumes missing in other units before withdrawal. If the only remaining copy held by a CUL Ithaca unit is missing, the item should be retained.

04/03/04

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Transfers to Kroch Rare and Manuscripts:

Policy on Transfer of General Collection Material to Special Collections

Cornell University Library's policy on the transfer of materials to special collections is adapted from national guidelines developed by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association: Guidelines on the Selection of General Collection Materials for Transfer to Special Collections. 2nd Edition (Rev), 1999.

Research universities carry significant responsibilities for preserving the printed heritage under their care. Cornell University Library takes this responsibility seriously, and is committed to providing adequate protection and security for all its historic materials.

Virtually all academic libraries acquire books and documents, which, with time, and regardless of intention, become rare. These materials acquire cultural and historical value, and sometimes a significant financial value in the marketplace, as well.

This policy will guide Cornell library staff in their responsibility to identify rare and valuable materials in general and open stack collections and to arrange for their transfer to the greater security of special collections.

I. Identification of Material

As appropriate, library units should inventory their general collections to identify materials appropriate for transfer to a special collections facility.

Rare material also should be identified for transfer during routine handling and review as part of the following library functions: acquisition; gifts and exchange; cataloging and retrospective conversion; preservation and conservation; duplication; circulation; inventorying and shelfreading; interlibrary loan; preparation of exhibitions; weeding; searching of dealer catalogs. Transfer candidates identified during these functions will be sent to special collections for review by knowledgeable staff.

II. Selection Criteria

Cornell Library uses the following criteria to identify general collections material appropriate for transfer to special collections:

1. Age
   All materials printed before 1850, regardless of form or condition, must be provided with secure, climate-controlled storage and monitored reading room access.

   In addition, materials printed after 1850 will be considered for transfer if any of the following criteria are met:

2. Artifactual Characteristics
   Books may possess intellectual value, artifactual value, or both. Items with artifactual value include:
   1. fine bindings;
   2. books with valuable prints or original photographs
   3. publishers' bindings up to 1920;
   4. extra-illustrated volumes;
   5. books with significant provenance (e.g., signed by the author);
   6. books with decorated endpapers;
   7. fine printing;
   8. printing on vellum or highly unusual paper;
   9. volumes or portfolios containing unbound plates;
   10. books with valuable maps or plates;
   11. broadsides, posters and printed ephemera;
   12. books by local authors of particular note;
   13. material requiring security (e.g., books in unusual formats, erotica or materials that are difficult to replace)
   14. miniature books (10 centimeters or smaller)
   15. 20th century literary works with intact dust wrappers.
3. Condition
   Age itself often will determine whether a book is "rare," while condition is usually more important in judging more recent material. All values of the book--scholarly, artifactual, bibliographical, and market--may be greatly affected by condition. Copies that are badly worn, much repaired or rebound, are not generally included in rare book collections, unless the age of the material preempts condition as a criterion. The durability of most documents produced since the mid-nineteenth century has declined drastically. It is now increasingly difficult to locate even representative examples of many nineteenth- and twentieth-century printing and binding processes in fine original condition. So many volumes have required rebinding, for example, that the richness of the original decorative art applied to bindings and printed endpapers is increasingly difficult to find and study. Dust jackets frequently contain important information (e.g., text, illustrative design, and price), and their presence greatly affects both the market and research value of 20th century books.
4. Bibliographical, Research or Market Value
   The rarity or importance of individual books is not always self-evident. Some books, for example, were produced in circumstances which virtually guarantee their rarity (e.g. Confederate imprints). Factors affecting importance and rarity can include the following:
   1. desirability to collectors and the antiquarian book trade;
   2. intrinsic or extrinsic evidence of censorship or repression;
   3. seminal nature or importance to a particular field of study or genre of literature;
   4. restricted or limited publication;
   5. cost of acquisition.

