ACQUISITION OF
LIBRARY MATERIALS
ACQUISITIONS
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the means by which additions are made to the
library (Wulfekoetter, 1961)
The process of securing materials for the library
collection, whether by purchase, as gifts, or
through exchange programs (Evans, 2000).
Primarily concerned with the ordering, claiming and
receipt of materials for the library (Gorman, 1998).
tasks include obtaining materials by purchase, gift
or exchange; paying for or acknowledging receipt;
and maintaining appropriate records
The place of Acquisitions
in the Library Structure
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essentially a service unit for the public
services and must treat public services
departments and staff as customers to be
satisfied
works with the circulation department in the
preservation of the collection through
binding and rebinding and replacing lost, or
damaged, and worn-out materials
must work closely with the cataloging
department in materials processing in the
quickest and most economical way possible
The Acquisitions Librarian
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skills needed: knowledge of the
book and other media; knowledge of
the publishing trade; familiar with the
basic cataloging practices and policies;
managerial skills and business
competence
Four goals of the
acquisitions department
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To acquire material as quickly as possible
To maintain a high level of accuracy in all
work procedures
To keep work processes simple, to achieve
the lowest possible unit cost
To develop close, friendly working
relationships with other library units and
with vendors
Detailed Functions of the
Acquisitions Department
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Provide and maintain an up to date selection and order
tools appropriate to the needs of the library to include
publishers’ catalogs, trade bibliographies, etc. etc.
maintain files of materials on order/in process in such a
manner that will permit all staff members to use them
with ease
Perform pre-order bibliographic searching to avoid
duplication, obtain sufficient information to permit order
to be placed, and to establish the main entry that
probably will be used when the material is catalogued
select dealers or other sources for the purchase of
materials, preparing and mailing orders, making
provisions for the provision for the preparation of
cataloging copy
receiving, unpacking, sorting and checking in books
Detailed Functions of the
Acquisitions Department
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approving invoices for payment; maintaining payment
records
mechanical preparation of books such as entering marks
of identification and pasting book pockets/bar code labels,
date due slips
forwarding materials for cataloging
entering subscription orders, receiving and recording
periodical
Making follow-ups and claims for unfilled orders
Informing requestors of the availability of materials or
status of orders; preparation of New Acquisitions List
Searching for out-of-print materials
Materials selection
soliciting gifts and establishing exchange agreements;
maintaining appropriate records; receiving materials;
sending exchange shipments to exchange partners
Acquisitions Process
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Request processing
Preorder work/bibliographic
verification
Ordering
Request processing
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Receiving requests for materials
Organizing incoming requests
Checking for request details accuracy
Preorder work /
Bibliographic verification
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Establishing the existence if an item, which
includes determining the exact name of the
author, title, publisher, date of publication,
price, and where it may be acquired.
Determining whether the library wants of
needs a copy (i.e. replacement for lost or
damaged item, additional copy or duplicate
copy)
Some problems in
Bibliographic Searching
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Incomplete and/or incorrect
information
Variations in spelling of author’s name
Choice of main entry
Data supplied in the request
Ordering
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Firm Order
Standing order
Approval plan
Blanket order
Ordering workflow
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Before placing an order, the staff must decide on: which
acquisition method to use, what vendor to use and where to
get the money
Order placement and receiving : - vendor selection
- Preparation of Purchase Order (PO)
- assigning order numbers for control and tracking
- submission of orders through mail, fax or e-mail
- order receipt and verification
- claims and follow-ups
- receipt of ordered items
- checking deliveries against Purchase Order and packing
slip/list
- checking physical condition of delivered materials
- property marking by stamping or embossing
- approving invoices for payment
Some common problems in the
receipt of materials ordered
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wrong entries/data in the invoice
wrong edition sent
items ordered but not received
Items not ordered but shipped
Too may or not enough copies
Imperfect copies received
Forms, records and files
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Outstanding Order File
Standing Order File
Desiderata or Want file
Claims File
Requisitions, Vouchers File
Invoices file
Letter orders/Purchase Orders
Serials Check-in File
Accession Record
Dealers’ Payment Card
Financial Reports
Short Reports
Statement of Account
Credit Memos
Gifts/Exchanges Partners File
Delivery Receipts for On Approval titles
Methods of Acquisition
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Purchase and subscription
Gifts and exchanges
Deposits
Jobbers and vendors
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Jobber – a wholesaler who stocks
many copies of various kinds of books
which he supplies to certain retail
outlets and to libraries (Wulfekoetter,
1961)
can give customers both the short
discounts and the trade discounts
Concerns when making decisions
on which vendor to choose
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service (reliable agent, toll-free numbers, websites,
etc.)
quality of service – ask for references and check
ability to handle conflicts and problems
speed fulfillment and accuracy
discounts and pricing
company’s financial viability
ability to work with the library’s automation system
special services available
special service offered
Cooperative collection development
and resource sharing
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A mechanism which provides for two or more
libraries enter an agreement that each one will
have certain areas of “primary collecting
responsibility” and the exchange of such materials
with one another with no charges
Coordinated acquisitions whereby two or more
libraries agree to buy certain materials, and/or
share the associated costs and one or more
members houses the material
Joint acquisitions whereby the members place a
joint order for a product or service and each
member receives the product service
Benefits of Cooperative
collection development
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Increased potential for improving access
Greater possibility of stretching limited resources
Sharing that can result to greater staff
specialization with one person being able to
concentrate on one or two activities rather than five
or six with specialization resulting to better
performance
Promoting and advertising the cooperative’s
presence in the library program may reduce the
number if places a client will need to go for service
Though not thoroughly obvious, cooperative efforts
create improvements in the working relationships
among cooperative libraries