ACQNET: RE: How came you to Acquisitions? (1 response)

Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 11:04:57 -0400
From: Eleanor Cook (Appalachian State Univ.)<cookei_at_appstate.edu>
Subject: ACQNET: RE: How came you to Acquisitions?

[Editor's Note:This submission comes from the Chief Editor of ACQNET]

How I Got into Acquisitions Work

As a rising college senior majoring in sociology & philosophy, I had
to find a way out of fast food restaurant work. I knew my humanities/
social science background was not going to be anything but a
preparation for something else, but what?  So, I gave the burger
joint a 2-week notice and hit the pavement, looking for something
more meaningful.  I tried bookstores and other retail outlets,
banks, research companies, anything more intellectually stimulating.

Then I saw two library student assistant ads at the job placement
center on campus - Eureka! Working in the library sounded lofty and
grand to me - having grown up in a household of avid readers where
the trips to the library were a regular part of life.  Of course, I
had no idea what it might entail, and the large research university
where I was a student was far more complex than the public library
in the town where I grew up.  But, I was ready for anything.

So, I made appointments to talk to the two areas where the student
assistant jobs were available - the Microforms Reading Room and the
Acquisitions Dept.  Thank goodness I didn't get the job in the
Microforms Room - (the supervisor there had an unsavory reputation!)
and instead, I was delivered to good fortune and ended up under the
wing of Janet Flowers, one of the greatest names in library
acquisitions (in my humble opinion, and I know she will protest this
superlative!)

While I cannot say my initial goal in life was to be an acquisitions
librarian, once at home in my little student job at the university
library, I thrived.  First, I was delighted to learn that I did not
have to punch a time clock - they actually trusted me to write down
my hours on a timesheet!  Second, I got to hang out with witty and
well-educated people. I got to use my pathetic foreign language
skills. And, I made it my goal to not ever let a duplicate book order
slip by me.  Best of all,  they taught me to use a computer!  This
was in the early days of OCLC and I spend hours in front of  CRT
terminals - and thought it was really cool!

So, my very first exposure to library work was in acquisitions and
it is still my favorite part of the job to this day.  Since then, I
have also been a cataloger, have done bibliographic instruction and
of course, am neck deep in serials these days.  But, the acquisitions
part of the job is the best part to me.  In fact, that is why I have
hung on to the ACQNET editorial job all these years as I really do care
about acquisitions, and that is why ACQNET-L  was first started by
Christian Boissonnas, as a place for acquisitions people to talk about
acquisitions topics.  We continue to be a dying breed, and more
people than not stumble into the job because someone has to do it,
not because they always wanted to be an acquisitions librarian.

I think it would be fun for us to "look back" into the archives in
ACQNET and find what people said about this topic in the early 1990's
when ACQNET first was started. I encourage others to do this and
share what they find.

Eleanor I. Cook
Chief Editor, ACQNET-L
Serials Coordinator & Professor
Belk Library, ASU Box 32026
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608-2026
828-262-2786
828-262-2773 (fax)
cookei_at_appstate.edu

-----Original Message--------

Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 10:10:44 -0500
From: Patrick Bickers (U. of Missouri-Kansas City)< BickersP_at_umkc.edu>
Subject: ACQNET: How came you to Acquisitions?

Hello Colleagues,

Over the years, I have gotten the impression that most of us did not
start our librarian careers with the idea of being acquisitions
librarians. I became interested in acquisitions because my first
SLIS-student job was as a firm order clerk.  I would be curious to
know if most acquisitions librarians took a similar route, or if most
of us "inherited" our positions because "someone had to do it?"
Thank you for your comments.

Sincerely,

Patrick M. Bickers
Monographic Acquisitions Librarian
Miller Nichols Library
University of Missouri-Kansas City
800 East 51st Street
Kansas City, MO 64110
Phone: (816) 235-2225
Fax: (816)333-5584
email: bickersp_at_umkc.edu






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