Library & Information Science, Course 266: Collection Development.
Dr. David Loertscher
Fall 2003
c9 acquisition.html
Hints for writing this chapter
In this chapter, you should describe how items gain entrance to the library collection either as owned, leased, or as "access to" items. Below are some sections you may address in this chapter.
1. Describe the criteria an item must meet to gain entrance into a collection. These criteria are often available in the policy statements of the library and address such things as currency, authority, accuracy, appropriateness for the intended audience, etc. If there is no written policy, you can find these criteria in any textbook covering acquisitions.
2. Most libraries set up a system of reviewing tests through which an item must pass to gain entrance into the collection. Describe the review sources the library uses to ascertain whether an item is quality. This may include professional periodicals that review materials (list them), quality bibliographies used (give samples), recommendations of faculty/patrons (describe how this happens), the expertise of the librarian, etc. In other words, describe the process by which an item finds itself into the position of "will purchase." Many libraries have consideration files of approved items awaiting the actual purchasing step. And these files may be subdivided into priority purchases matching your proposed collection map or items for first purchase, second purchase, etc. as long as the money holds out. Also describe the role of publishers catalogs, sales persons, and conventions or show exhibits that try to affect what you purchase.
3. Describe who has the responsibility for acquiring items in the library (a single person, a department) and then describe the system that person or group has set up to actually acquire a physical item. You might include a flow chart that shows the journey of an item from its recommendation to purchase, through the bureacracy of preparing for purchase, creation of purchase orders, receiving, cataloging, and advertisement of its acquisition to patrons.
3a. Describe a few details about the acquisition such as choice of jobber, format (paperback, reinforced paperbacks, library binding, processing cataloging information, specifications, discounts, etc.)
4. Now, try your hand at actually selecting an item that you have judged of high enough quality to warrant purchase. These can be new items or older ones. Include a list of at least 10 items. Give their correct bibliographic citation (sufficient for a jobber to find the item you want and actually ship it to you - this usually demands the use of the ISBN #) Write an annotation for each item defending your choice.
5. Describe how an electronic item is acquire in the library defined as a service for which there will be a contract that is ongoing from year to year/month to month, etc. Descrite what happens if a library subscribes to a service for a while and then cannot afford to keep the service going for a year and then gets the money to re-connect. What happens during the year of non-payment?
6. Describe the method of creating "access to" items for items not actually purchased by the library. Who screens these items and how do they get added to the "catalog" or portal.
7. Describe how items are deselected or weeded from the collection.
8. Conclude by discussing how the library tries to get the most bang for its buck as it tries to acquire the best information for the most patrons at the most reasonable prices.
Streaming media available
1. Acquisition: A short definition of the process of acquiring physical and electronic items for a collection.
2. Publishing Your Own Book: A description of how to become an author. Builds understanding about the world of publishing.
3. Jobbers. Working with wholesalers to acquire materials for the library
4. Purchase Orders. Understanding the actual purchase process for materials.
5. Contracts. Understanding the way libraries commit to electronic information.
6. Approval Plans. Ways libraries work with jobbers and publishers to acquire groups of materials.
7. Formats. Information comes packaged in hundreds of ways. Libraries must choose among a wide variety of types of media in a variety of forms.
8. Cooperative Collection Building. Introduces ways groups of libraries can work together to build collections collaboratively.
9. Weeding. An introduction to discarding materials from the collection.
Helpful Web Sites for Acqusitions
• Professional article (c9e.pdf): Arlen, shelley, et.al., "Web Tools for Collection Managers," Collection Building, vol. 17, no. 2, 1998, p. 65-70. - Helpful web sites for acquisitions are listed and discussed.• Professional article (c9f.html): Bybee, Patricia A. Frade, Shannon L. Hoffman and Robert S. Means. "A Net Full of Tools for Collection Development and Technical Services." CHOICE, Annual 1998 v35 nSUPP p39(10).
Abstract: An overview of Internet sites is presented focusing on tools for materials selection, cataloging and collection development which are particularly helpful to libraries. These sites are organized into several categories including online bookstores, general library selection/acquisition sites, library book vendor sites and book sale sites. Some examples of the sites are the Library of Congress Cataloging Directorate, Autocat, ITS - MARC, Bibliofind and SERIALST.
Acquistions in General
• Professional article (c9f.pdf): Diedrichs, Carol Pitts. "Notes on Operations: Rethinking and Transofming Acquisitions: The Acquisitions Librarian's Perspctive," LRTS, April, 1998, p. 113-125. - Roles and responsibilities of an acquisitions librarian.• Professional article (c9g.pdf): Fleishauer, Carol. "Collections and Acquisitions Work: Stripped to Essentials; Discovering the Essence," Technicalities, vol. 18, no. 4, April, 1998, p. 7-9. - Basic tips for acquisitions.
Working with Vendors
• Professional article (c9b.pdf): Goodyear, Marilu and Adrian W. Alexander. "Libraries As Customers: Achieving Continous Improvement Through Strategic Business Partnerships," Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory, vol. 22, No. 1, p. 5-14, 1998. - Discusses how to create business partnerships with the major vendors from which the library purchases its materials and information.
What formats should you acquire?
• Professional article (c9c.pdf): "Electronic Collections Online Is Here," OCLC Newsletter, July/August 1997, p. 24-34. How can we provide journal articles to patrons? OCLC is experimenting with full text delivery if you already subscribe to a specific journal title.
Archiving materials as an acquisition strategy
• Professional article (c9d.pdf): Terry, Jaron. "OCLC Begins Electronic Archiving Pilot Project," OCLC Newsletter, March/April, 1997, p. 21-24. - Archiving documents and making them available world-wide is a new frontier in the digital world. Here is one experiment description from OCLC.
International markets
• Professional article (c9h.pdf): Martin, Murry S. "International Collecting," Technicalities, vol. 18, no. 4, April, 1998, p. 12-14. - Understanding the internation book trade.
Deselection/Weeding
For School Librarians:
• Website: SUNLINK Weed of the Month ClubThe SUNLINK Weed of the Month Club is an effort to help provide Florida's School Library Media Specialists with guidelines and suggestions for weeding their collections a little at a time as well as for adding quality materials. The project idea and specific suggestions came from other media specialists via LM_NET, a listserv for library media specialists, and SUNLINK's Weed of the Month will parallel a similar effort taking place throughout the country. A section of school library media collections will be identified each month as a weeding target.