# /programs/ourwork/collectivecoll/sharedprint/deaccession.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/collectivecoll/sharedprint/deaccession.htm

# Deaccession Materials Held in Print and Electronic Form Project ### Background At the RLG Programs Shared Print Collections Summit in November 2007, attendees discussed the desirability of clearing shelf space by divesting our libraries of print back runs of journals available electronically. The group wondered if there was any low-hanging fruit that could be harvested that would provide a significant impact with a modest amount of effort. Earlier in JSTOR's history, clearing shelf space was mentioned as one of the primary goals of the project. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that this goal has not been achieved on a broad scale by research libraries. Yet the titles covered by the JSTOR collections would seem to offer up the kind of low-hanging fruit discussed by Collections Summit attendees. The titles are available electronically. Back-up copies exist in both electronic form (LOCKSS, PORTICO) and in print form (CRL, CDL, and Harvard archives, among others). If conditions are not favorable for discarding such titles now, when will they be favorable? ### Current Work In April 2008, attendees of the November 2007 Shared Print Collections Summit were invited to participate in a new Deaccessioning E-Journal Print Backfiles Working Group that would focus on actually discarding print back runs of JSTOR titles. Surprisingly, even most of those attendees who volunteered for the group indicated that they were unlikely to deaccession any print back files at that time. Their interest lies in determining what specific pressures would compel them to remove items from the shelves, what economic factors would make it worthwhile, and what guarantees would have to be in place before they could de-accession with confidence. Much of this information is probably known but remains scattered and inaccessible. Several volunteers also noted that they had already moved many of their print backfiles of JSTOR titles to storage, doing so rather than discarding them because they urgently needed the space on campus and lacked the time to do a proper cost/benefit analysis of storing versus discarding. Now that titles are in storage—often in Harvard-model storage, where items are arranged by size—only a huge discarding effort would outweight the costs of deaccessioning. An efficient means of analyzing cost benefits of discarding before print backfiles go into storage is an obvious need. There is clearly a need for aggregated information about costs associated with storing, preserving and delivering material from print back runs of e-journals, as well as data on the costs of discarding titles before and after they have been placed in storage. A comprehensive roster of print archives and access agreements would also be a worthy contribution to efforts in this area, particularly a title-by-title registry of which instituions are committed to retaining which materials, and providing access to them. Given the complexity of the issues surrounding the deaccessioning of materials held in print and electronic format, the new working group has been charged with not only reaching the point of being able to clear shelf space at their own institutions, but also documenting the various factors—both pro and con—of such activity, and gathering evidence that will ease decision making process. This work will be accomplished with advice and support from staff at JSTOR, Ithaka, and other organizations engaged in managing and studying the transition from print to electronic. ### Working Group Deaccessioning E-Journal Print Backfiles Working Group |  |
For more information Dennis Massie Program Officer massied@oclc.org