Tales From Timberline: The 2011 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge

The 2011 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge delivered a packed schedule of timely and interesting presentations on compelling topics for acquisitions and collection development librarians, publishers, and library vendors. The cozy lodge provided a perfect environment for relaxed conversation on topics such as patron-driven acquisitions, e-books, and library collaborations, while late snow flurries and a cloud cap hid Mount Hood from attendees’ eyes.     

The case for acquisitions standards in the integrated library system

Acquisitions metadata within current library integrated systems is not based on any standard; rather, systems vendors generally define structure and content according to proprietary approaches. The authors argue that this cripples library acquisitions practitioners and managers in numerous ways. It renders routine tasks more difficult, jeopardizes the integrity of data during system migration, forces adoption of costly external tracking solutions, and hinders efforts to manage collections and budgets. The authors define acquisitions standards and relate them to existing bibliographic and e-commerce protocols. They discuss reasons for the lack of acquisitions standards and outline first steps in a project to develop them. This paper is based on a presentation given at the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, Fourth Annual Conference, held 17-20 May 2003.     

LibStatCAT: a library statistical collection assessment tool for individual libraries & cooperative collection development

The following presentation to the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge focuses on LibStatCAT, a prototype collection assessment tool under development at Portland State University. Our presentation explores the current uses of LibStatCAT, as well as future developments of LibStatCAT as a regional library data farm for comprehensive assessment of library collections and services for individual libraries and cooperative collection development. We share a variety of other collection assessment tools in use at Portland State University Library.     

The 2013 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge

The 2013 Acquisitions Institute at the beautiful and historic Timberline Lodge in Oregon had absorbing presentations encouraging attendees to apply their values to inclusive collections that serve diverse communities, maximize the use of technology in services, and discern value in the products used and collections built. Updates from publishers, stories from collaborative collecting and sharing efforts, and citation analysis showed attendees a bigger, nuanced picture of resources and their use. The inaccessibility of electronic resources for patrons with disabilities was a sobering surprise for attendees. Materials allocation plans and valuing collections in new ways from various perspectives sparked provocative discussion throughout the conference.     

Experiments and Experiences in Liaison Activities: Lessons from New Librarians in Integrating Technology,Face-to-Face,and Follow-Up

As is the case in many university libraries, Albertsons Library at Boise State University, has hired many new librarians to replace retiring librarians. These newer librarians, typically with less than 3 years’ academic library experience, are actively engaged in meeting the opportunities and challenges of subject liaison responsibilities using innovative Web-based tools. This article addresses liaison experiences with faculty-directed blogs, personalized faculty research pages, a wiki-based liaison manual, and the use of LibraryThing as a collection development tool. An overview of these efforts confirms that new technologies are only as good as the face-to-face communication and the follow-up that accompany their implementation. Much of the content in this article was presented at the 2007 and 2008 Acquisitions Institute conferences at Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood, Oregon.     

The 2012 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge

This year the Acquisitions Institute was held May 19 through May 22, 2012, and brought together approximately eighty people from around the country. Seventeen presentations on acquisitions, collection development, and collection management were delivered over two days, with breaks, meals, and optional fun events providing ample opportunity to socialize and network. Written by a first-time attendee, this article describes the sessions of the 2012 institute.     

Electronic order request submission at UF libraries: Three pilot programs

This paper deals with three online selection/order pilot programs conducted in the Acquisitions Department at the University of Florida Libraries between 1989 and 1991. The first two projects explore the possible real-time generation of order requests and the desirability of updating the status of the order requests in the preorder stage. The methodology used in these two projects was (1) transmission of order requests from selectors to the Searching Unit of the Acquisitions Department via the NOTIS online library system and (2) online communication between selectors and the Searching Unit staff regarding the searching status prior to order creation. The third pilot investigates the feasibility of nonlinear file manipulation and report generation in the preorder stage. Double Helix, a Macintosh-based relational database program was used to test its ability to create reports needed by collection management and acquisitions staff. The benefits and limitations of the three pilot programs and future plans are also reported.     

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.     

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.     

Standing still or moving forward?: Demands and Directions in Australian Acquisitions Education

This was the introductory paper at a workshop held in Melbourne in July 1989 on demands and directions in Australian acquisitions education. The paper reviews a previous seminar on orders work and the main areas of concern identified in 1984. It explains the purpose of and context in which “Guidelines for Collection Development Courses in Australian Library Schools” were prepared and distributed. Areas in which progress might be made at the 1989 workshop are identified; these relate to professional and Paraprofessional aspects, the content of acquisitions courses, and modes of delivery. Finally, the establishment of a Working Party on Acquisitions Education is proposed, and tasks for such a group are listed.     

Cataloging on Receipt for Monographs: Merging Cataloging and Acquisitions Functions at UCLA

Institutions have sought to improve technical services workflows by merging some acquisitions and cataloging functions in different ways and with varying results. Those institutions’ experiences with the merging process contrast with the process implemented at UCLA. At UCLA a process of cataloging on receipt was planned and implemented in the Print Acquisitions Department, in cooperation with the Cataloging & Metadata Center. The process resulted in significantly faster delivery of print books from receipt to shelf for materials not batch packed for remote storage.     

