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Acquisitions Go Global: An introduction to library collection management in the 21st century

Jim Agee, University of Northern Colorado, USA

…a great resource.
Library Matters

…recommend it to librarians.
Library Matters

 - the author brings a global scope, and global examples to the text
 - the text draws on more than a decade of authorial experience in acquisitions librarianship
 - the author discusses potential acquisitions problems and solutions
 - the author shares an awareness of rapid changes in the profession and provides suggestions to cope with changes responsibly
 - while the author was formally schooled in business, he recognizes that most acquisitions librarians are not and provides suggestions for accounting and financial transactions

This book is a guide that leads the reader through many aspects of a library’s collection including the user, current holdings, selection, and acquisition of new materials. The reader is also led to consider budgets, and how books are made available in 21st century markets. Methods for assessing library vendors are described. Practical details are frequently included; concepts and theory are alluded to but are not a major emphasis of the text. A global scope creates an inclusive mood for readers in developed or developing nations. The final chapter speculates upon acquisitions librarianship in the 21st century, on influences of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and increased computerization. This is a fundamental book for the student or practicing librarian, a book that shares much about acquisitions but admits an uncertainty about the evolution of the profession.

ISBN 1 84334 326 6
ISBN-13: 978 1 84334 326 4
February 2007
150 pages  234 x 156mm  paperback  
£39.95 / US$70.00 / €50.00

Usually dispatched within 24 hours

£59.95 / US$100.00 / €75.00

About the author

Jim Agee is the Technical Services Manager for Acquisitions and Serials at the University of Northern Colorado. He brings a dozen years of daily acquisitions experience to this position and this text. Agee taught graduate courses in Selection and Acquisitions for several years, he directed an ALA accredited MLS program, has given acquisitions seminars in Sofia, Bulgaria; Manila, Philippines; Pretoria, South Africa, and has travelled extensively visiting libraries in the US and other nations. Agee has written numerous articles and presented papers on librarianship, frequently focusing on acquisitions. He is involved with the American Library Association’s ALCTS and IRRT, and is a personal member of IFLA. Agee also serves as Editor of the Colorado Association of Libraries’ quarterly publication, Colorado Libraries. BA: Business Management, MS: Aviation Safety Management, MA: English, MLS: Library and Information Management.

Contents

Campus and community
 - Data to collect
 - Community analysis
 - Data collection techniques
 - Surveys
 - Focus groups
 - Special populations
 - Cyber café competition
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Collection evaluation
 - Two methods
 - Benefits of an evaluation
 - Collection management steps
 - User-centred evaluation
 - Collection-centred evaluation
 - Outcomes and goals
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Selection of materials
 - Selection tools
 - Publisher catalogues
 - Profiles and approval plans
 - Book reviews
 - Conference exhibits
 - Book fairs
 - Selecting local materials
 - Materials consideration file
 - Selection tools
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Collection management
 - Access versus ownership
 - Collection development
 - Database purchase cycle
 - Digital serial archives
 - Theory and practice
 - University examples
 - Off-site storage
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Financial considerations
 - Responsible purchasing
 - Serials inflation
 - External funds
 - Financial gifts
 - Hiring new employees
 - Outsourcing tasks
 - Negotiating discounts
 - Book exchanges
 - Book fairs
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Book chain development
 - Population shifts
 - Cultural memory and cultural repositories
 - Book chain development groups
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Vendor assessment
 - Multinational book and database publishers
 - Library vendors
 - Buying online
 - Local compromises
 - Vendor assessment
 - Chapter summary and daily tasks

Speculations about the future
 - Future acquisitions librarianship