Acquisition+of+New+Materials

Acquisition of New Materials  The direct responsibility for the selection of materials lies with the professionally-trained media specialist who knows the needs of the curriculum, the methods of instruction, the wide range of abilities and individual differences of the students, as well as their interests.

Once materials have been selected by staff or requested by customers, the acquisitions process begins - that is, locating the right item, ordering it, and processing the item and the paperwork once they arrive. Sometimes it is still necessary to do what is called “verification” which is the process of verifying the exact author, title, price, publisher and ISBN for a book or the relevant information for another type of format. With the availability of vendor online databases containing inventory information as well as reviews, most libraries have minimal verification work to be done. Selection and acquisition may or may not be separate processes, depending on the size of your library and staff.

Although acquisitions procedures may vary depending on the library’s mission and resources, all libraries have some goals in common. These include acquiring materials as quickly and economically as possible and minimizing the amount of paperwork, filing and follow-up needed. Effective working relationships with vendors are very important as well. In a small library where only one or two people handle the entire acquisitions process, some strategies work better than others in achieving these goals.

**The Principles of Acquisitions** In 1994, ALCTS (Association for Libraries and Technical Services) a division of the American Library Association prepared and adopted the [|Statement on Principles and Standards of Acquisitions Practice.] This statement grew out of a concern for ethical issues in the acquisition transactions especially for university libraries whose materials budgets often run into the millions of dollars. 1. gives first consideration to the objectives and policies of his or her institution; 2. strives to obtain the maximum ultimate value of each dollar of expenditure; 3. grants all competing vendors equal consideration insofar as the established policies of his or her library permit, and regards each transaction on its own merits; 4. subscribes to and works for honesty, truth, and fairness in buying and selling, and denounces all forms and manifestations of bribery; 5. declines personal gifts and gratuities; 6. uses only by consent original ideas and designs devised by one vendor for competitive purchasing purposes; 7. accords a prompt and courteous reception insofar as conditions permit to all who call on legitimate business missions; 8. fosters and promotes fair, ethical, and legal trade practices; 9. avoids sharp practice; 10. strives consistently for knowledge of the publishing and bookselling industry; 11. strives to establish practical and efficient methods for the conduct of his/her office; 12. counsels and assists fellow acquisitions librarians in the performance of their duties, whenever occasion permits.
 * In all acquisitions transactions, a librarian:**

**Acquisition Procedures** The following steps in the acquisition process used to be very distinct operations but increasingly these steps are actually skipped entirely or are combined with other steps so that the entire process is less labor intensive than it used to be. Inform the media committee and faculty that an order is being developed. Send a form on which faculty members may list needed materials. Faculty may suggest materials introduced during training sessions. These sessions help teachers design lessons that meet the Georgia Performance Standards. It is very important for the media center to provide materials that are useful and needed to help their students succeed. In addition to materials requested by faculty, the media specialist should draw from his/her own knowledge of the collection, and may use sources such as reviews and lists of various award books. Vendors such as Follett are also a good source of information, and are very useful when building a balanced collection. Books that help students develop a lifelong love of reading are an important consideration when gathering an order. Materials that do not circulate are a waste of valuable funds. The requesting staff member is the one responsible for making sure the item is needed. Verify that bibliographic request information correlates with item being ordered. The first choice for most items, especially trade books and routine types of library materials, should be the primary vendor used by the library. However, the ultimate decision regarding the source for each item depends upon a number of variables that must be weighed by the acquisition person. These variables include how quickly the item is needed, which source has the best price or discount, the cost of shipping, how easy the ordering process is likely to be, and how reliable the various sources have proven to be in the past. Not all libraries are required to use purchase orders. If you do use them, then even if ordering online one must indicate a purchase order number. With online ordering some libraries use a single purchase order number for each fiscal year for their major vendors. The details of placing the order depend on whether your acquisitions system is automated, either electronically, by fax or by mail. Every order for a book should include complete and accurate bibliographic information. Increasingly this is actually supplied from the vendor’s database. The complete bibliographic information is not necessary because the acquisitions personnel will find the book with all of its detailed information. When the order arrives along with the invoice, the books or other items should be checked against the invoice or packing slip and the purchase order or other record of the order. It is then determined which items are to be kept and which items, if any, are to be returned. It is important for the media specialist to have a good working relationship with the personnel in the school office. Materials ordered through funding other than the media center may be delivered to the media center. The media specialist is often responsible for inventory of materials not ordered with media center funds, and therefore needs a complete set of ordering information that only the office has. Some materials are specific to certain programs and are only to be used by those programs. It is important to know the final destination of these materials, and to label materials properly. When receiving technology equipment the county technology team must be notified prior to the arrival of the equipment. The technology team will need to designate time for the installation and maintenance of technology equipment. As you receive shipments, you may find that there are materials that should be returned, including defective books and errors in title, edition or quantity. If you have not processed the book, most vendors agree to accept it as a return. Anything returned to the vendor should be accompanied by an explanation of the problem and what action is requested (a credit or a replacement book). When negotiating agreements with vendors, be sure to consider their return policy and the needs of your library. When negotiating a contract with a vendor, shipping fees are often negotiable and that includes both the fees for shipping items to you as well as the return fees. The materials have to be stamped (one or two places), bar coded or otherwise processed, unless the vendor provides those services. If you expect to return or dispute any items, do not process them. When books have been received, do your best to deliver payment within 30 to 60 days of delivery. Some vendors even offer additional discounts for prompt payment. Invoices should be checked carefully for shipment or discount errors before they are paid. Adjustments for returned or undelivered items should be taken into account.
 * 1. Collect Orders**
 * 2. Search and Verify Bibliographic Information**
 * 3. Choose an Option for Placing Orders**
 * 4. Assign a Purchase Order**
 * 5. Place the Order**
 * 6. Bookkeeping**
 * 7. Receive Materials**
 * 8. Return Books (if necessary)**
 * 9. Process the Books**
 * 10. Make Payment**



http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/resources/collect/acq/acqethics.cfm http://www.lib.az.us/cdt/acquis.aspx Savannah-Chatham County District Media Specialists Handbook, dated 8/19/2009. 
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