Sleeping with the enemy: The love/hate relationship between acquisitions and collection development

Acquisitions and collection development represent a continuum in the process of purchasing materials for libraries. However, often there is a lack of understanding of the goals of each group as they work to build collections in libraries. This paper examines the interaction between the acquisitions and collection development functions in libraries by describing a series of common problem areas. Possible strategies for working together will be examined including priority setting, boundary definition, roles, mutual expectations and respect.     

The librarian's perspectives: What are the issues? a report on the presentation of Corrie V. Marsh

Corrie V. Marsh is presently Head of the Acquisitions Department at the George Washington University Gelman Library. A native of Texas with her undergraduate degree from North Texas State (now the University of North Texas), she received her MLIS from Louisiana State University. Corrie has worked in Collection Development and Acquisitions at LSU, Old Dominion, Georgetown Law Center, and Brown University libraries.Corrie has developed connections with out-of-print and antiquarian booksellers in locating and acquiring special collections, ephemera, and regional resources. She is an active member of the AAP-ALCTS Publisher-Vendor-Library Relations Committee since 1984, and is also on the newly formed ALA-AAP Out-of-Print Task Force. She is a member of the Charleston Conference Advisory Board, an associate editor of Against the Grain, and an editorial board member for Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory. Coorrie has written several articles as a reporter to LAPT, contributed book chapters to the upcoming ALA publication, The Business of Acquisitions, and Haworth Press's The Acquisitions Librarian.In 1988, Corrie was able to enhance her knowledge of the out-of-print book trade through attending the annual Out-of-Print & Antiquarian Book Market Institute in Denver. She has had ongoing discussions with Jake Chernofsky of AB Bookman's Weekly, seeking ways to improve networking among out-of-print dealers and librarians.     

Katina's baby: The Charleston acquisitions conference at 15

At 15, the Charleston Acquisitions Conference continues to be a success. It began as a regional conference with 32 participants and speakers and is now an international meeting with over 400 participants from the United States and other countries. The author first attempts to define an objective methodology for evaluating the success of professional meetings. Next he describes the conference and its evolution over time concentrating on the attendees, speakers, programs, publications, and he compares it to other acquisitions meetings. Finally, using the methodology developed earlier, the author discusses why Charleston is a successful conference.     

The Q formula: The flexible formula for library acquisitions in relation to the FTE driven formula

The purpose of this article is to identify the variables involved in the construction or selection of a formula to allocate library acquisitions funds to colleges and departments in a university; to summarize some of the key administrative issues relating to formula allocation, such as who should do the allocating, how the allocations should be determined, and the amount of the total acquisitions budget that should be allocated; and to present examples of both a working and a theoretical formula. A case study of a medium-sized university (Youngstown State University) where a committee of faculty and students have allocated the acquisitions budget using an FTE (full-time equivalent) driven formula successfully for several years is examined. A Q formula, incorporating most known variables plus productivity in disciplines and average cost per title in each discipline, is also suggested as an alternative formula. This approach would be most applicable in four-year colleges or medium-sized universities. Comments on the problems of the realities of applying formula-generated budgets and their relationship to collection development are given by Susan Jacobson, Acquisitions Librarian, and Carol Wall, Public Services Librarian.     

Acquisitions in the nineties: Surviving the fragmenting future

Articles forecasting the effects of automation on libraries have only recently begun to recognize the impact technologies external to the library will have on the acquisition function and librarians in all parts of academic libraries. Although the technologies appear to be fragmenting the acquisitions process within and external to the library, these technologies offer options that will dramatically change how libraries serve their clientele. At this time, these options may preclude traditional organizational design. Acquisitions librarians and their peers in all library departments must explore and learn about these technologies and the information they can provide, and actively participate in the design of new services.     

Rave new world: Librarians and electronic acquisitions

This paper focuses on the role of librarians in the technological environment of the future. The accessing and collecting of information generated by electronic means and distributed by new electronic media and the attendant challenges presented to acquisitions and collection management librarians are discussed here. Librarians will experience changes in expectations of products and services of vendors and publishers. Vendors and publishers will make changes in what they offer to libraries to stay competitive in an age of electronic information exchange and delivery. Acquisitions librarians will find themselves straddling two worlds, the traditional and the electronic, to meet the information needs of contemporary library users.     

Staff involvement — the key to the successful merger of monograph and serial acquisitions functions at Clemson University library

Staff in both the Monographs Acquisitions and Serials Acquisitions units at Clemson University Library participated in planning and designing a combined Acquisitions Department. Focus groups studied functions to determine what could be combined or changed. Goals and guidelines for the merger were developed. Staff utilized information from a change management retreat to successfully implement the new organizational structure.     

A Structural Analysis of Media Convergence: Cross-Industry Mergers and Acquisitions in the Information Industries

This article analyzes structural changes in the information industries including publishing, broadcasting, film, cable, telephony, software and data processing, and the Internet in the era of "convergence" before and after 1996. The cross-industry network structure was mapped using annual data on mergers and acquisitions among information industry firms obtained from the Journal of Mergers and Acquisitions. A comparative network analysis of these ownership transactions indicated that the consolidating structure of information industries after 1996 was affected by both deregulation and digitization, and that telephone corporations played the most central role in the transformation of the information industries. As well, cable and Internet industries noticeably transformed their industrial relations over this time period.