EPA Libraries Closing Down:
At Biolaw, Rebecca Bratspies reports that the Environmental Protection Agency is "deaccessioning" (i.e. closing) agency libraries thoughout the country. Many regional libraries are already shut down, and the main library in D.C. is slated to close to the public as of October 1. Public access to environmental information from the EPA will be limited largely to that material available on the agency's website and through other government databases, as well as through interlibrary loan with participating institutions.
By the way, when I did a work-study stint in a library forty years ago deaccessioning was the standard technical term libraries used to encompass all the legwork and paperwork that was required to eliminate a book or other item from the library's collection. My sister recently learned the term while earning her MLS degree. It really is a useful term.
The End is Near!
It really is a hideous word.
Deaccession is, as noted above, a term that has been in use for decades in collecting institutions such as museums and libraries.
Since there is a specific process for entering an object into the institution's collection, usually based on the institution's mission (accession), so too is there a defined process for removing an object (deaccession).
If you google "deaccession," you will get over 90,000 links.
"Think how many trees might have been saved had this bureaucracy never been created." That I wholeheartedly agree with. What's this about having printed documents that aren't available in digital form in the first place? Are they still using typewriters, or are they so inefficient that they can't store the word processed documents? Only in a government agency...