Let Binders be Bygones: Topic Binders at a Cancer Hospital Library

ABSTRACT

For many years, The Learning Center library at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center maintained extensive topic binders on cancer types and related health topics. These large ring binders held miscellaneous print informational materials and were a complement to the library’s larger traditional consumer health collection of books, periodicals and AV items. Recently the binders were evaluated for their currency and usage and most of them weeded and discarded. Standards for maintaining the remaining binders and any future binders were established. The process for how these decisions were made may provide insight to other libraries utilizing a topic binder collection.

KEYWORDS:

• Cancer hospitals
• consumer health
• hospital libraries
• patient education
• ring binders
• subject binders
• topic binders