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Re: retention schedule for researcher correspondence



Mr. Rankin raised an interesting point in his post--the idea of
removing a collection because you can't show that a person has
used it in twenty years.   I know a lot of librarians who will gladly
remove books from the shelves and discard them simply because
the item has not been checked out.   One of the tenets in research
is that a library should have an item when a researcher needs it.
For me, I have had occasion to use materials in libraries that clearly
showed they had not been checked out in twenty years....that should
not be the sole criteria for removal.    I have a couple of "event"
collections--you know, the records, etc. of the "Centennial Committee"
--and it is surprising how such events will lead folks to turn to the
archives and say "what did they do to celebrate the 100th, or 150th,
etc.?"     I have the records of some University Departments that
no longer exist and which have not been used in fifteen years, but guess
what?   When we hit those anniversary dates, I always get questions
like 'what happened to the aeroscience department?"  etc.

Dean

Dean DeBolt
University Librarian
Special Collections and West Florida Archives
John C. Pace Library
University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
Tele:  850-474-2213;   Fax:  850-474-3338

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