Acquisitions

Acquisitions is the process of selecting, ordering, and receiving materials for library or archival collections by purchase, exchange, or gift, which may include budgeting and negotiating with outside agencies, such as publishers, dealers, and vendors, to obtain resources to meet the needs of the institution's clientele in the most economical and expeditious manner.

• Acquisitions Section of ALCTS
  The mission of this section is to contribute to library service and professionalism by encouraging, supporting, and promoting those activities of ALCTS relating to acquisition and associated bibliographic control for all formats of information resources through purchase, lease, and other access methods and in all types of libraries.
• Ethics: Statement on Principles and Standards of Acquisitions Practice (ALCTS)
  Elements of best ethical practice for acquisitions librarians. --by the ALCTS Acquisitions Section Ethics Task Force, 1994.
• ISBN and ISSN Systems (ALA Library Fact Sheet 28)
  Brief history of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), explains how to get these identification numbers for your own publications.
• Sending Books to Needy Libraries: Book Donation Programs (ALA Library Fact Sheet 12)
  Lists resources for finding the various groups and organizations that accept book donations for distribution in the United States as well as in countries overseas.

Related Groups

• Acquisitions Managers and Vendors Interest Group
  Forum for acquisition librarians and vendors of library materials to engage in free flow of ideas. Sponsored by ALCTS Acquisitions Section.
• Automated Acquisitions/In-Process Control Systems Interest Group
  Provides a forum for discussing development and implementation of automated/in-process control systems in libraries.
• Gifts and Exhange Interest Group
  Forum for librarians to discuss gifts and exchanges. Considers legal issues, public relations matters, and administrative procedures that arise in the gifts and exchange process. Sponsored by ALCTS Acquisitions Section.