Created by: Katherine Reagan, 02/26/02
02/26/02, vwb; rev. 9/23/04

Policy on the Disposition of Library Materials

Procedures for the Disposition of Library Materials

LTS's procedures for withdrawing books can be found at: https://confluence.cornell.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=317948999

Policy on Returning or Destroying Materials on Request

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Policy on the Disposition of Library Materials

Because Library shelving and resources are finite, and collections continually growing, all libraries in the Cornell University Library (CUL) system need on occasion to dispose of Library materials - primarily books and journals. The decision to withdraw Library materials is the responsibility of the collection development librarian for the relevant subject area. However, a decision to deselect more than 100 titles within a six-month timeframe requires written consent of the AUL for Collections. The factors that most frequently influence decisions to deselect Library materials are:

• Unnecessary Duplication of Printed Holdings. When it has been determined that fewer copies of a book or journal run will meet the needs of the campus, the Library may withdraw duplicates held by more than one campus library, or held within a campus library.
• Unnecessary Duplication between Formats or Versions. When the informational content of an older format has been superseded by a preferable or more authoritative version (e.g. electronic access as replacement for microfilm access), the Library may withdraw the non-preferred version.
• Deterioration. When items have, through repeated use, deteriorated beyond usable repair, the Library may withdraw them. When appropriate, replacement copies will be sought.

In making decisions about which Library materials may be appropriate for deselection, Library staff consider factors such as the Cornell Library annual reports, user surveys, Library and University budget information, and changes in Cornell University's academic programming. Particularly in cases in which a large volume of Library materials is being considered for deselection, it is strongly recommended that Library staff seek the input of faculty and graduate students.

In general, Cornell University Library does not withdraw materials that are unique within its collections.

Per University Policy 3.9 governing the disposition of capital assets "Works of art, rare books, historical treasures, or scientific specimens that are held for public exhibition, education, or research...are subject to a formal policy that recommends that the proceeds of items sold be used to acquire other items for collections."

Disposition of Government Documents

As a selective depository served by a regional depository, CUL must retain for the statutory minimum period of five years from receipt before securing permission from the regional library for disposal in accordance with the provisions of Title 44, United States Code, Section 1912. For more detail, see Section 5.14 of the Federal Depository Library Handbook: "Discards by Selective Depositories."

Related policy documents:

Procedures for the Disposition of Library Materials (see below)
Section d.8. "Withdrawal requests from publishers" from LTS Procedure #12: Withdrawals, Transfers, and Reinstatements.

27 July 1999; Rev. 8/2/99, mc; Rev. 6/8/04, rwa; Rev. 4/1/10, kw, kr; Rev. 6/3/10; Rev. 5/30/19

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Procedures for the Disposition of Library Materials

The purpose of this procedures document is to prescribe the appropriate methods for disposition of Cornell University Library (CUL) materials. There are generally two broad categories of traditional materials subject to disposition:

1. materials in the CUL collections that have been withdrawn in accordance with the Cornell University Library Policy on the Disposition of Library Materials (see above); and
2. materials given or otherwise provided to CUL, which are found, for whatever reason, to be inappropriate for the collections (see the Cornell University Library Gift Policy)

The former group of materials must be deselected and withdrawn, prior to disposition; the latter group must be disposed of as soon as possible once the decision is made not to add them. In no case may materials be held without being added to the collection for the purpose of a tax benefit for the donor.

1. Deselection and Transfer. Because shelf space is a key Library resource, and because the cost of maintaining Library materials is increasing, unit libraries routinely shift materials out of their stacks to free up space for new acquisitions or for new Library services. Some of these materials will be deselected and withdrawn, and some will be transferred to the Annex. For the process and method of making such shifts, see the Policy on Shelf Space Adjustment.
2. Withdrawal Procedure. Prior to making plans for larger withdrawal projects (more than twenty titles), selectors should consult with their processing unit, in order to agree on schedule and workflow. For technical services procedures on withdrawals, see the section "Withdrawals, Transfers, and Reinstatements" under Procedures & Documentation on the Library Technical Services website. Proposals to withdraw materials of potential historical value should be reviewed first for possible transfer to a CUL special collections unit. Once the withdrawal decision is made, decisions need to be made on disposition.
3. Disposition Methods. There are three approved methods for the disposition of CUL materials: sale, donation, and discard. These methods are all appropriate for both unwanted gifts and materials withdrawn from the collections. The method selected in each case is at the discretion of the unit library, with the consent of the AUL for Collections.
   1. Sale. There are three general methods for selling withdrawn materials or unwanted gifts: (1) a public sale for the Cornell community, (2) a sale to a dealer, and (3) a sale to another institution. No Library materials should be sold privately to any individual member of the Cornell community; sales to members of the Cornell community should take place only through public book sales. A public sale is one that is open to all - or all potentially interested - members of the Cornell community. The availability of such materials for public sale should be announced in advance, in such a way as to give all potentially interested Cornell buyers an equal opportunity to purchase items of interest. Items for public sale to the Cornell community may be represented and sold online. Prices should be set by the unit library director(s) responsible for the sale, in consultation with the appropriate subject selectors.

