Defining functional requirements for acquisitions records: Vendor metadata

Vendor records are one of the key components underpinning the acquisitions record in the integrated library system. Acquisitions and collection development practitioners increasingly need to record, access, and manipulate acquisitions vendor metadata for purposes not foreseen by the architects of current generation ILSs. The authors posit that vendor records can serve as an appropriate metaphor for the entire acquisitions record in the development of standards. The analysis of data elements and proposed grouping into fields, records, and metarecords suggests a direction for further development and enhanced functionality. The authors call on librarians, systems vendors, and materials vendors to engage in a dialog aimed at creating an accepted standard for vendor records that will meet the needs of all parties.     

Defining functional requirements for acquisitions records: Vendor metadata

Vendor records are one of the key components underpinning the acquisitions record in the integrated library system. Acquisitions and collection development practitioners increasingly need to record, access, and manipulate acquisitions vendor metadata for purposes not foreseen by the architects of current generation ILSs. The authors posit that vendor records can serve as an appropriate metaphor for the entire acquisitions record in the development of standards. The analysis of data elements and proposed grouping into fields, records, and metarecords suggests a direction for further development and enhanced functionality. The authors call on librarians, systems vendors, and materials vendors to engage in a dialog aimed at creating an accepted standard for vendor records that will meet the needs of all parties.     

An expert system for predicting approval plan receipts

This paper explores the use of expert systems technology in one aspect of library acquisitions, the approval plan profile. The methodologies for determining whether a requested title would be received on approval were encoded in an expert system. The system design and test is described. Some of the advantages to using expert system technologies and the difficulties which were encountered are described. The future potential of expert systems for library acquisitions is addressed. A selected bibliography is included.     

Nuts and bolts: acquisitions and cataloging at Kenyon

This article briefly describes the acquisitions workflow at a small, liberal arts college library as one possible method to utilize a book vendor’s online system. The discussion focuses on the logistics of the workflow and the interaction between the system and the library’s ILS. Outsourcing of cataloging and physical processing are also discussed.     

Notis acquisitions in operation

The acquisitions module of NOTIS (Northwestern Online Total Integrated System), implemented in 1971 at Northwestern University Library, is one part of a system which also includes cataloging, circulation, and patron access (LUIS: Library User Information Service). The module is comprehensive and provides for the full range of acquisitions activities including ordering, receiving, posting payments, claiming, and issue-by-issue check-in of serials. NOTIS is a sophisticated yet flexible system which has freed us from cumbersome manual operations.     

DOBIS/LIBIS acquisitions subsystem in operation at King Fahd University of petroleum and minerals

DOBIS/LIBIS is an integrated online library automation system developed jointly by the University of Dortmund in West Germany and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Its acquisitions subsystem has been in operation at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, located in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, since May 1986. This paper provides an overview of the system design and functions available for acquisitions control, including strengths and weaknesses.     

Contract acquisitions: Change,technology, and the new library/vendor partnership

This paper outlines some of the technological and other changes affecting library/vendor relations. It explores in particular one possible result of these changes, contract acquisitions, i.e., libraries contracting with private sector vendors to provide traditional acquisitions services. This article enumerates some of the issues to be considered and urges libraries and vendors to collaborate more closely than ever before.     

Utilizing syllabi to support access services and beyond: A case study

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Library receives copies of all course syllabi to provide a number of services to faculty and students related to acquisitions, access, collection development, subject liaison, and library instruction. Access services and acquisitions staff, as well as subject liaison librarians, work together using specific workflows to ensure that subject-relevant materials are selected and purchased on an ongoing basis and access needs are met by course reserves or the learning management system. Additionally, the library works closely with the NYUAD Bookstore, which also receives textbook orders, to ensure that students have access to all required and supplementary materials on the first day of classes.     

Catalog outsourcing at Wright State University: Implications for acquisitions managers

In 1993, the administration of the Wright State University Libraries decided to outsource its cataloging operations to improve the quality and reduce the costs of cataloging. A number of alternatives were considered and rejected; outsourcing was deemed to be the most appropriate solution for WSU. The decision was influenced by the business management literature that advocates radical reengineering of processes. Although some acquisitions processes have been performed for years by vendors, these processes should be reexamined and questioned, especially with the rise of electronic publishing. Increased outsourcing of acquisitions may be one answer. Even with outsourcing, acquisitions managers will still be required, but they will need a broad set of skills and qualities to face the new electronic environment. These skills are outlined and discussed.     

