What's new in the WAGS Library
During the Christmas/New Year break, the library materials in Unit 5 were ‘weeded'. Librarians do this from time to time when the shelves in their libraries start groaning from the weight of acquired material and what's removed are items that generally fit into the following categories:
- duplicates
- items containing information which is more readily available in another work or format
- items that contain out-of-date information
- damaged items
- single issues of ‘long run' serials that are readily available elsewhere
I can almost guarantee that members will not miss what has been removed and of course we now have room to add new and exciting items!
The empty shelves facing the front door of Unit 5 will be used to display new periodicals and books and very shortly, you will see new ‘easy to read' signs which will indicate where books about various topics and places are located. There will also be new style labels for the pamphlet boxes (obtained courtesy of the Department of Premier & Cabinet) as well as the existing periodical boxes.
Much room was created by the removal of the booklets put out by various Family History Societies in UK. These contained transcriptions of the UK censuses (1841 and later) and are not being discarded, only relocated as they can be useful adjuncts to the online census material.
Some items which are now available online were NOT removed (Australian Dictionary of Biography, WA Blue Books, etc.) and these will remain, probably until the next ‘weed' becomes necessary. One title which was removed was the hardcopy of the now defunct Genealogical Research Directory. In its place, we have purchased a digital copy of all of thesedirectories since 1994 and this data has been installed on the computer at the Reception Desk, and other Library computers. With one click of the icon, a search of all fourteen years of this directory can be undertaken and the results printed out. Members are welcome to do their own search or one of the Library volunteers can do it for you.
In the course of the weed, the serials (journals/periodicals) were integrated with the monographs to form one sequence which I'm hoping will be less confusing to those not familiar with Dewey. For example, if researching Devon, all the monographs about Devon together with any journals wereceive relating to Devon family history will be filed together
In April, a monster BOOK Sale will be held at which the bulk of discarded items will be offered to our members and affiliates. Look out for details of this event onthis website and in the Western Ancestor.
If you have any queries about the ‘'weed' please email me and I'll endeavour to get back to you as soon as I can.
In conclusion, having examined every item in Unit 5 since the Library closed in December, I can confidently state that members have a marvellous collection; in fact it was difficult not to stop what I was doing and start reading! There will be a number of new innovations in the Library in 2012 and specific details will be posted on this website so keep checking the WAGS Library forum.
Julie Martin
Hon. Librarian
|
