Fundamentals of Acquisitions FAQ
Q. Who should take this course?
A. Students range from novices with no library experience to seasoned librarians who are new to acquisitions. We also get students with no current acquisitions responsibilities who just want a better understanding of the process. Some students are catalogers, collection development managers, or library directors. Some of the students are professional librarians; others are paraprofessionals or library school students. Students work in various settings: academic libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, public libraries, as well as for publishers and vendors. We've had students from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii as well as international students from Europe, Asia and the Middle East. So as you can see, there is a wide variety of students in each course. This diversity leads to very interesting dialogs in the discussions, assignments and chat sessions. Even students with prior acquisitions knowledge learn something new.
Q. Does this course cover serials and electronic resources acquisitions?
A. No. This course only covers the basics of acquisitions, notwithstanding the format. Other courses dealing with specific formats are being developed.
Q. Is it necessary to participate in all four chat sessions?
A. No. Participation in the chat sessions are encouraged but are not required. Many students have prior commitments or cannot participate due to time zone differences. The Chat Log is posted within two days of each chat session. Students who are unable to participate in a given chat session can read the log and post a reply to respond to any of the comments or to ask for clarification.
Q. I am a library or technical assistant and do not have a graduate degree in library science. Will I benefit from this course?
A. Yes. Students range from novices with no library experience to seasoned librarians who are new to acquisitions. We also get students with no current acquisitions responsibilities who just want a better understanding of the process. Some students are professional librarians; others are paraprofessionals or library school students. Students work in various settings: academic libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, public libraries, and special libraries, as well as for publishers or vendors. We’ve have students from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii as well as international students from Europe and Asia. So as you can see there is a wide variety of students in each course. This diversity leads to very interesting dialogs in the discussions, assignments and chat sessions. Even students with prior acquisitions responsibilities learn something new.
Q. The course calendar lists dates for completing each module. What if I fall behind?
A. This is a four-week self-paced course. The suggested calendar is posted to give you a sense of where you should be in the course at any given time. If for some reason a student falls behind, they have access to the course content for an additional week past the official end date. However, the instructors are not always available to answer any questions or respond to postings during that last week.
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