Acquisitions for distance education: An Australian experience

This article explores the changing patterns of library service for distance students in Australia, focusing in particular on the experience of one institution, the University of New England. The authors identify the main phases of development in acquisitions policy and practice, resulting from educational and economic changes as well as professional initiatives. They draw on research findings to highlight the problems associated with a distance education program that is based solely on the library resources of the enrolling institution. The article concludes by discussing the shift that is now occurring from a locally based service centered on one institution to a cooperative system of support involving various libraries.     

Walk in my shoes: The case for a practicum with a publisher

Library acquisitions is, in many ways, a business to be managed. Practical experience, as well as thorough grounding in theory, are essential for an efficient, cost-effective acquisitions operation. The author's experiences as a publisher, after many years in librarianship, convinced her that library school students would benefit from a practicum in a publishing business. In such a setting, they would be exposed not only to business practices and decisions, but also to many libraries' acquisitions departments. Such training is not institution specific, and a student could see the full range of acquisitions activities from a non-traditional perspective.     

To the ends of the earth: Acquisitions work in the Library of Congress overseas offices

The Library of Congress maintains six overseas offices for acquisitions and preservation purposes. The offices are located in Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Pakistan and collectively acquire, catalog, microfilm and deliver hundreds of thousands of documents per year to the Library of Congress and over one hundred Cooperative Acquisitions Program participants. The article focuses on the acquisitions, cataloging, automation, and preservation roles of the offices, in addition to the Cooperative Acquisitions Program. A brief profile of each office is given at the end of the article.     

以Aleph500为例谈图书馆集成系统对采编流程的影响

论文介绍了Aleph500系统的采访和编目流程，以AlephS00对我馆采编工作的影响为例，分析了图书馆集成系统对采编流程的影响及未来编目工作的发展方向。     

Education for acquisitions and serials librarianship: The students' view

This study analyzes 27 student essays provided in response to examination questions on whether or not courses in acquisitions and serials should be included in the library school curriculum. The preponderance of student opinion supports a course in serials. Such a course should take a broad and integrated view of serials, encompassing serials publication and distribution, new technologies associated with serials, serials management and processing in libraries, serialsbased information services, and administrative, budget, and policy issues associated with serials. The majority of students did not support a course in acquisitions. Although recognized as an important library function, acquisitions was seen as lacking in “appropriate academic content” for the format of a three credit-hour course.     

Institutional ties: developing an interface between a library acquisitions system and a parent institution accounting system

Automating the financial interface between a library acquisitions system and a parent institution accounting system is beneficial for both the library and the institution. This article highlights how automated interfaces have evolved in the past decade and discusses the many issues related to planning and implementing such an interface. Those issues include: securing institutional approval, programming, library system setup, file management, and other local decisions. The need for standards and the impact of Internet commerce are evolving issues for a paperless interface.     

Who’s number one?: evaluating acquisitions departments

This paper is a first attempt at articulating the criteria that characterize acquisitions departments at the forefront of book acquisitions. Scoring values were assigned to each of these criteria in an attempt to provide acquisitions practitioners with a framework within which to assess progress on improvements in a numerical way. These criteria are intended to stimulate discussion among acquisitions professionals about ways to improve their own acquisitions operations and to identify high-performing acquisitions departments. This paper was written in the hope of encouraging wider participation in acquisitions discussions among working professionals in the field and to begin the identification of best acquisitions practices.     

Collection development based on patron requests: collaboration between interlibrary loan and acquisitions

Libraries are exploring new models of collaboration between interlibrary loan, collection development, and acquisitions. This paper presents two models in which libraries set aside acquisitions or other funds to purchase books requested by patrons through ILL processes. Workflows, scope criteria, and departmental relationships are described. The article reports on several aspects of the effectiveness of these models, such as turnaround time (comparable to traditional ILL loans), average cost per book ($37.00), and patron satisfaction (very high). The authors also address the subsequent circulation of titles and report on the bibliographers’ analysis of the relevance of the titles to the collection of one of the libraries.