Plan for Managing a Reference Collection

Beware of doing more than you need to do. You probably need a reference collection, not a full fledged library. Libraries are resource intensive and require lots of management. Collect and store only the information that you must have in-house. Let the national clearinghouses, and public and special libraries in your community do the job of organizing comprehensive collections.

Reference Collections

Organizing Information by Subject

• NAC Reading Room Subject Headings
• Reference Staff Subject Headings
• Press Office Subject Headings
• AIDS Knowledge Base TOC

Has your organization developed Subject Headings it would like to share?

Weeding

• Keep only current information. Get rid of old information.
• The primary source is more important that all the interpretations.
• If it’s indexed, you will be able to find it later.

Identify Source Information on Each Document

• Author
• Title
• Source and page #
• Date

Please tell us about how your organization manages it’s information collection.

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