      When selling to a dealer, it is advisable that bids be openly solicited from several dealers who might potentially be interested. Some arrangements with dealers or with other institutions include the stipulation that the dealer or the institution take all of the materials being offered. It is normally the responsibility of the dealer or the institution to pay the shipping costs. All revenue from the sale of Library materials should be deposited in the materials budget; the specific budget lines to which this revenue will be added will be decided by the unit responsible for the sale. Statutory units should take care to ensure that all sales of Library materials are consistent with State requirements.

   2. Donation. Unit libraries may elect to donate withdrawn materials or unwanted gifts to other organizations, agencies or groups. The main organization to which CUL has traditionally donated materials is the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Booksale. Donating CUL materials to the TCPL Booksale has the advantage of returning these materials to the community, so that local residents, including Cornell faculty, students and staff, can purchase them at reasonable prices. Selectors considering donations to the TCPL Booksale should contact TCPL through the Gifts program in Library Technical Services. Not all materials are appropriate for, or are desired by, the Booksale.

      Library materials may also be donated to other organizations for charitable purposes. When arranging to donate materials to libraries or other groups at some distance from Ithaca, care should be taken to negotiate the payment of shipping costs ahead of time.

      No Library materials should be donated to any Cornell individuals, offices, departments or other Cornell units without the authorization of the AUL for Collections.

   3. Discard. For a variety of reasons, sale and donation preferable as methods of disposition to discarding--and units should make reasonable efforts to sell or donate materials before deciding to discard them. If it is determined with reasonable certainty that specific items are unsuitable for sale or donation, however, then the unit library may discard them. If a larger number of materials is to be discarded, the unit library undertaking this action should consult with the AUL for Collections on the timing and method of discarding; in such cases, it is also required that the unit library write a memorandum for the record (MfR), which should include a brief summary of the rationale and process used (including individuals consulted) to come to the decision to discard. This MfR should be kept on file at the unit library, with a copy sent to the Office of the University Librarian.

See also: CUL Gift Policy

27 July 1999; Rev. 8/2/99, mc;Rev. 6/8/04, rwa; Rev. KR 12/17/09; KW 1/21/10; LTS edits added 2/3/10; Rev. 11/12/21, kw

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Policy on Returning or Destroying Materials on Request.

The Library occasionally receives requests from the producers or previous owners of library materials in all formats that the Library return, destroy or delete particular items that have already been acquired. This is usually done when the item contains information that the producer or previous owner believes to be erroneous or for some reason problematic.

1. When the Library has selected and owns the item, such a request should be refused. The item is now part of the record of publication and should have, as such, a place in the Library's collection. In such circumstances, the Library should document the perceived problem for the information of potential users in the catalog record and possibly also in the item itself.

2. If the item has been received as a gift, and the donor asks for the item back, the Library will need to consider such a request on a case by case basis. If ownership of the item has been transferred to the Library, then the Library should normally resist returning it; however, if the donor presents a reasonable cause for the request (e.g., the item was donated by mistake, or the donor has a previously unrealized special relationship with the item), then the item should be returned.

3. In the case of publications that the Library is storing and making accessible but does not technically own (as sometimes happens, for example, with government documents), then the Library is obliged to return, destroy or delete items at the direction of the owner or issuing agency. Care should be taken in each case to ensure that the person requesting such action is indeed the authorized agent of the owner. In the case of the Federal Depository Library Program, if directions to return, destroy or delete such materials are received from any agency other than the Government Printing Office, the Library should contact the GPO for clarification; if the GPO does not specifically direct that such items be eliminated from the collection, then the Library should not comply with such a request.

The final decision on whether to return, destroy or delete information will be made by the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Special Collections, in consultation as needed with the Library Executive Group.

rev. 3/1/2013, fm

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