The compilation of the encyclopedia S'su-ku Ch'uan-shu in the Ch'ing Dynasty was a major bibliographical endeavor aimed to consolidate all books. Naturally, it took careful scrutiny and organization of great quantities of books from ancient times in order to eliminate the unwanted materials and raise the quality of the compilation and to form a clear and coherent knowledge system for easy access by the scholarly community. In China, the first collectanea emerged in the Sung and Yuan Dynasties, and gradually developed during the Ming and early Ch'ing dynasties into a unique monographic system consisting of all sorts of literature. Had the editors of the S'su-ku Ch'uan-shu not paid great attention to its collation, they would have gone against academic trends, and would not have been able to deliver a work that consolidated all books. The collectanea is, after all, different from individual books. Prior to the collation of the S'su-ku Ch'uan-shu, most collectaneas were compiled by individuals, and very few could be considered good. This article discusses several aspects pertaining to the collation of the collectanea in the S'su-ku Ch'uan-shu, such as how collation was done, how individual books were categorized and how the editors determined which words, phrases or pieces of information would be deleted.