Section on Acquisition and Collection Development

Annual Report 1994-1995

Standing Committee and Section Membership

Projects

Questionnaire

1) Library/publisher/vendor relations: cooperation so that the library perspective can be better represented
2/3) Changing organizational structure and management of acquisition and exchange departments (including the impact of collection development)
2/3) Coping with budget cuts and materials price increases
4) Cooperative collection purchases among libraries: who is doing it, how is it working?
5) Impact of electronic journals on acquisitions decisions
6) De-acquisitions and weeding; how is this handled in libraries?
7) How libraries rate the strength of their collections: defining Conspectus terminology and numerical ratings
8) How are archiving functions of electronic journals having an impact on acquisitions work?
9) Use of electronic indexes to identify journals for purchase
10) Methods used by non-former Soviet Union countries for identifying materials for exchange and where they can acquire them.

In addition, respondents were asked to include topics that had not been included in the original questionnaire. Twenty other topics were suggested by those responding to the questionnaire. Ms Bloss then numbered these suggestions sequentially with the topics of the questionnaire, providing the Standing Committee with 20 topics in total, to be treated as research projects, a programme or a workshop.

International Exchange of Non-Official Publications

This project is still to be completed.
Judy McDermott (USA) will try to get a final report which can be considered an "historical snapshot", in that the project was conducted prior to the major changes in Eastern Europe.

Collection Management

As a result of the questionnaire distributed, the SC members agreed that a new project dealing with collection management was appropriate. Judy McDermott will work on the design of the project.

Publications

Newsletter

Two issues of the Section's Newsletter were published and distributed. Michael McLaren-Turner was editor.

Section Brochure

A new edition of the Section's brochure was printed in English. The Standing Committee is preparing translations into IFLA's working languages.

International Exchange of Publications 1990-1995

The next edition of the title is in computer form and will be distributed in the Section's Newsletter rather than as a separate publication.

Barcelona Workshop Papers

The proceedings of the workshop held in Barcelona, Spain on 26 August 1993 were edited by Ulrich Montag and issued as IFLA Professional Reports No. 48 with the title,

New Ways of Information Delivery and their Impact on Libraries: Problems Solved or Problems Multiplied?

The Barcelona workshop was held as a follow-up to the 1990 Stockholm workshop on the results of publishers' differential pricing policy towards libraries. The 1990 Stockholm workshop illustrated that trends towards new media created many new problems for libraries. The Barcelona workshop therefore addressed these issues. Topics covered include electronic publishing and the acquisition crises in academic libraries; information delivery challenges; the publisher's view of information provision; and preservation and new ways of information delivery.

Handbook of International Exchange of Publications

The Standing Committee continued discussions with the Section on Government Information and Official Publications on pursuing a new edition of this title. The Section will first identify an author before requesting funds for this large project from the Professional Board.

Future Conferences

Beijing 1996

The Standing Committee plans to offer a programme on the theme, "Economics of Acquisitions". Sub-themes will include selecting materials, pricing, the effects of budget cuts; business practices such as licensing, and the decision to use a vendor or publisher for acquiring materials. Standing Committee members Dora Biblarz (USA), Ann Okerson (USA), and Jim Vickery (UK) will work on the programme planning committee.

Copenhagen 1997

SC members agreed to hold an open programme and a workshop. The open programme will focus on collection development and will include such topics as policies within a library to include deacquisition and weeding, cooperative collection management, cooperative purchases, and networking collections. For the workshop the tentative topic would be "The Changing Organizational Structures of Acquisitions Departments". These plans will be finalized during the Beijing Conference.

Istanbul Meeting

Workshop

The Section held a workshop entitled "East-West-East: Recreating Procedures and Resources for Collection Development from Eastern European Countries". The workshop examined the problems facing librarians in both East and West in collection building from each other's areas in the immediate post-Communist era. It considered how Western librarians are developing new sources for material from the East and how librarians from the former Eastern bloc are facing the problems of funding for purchasing from the West. It looked at the prospects for continuing mutual aid and support. The workshop fell into two parts: the morning sessions consisted of formal presentations, and, in the afternoon, the topics raised were opened up to wider contribution from the floor in a panel-led discussion. The discussion was led by Ms Mariya Vedenyapina of the Rudomino Library of Foreign Literature in Moscow, and Ian McGowan, Librarian of the National Library of Scotland. The day's work was summarized by Ms Marianna Tax Choldin of the University of Illinois at UrbanaȘChampaign. Although it is fair to say that the subject of the workshop proved too specialized to encourage a great number of attendees, it attracted specialists in the field and provided a useful opportunity for discussions of issues of concern, which still, four years after the collapse of communism, seek a satisfactory resolution.

Open Session

The Division of Collections and Services presented an open programme on "Providing Access to Collections and Services in a Time of Change" and this theme was related to each of the five components of the Division (Acquisition and Exchange, Government Information and Official Publications, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Serial Publications, Newspapers, and Document Delivery and Interlending). The programme was held over two sessions. Jim Vickery represented the Section with the paper, "Acquisitions in an Electronic Age: Building the Foundations for Access".

Papers presented

Acquisitions in an Electronic Age: Building the Foundations for Access
by JIM E. VICKERY

Abstract:
The nature of acquisitions work and the role of the traditional acquisitions department are undergoing re-evaluation as new technology and electronic media become increasingly important. This paper examines the function of library acquisitions in relation to accessing electronic information, with particular emphasis on non-serial research material. The special problems involved in acquiring electronic publications and accessing material on electronic networks are discussed. The paper also reviews the use of automation in the acquisitions process, and the benefits of the electronic transmission of acquisitions data. The author recommends making full and flexible use of acquisitions expertise in tackling the new challenges, thereby promoting a coherent approach to accessing research literature in libraries.

Echanges internationaux avec les bibliothèques de l'est
by MARIE AVRIL

Abstract:
The paper gives a Western view of the state of international exchanges in the light of the fall of communism in the USSR and its satellite countries. It looks at how exchanges were continuing at different levels according to the influence of differing factors in various countries and concludes that, on the whole, the scope and quantity of exchanges with a given country depend essentially on personal contacts, visits, and on the mutual wish of colleagues to continue cooperating.

Problems Facing CIS Libraries in Collection Building - Following the Disintegration of the Soviet Union
by TATIANA ERSHOVA

Abstract:
The paper focuses on the same problem from a Russian point of view. The collapse of the Russian and Soviet book trade is inhibiting Russian libraries from providing a proper service to their Western exchange partners, and in building up their own collections of Russian-published material. Since the Russian libraries themselves are unable to know with any accuracy what is being published, how can they inform Western partners? The lack of copyright deposit copies for exchange purposes, and the inability of librarians to purchase material on the open market only serve to increase the difficulties of managing exchanges.

However, Russian librarians are actively trying to develop new sources of supply, both for exchange and for their own collection building, by dealing directly with the publishers themselves, which is a complicated and time-consuming process, and by recreating a wholesale book distribution system, which may be based upon "Tsentrkinga". It might also be possible to establish regional centres for the purchase and distribution of local literature. As for foreign acquisitions, it is likely that Russian libraries will be constrained for some considerable time to come by the lack of foreign currency.