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Acquisitions

The ten year itch: changes in acquisitions and collection development practices since 1993

Jocelyn Priddey, senior manager, collection development, University of Queensland Cybrary

With assistance from staff in the information access service and in particular, Kerry Brezac

Focusing on:

  • Acquisitions at the University of Queensland Library in 1993

Compared with

  • Acquisitions at the University of Queensland Cybrary in 2003

Conjecture about

  • Acquisitions in the next ten years

Note: not covering document delivery or inter-library loan, the 'just in time' elements of library acquisition.

Acquisitions in 1993

The library environment:

  • Appointment of a new university librarian
  • Full library review foreshadowed for 1994
  • Eleven branch libraries
  • Predominately print based collections - books, journals, reference
  • Budgetary problems due to:
    • Rising prices
    • Currency fluctuations
    • A$450 000 deficit in serials budget

Acquisitions in 2003

The library environment:

  • Name change - library to Cybrary
  • Restructured
  • 13 branch libraries + university archives
  • Print book collection
  • Electronic reference services
  • 60/40 ratio electronic to print journals
  • Budgets always a concern
  • Honeymoon period for the A$

Technical services in 1993

How were we organised:

  • Technical services librarian
  • Acquisitions and accounts
  • Cataloguing
  • Total staff - 58.68 (EFT)

Technical services in 2003

How are we organised:

  • Technical services is dead, long live information access service!
  • Structure:
    • Executive manager, information access service
      • Senior manager, collection development
      • Manager, Innopac services
      • Manager, document delivery
      • Catalogue co-ordinator
  • Total staff - 35.25 (EFT)

Acquisitions 1993

What we did:

  • Ordered material in all formats
  • Accessioned material in all formats
  • Processed payments

Acquisitions librarian:

  • Managed acquisitions section
  • Managed workflow
  • Reported on expenditure of materials budget
  • Managed the business of acquiring resources
  • Negotiated with vendors

Acquisitions 2003

What we do:

  • Redefined acquisitions
  • Order material in all formats
  • Accession material in all formats
  • Create access
  • Process payments

Senior manager, collection development:

  • Manage serials team
  • Manage materials budget
  • Manage the business of acquiring resources
  • Negotiate with vendors

Statistics - 1993

  • Materials budget $6 460 832
    • Serials $4 647 255
    • Monographs $1 813 577 (reduced due to deficit in serials in 1992)
  • Orders
    • Serials 780 print subscriptions
    • Serials 675 subscriptions cancelled
    • Monographs 17 000 orders placed
    • Monographs 22 893 titles received
  • Serial live titles
    • 22 893 (including 53 CD-ROM subscriptions)

Statistics - 2003

  • Materials budget $14 253 000
    • Serials $11 144 000
    • Monographs $3 109 000 (mono vote protected)
  • Orders
    • Serials - cancelling duplicate subs (315 to date)
    • Serials - actively moving to electronic full-text
    • Monographs estimate 26 000 orders
  • Serial live titles
    • Print - 13 300
    • Approx 18 300 electronic unique full-text titles

Statistics - 1993

Statistics

  • Average book price A$75.00
  • Average serial price A$240.00 (ARL cost history US$161.00)
  • Exchange rates (27 August 1993)
    • USD 0.67
    • GBP 0.44
    • NLG 1.25
    • DEM 1.13

Statistics - 2003

Statistics

  • Average book price $84.50 - up 13 per cent
  • Average serial price A$542.00 (ARL cost history est US$347.00) - up 125 per cent
  • Exchange rates ( 27 August 1993)
    • USD 0.64
    • GBP 0.41
    • EURO 0.59

How did we manage the business of acquiring library materials - 1993

Manual acquisitions environment

  • PALS library system
  • Acquisitions module unsuitable
  • Orders tag used to advise users
  • Typed 5x3 order cards
  • Orders sent by mail
  • Accessioning and payment details on order cards
  • Serial accessioning and payments on k-sheets
  • Commitment and decommitment managed manually in ledgers
  • Financial reporting on QuatroPro spreadsheets

However

  • Connected to internet
    • 3 PCs - acquisitions and orders librarians + one shared
    • Orders librarian wrote 'e-mail has revolutionised our lives!'

How we manage the business of acquiring library materials - 2003

  • Innopac library management system
  • One PC per staff
  • Orders are placed with vendors by
    • EDIFACT - 51 per cent
    • E-mailed lists to major vendors - 45 per cent
    • Individual e-mails or fax to minor vendors - 3.5 percent
    • Snail mail - .05 per cent
    • Serial orders - 100 per cent e-mail
  • Commitment, accessioning, payment, financial reporting - all online

Selection tools - 1993

  • Global books in print
  • New title announcement slips from vendors
  • Publication blurbs in print

Selection tools - 2003

  • Vendor databases
  • New title announcement slips from vendors such as DA, James Bennett, foreign language vendors
  • Vendor subject profiles
  • Publishers blurbs
  • Publishers websites
  • Global books in print (less used)

Verification tools - 1993

  • Global books in print
  • Ulrichs periodical directory
  • Vendor databases
    • Blackwell's Connect
    • DA Direct
    • Co-op Bookshop
    • DataSwets
    • EbscoNet

Verification tools - 2003

Other processes - 1993

Approval schemes

  • Australian material
  • Law titles

Deposits

  • University of Queensland Press
  • AGPS

Out of print material

  • Subject based 'wants lists' produced annually sent to multiple subject specialist second hand dealers. Low success rate.

