The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Print Retention Decision Making, SPEC Kit 337, which examines research libraries’ print retention decision making strategies related to storage of materials in three different types of facilities or circumstances: on-site, staff-only shelving; remote shelving; and collaborative retention agreements. The survey also examined the decision making and practices surrounding the deaccessioning of library material.
For each retention or deaccession strategy, the survey explored the on-going or project-based nature of the work, the involvement of stakeholders, the selection process and criteria for materials to be retained or deaccessioned, the communication strategy with internal and external audiences, and the responses from the libraries' internal and external audiences to these endeavours.
The SPEC Kit includes examples of collection management policies; on-site, off-site, and collaborative shelving strategies; last-copy agreements; and procedures for retrieving materials from storage.