New language areas

  • Spanish and Korean material difficult

Gifts and exchange agreements

Other processes - 2003

Approval Schemes

  • Australian material

Deposits

  • University of Queensland Press
  • AusInfo (limited)
  • European Documentation Centre (law)

Out of print material

  • Web sites checked - ordered by e-mail

Gifts and exchange agreements

Ordering and delivery - 1993

Ordering

  • Country of origin purchasing
  • Paperback preference for binding of textbooks
  • Hardback preference for research material
  • PAL format required for videos (no NTSC equipment)

Delivery

  • Monographs via airfreight from overseas vendors
  • Resulted in disappearance of some vendors (eg James Thin Scotland)
  • Serials by post (some surface air)
  • Serials consolidation services under investigation

Ordering and delivery - 2003

Ordering

  • Reduced country of origin purchasing
    • Difficult to discern country of origin
    • Local vendors are competitive
    • Single European vendors
  • Paperback preference for majority
  • PAL and NTSC video formats

Delivery

  • Monographs via airfreight
  • Serials consolidation services

Payment and customs - 1993

Payment

  • Via draft for overseas
  • Via cheque for Australia

Customs

  • Managed by university customs agent
  • Cleared parcels arrive

Payment and customs - 2003

Payment

  • Electronic funds transfer
  • Via draft
  • GST

Customs

  • Managed by university appointed customs agents
  • Library involvement

Suppliers - 1993

  • Preference for using vendors instead of publishers and bookstores
  • Multiple vendors
  • Strong belief in using our buying power in the marketplace
  • Establish business partnerships

Suppliers - 2003

  • Preference for using vendors
  • Strong belief in using our buying power in the marketplace
  • Rationalised the number of vendors
  • Establish business partnerships

In addition

  • Consortia
  • Publishers / data-owners
  • E-journals aggregators

Expectations of monograph vendors - 1993

  • Invoice in currency of country of origin
  • Comply with agreed profile
  • Follow agreed supply specifications on
    • size of boxes
    • format of invoices
    • number of invoices per shipment
    • number of copies of each invoice
    • special labeling
  • Handle non-automatic cancellation of orders
  • Supply regular status reports
  • Supply regular new title announcement slips
  • Dedicated customer service contact

Expectations of monograph vendors - 2003

  • Basic points as for 1993

In addition:

  • Offer shelf-ready options at a competitive price
  • Not all vendor databases are created equally!
  • Need:
    • On order details
    • Bibliographic search
    • Pricing
    • Order claim/cancel
    • Selection tool and maintenance of profiles
    • Reports on titles ordered, amounts spent

Expectations of serial vendors - 1993

  • Invoice in currency of country of origin
  • Subscriptions on automatic renewal
  • Order number, title and renewal period to be quoted on invoice
  • Supply regular status reports
  • Supply annual serial titles catalogue
  • Dedicated customer service contact
  • Follow-up promptly on queries and claims
  • Continued development of vendor databases

Expectations of serial vendors - 2003

  • Subscriptions on automatic renewal
  • Order number, title and renewal period to be quoted on invoice
  • Electronic invoices
  • Dedicated customer service contact
  • Follow-up promptly on queries and claims
  • Enhanced vendor databases

Vendor expectations - then and now

  • Professional, business approach
  • Integrity
  • Open dialogue
  • Well set out orders
  • Prompt payment of invoices
  • Concise and informed correspondence
  • Prompt handling of supply problems

Major changes in the acquisitions environment since 1993 - summary

  • Unpredictable A$
  • Unpredictable library budgets - not kept pace with rising costs
  • Increase in libraries
    • Joining consortia
    • Joining buying groups
    • Tendering for supply services

Technology - changes include:

  • How we work
  • What we buy
  • Who we buy from
  • How much we pay
  • Expectations of our customers
    • Desk top delivery (where-ever the desk may be!)
    • 24x7

Library expectations

  • Expanded vendor databases
    • Online ordering
    • Order interrogation
  • Customised and additional services
    • Selected order reports delivered electronically
    • Shelf ready
    • Electronic invoices
    • Electronic journal hosting services
    • Expanded consolidation services

Commercial environment

  • Commercial journal publisher takeovers
  • Vendor mergers / buyouts
    • Blackwell / Swets (journals)
    • Blackwell Group / Academic Book Centre
    • YBP / Lindsey and Howes
    • ISA / RoweCom / Divine
    • Proposed Blackwell / Everetts (books)
    • Proposed SwetsBlackwell / Everretts (journals)
    • Little room for small players
  • Vendor liquidations
    • Faxon
    • Divine
  • Regional offices
    • SwetsBlackwell
    • YBP

The next ten years from an academic library perspective?

  • Journals
    • 90 per cent electronic
    • 10 per cent print
  • Books
    • Print
    • Supplemented with electronic in niche areas
  • Increased collaboration with
    • Vendors
    • Colleagues
    • Other libraries

Essay competition with the topic the academic library in 2012

  • Video-displaying walls
  • Situation room theatres
  • Learning cafeterias
  • 'Zoom atlas' to whisk user to other places
  • Learning incubators
  • Wireless and laser-enhanced access to collapsible laptops

Marcum, W 'Visions: The Academic Library in 2012', D-Lib Magazine, v9 N5, 2003

The ten year itch: changes in acquisitions and collection development practices since 1993

Conclusion:

  • Many changes
  • Many more to come
  • Challenging, frustrating, at times may 'drive you crazy' but never boring

Thank you for your attention.
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