ACQNET v8n019 (May 21, 1998) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/serials/acqnet/acqnet-v8n019.txt ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 8, No. 19, May 21, 1998 ======================================= (1) FROM: K. Henderson SUBJECT: RE: Courses That Includes Acquisitions (ACQNET 8:17) (60 lines) (2) FROM: S. Gower SUBJECT: Providence New Media (26 lines) (3) FROM: M. de Vidas SUBJECT: Acquisitions education (24 lines) (4) FROM: E. Cook SUBJECT: Acquisitions "Work station" and how people are using this concept (32 lines) (1)-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 07 May 1998 13:26:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Kathie Henderson (Univ. of Ill. Champaign-Urbana) Subject: Re: Courses That Includes Acquisitions (ACQNET 8:17) Course That Includes Acquisitions: I have already replied personally to Mr. Bickers concerning his lament about the lack of courses in acquisitions. Although the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign does not have an entire course devoted to acquisitions, I have for the last 17 years taught a course which covers acquisitions in some detail. It is entitled Technical Services Functions and in addition to covering technical services in general does also give consideration to preservation, acquisitions, and serials control. We study acquisitions areas that deal primarily with monographs, nonbook materials, and electronic resources for six weeks with another 3 weeks devoted to serials control. We use collection development as a bridge between preservation and acquisitions. During our study, we are visited by vendors from both the monographs and serials areas. While I am sure that there are areas that we don't cover in as much depth as some would like, I have found that students get an overview of technical services including acquisitions when the scope of the course is larger than just one aspect of the technical services. Since we have whole unit courses in cataloging which are enrolled in by most students, we do not cover cataloging in any depth in this course although, of course, we do relate aspects of the course to cataloging. This is an elective course so not all students in the school enroll in it. In fact, most of those who do enroll do so in order that they may work effectively with all areas of the library rather than for the reason that they might want to be actively engaged in technical services work. There is a mentoring component to the course. Each student is given two practicing technical services librarians with whom they may "converse" throughout the semester via e-mail. If students indicate that they are particularly interested in acquisitions, they are assigned mentors who work in acquisitions or serials areas. We have an extensive syllabus that is updated each offering to cover each of the areas, too. The semester is just ending and in the last session, a number of the students, when asked to relate what was most important to them in this course, said that the course gave them an overall picture of librarianship. They also felt they would be able to see relationships between various parts of the library and more effectively work with other departments. Some specifically cited acquisitions as an area in which they had become increasingly interested in through our study. We hope that we are contributing at least in some measure to the understanding of acquisitions functions. The electronic era brings new challenges to acquisitions and we try to include these newer responsibilities with which our new graduates will be faced along with the more traditional functions. Kathryn Luther Henderson, Professor University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science henderso@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (2)---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 03:26:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Sharon Gower (Bond Univ.) Subject: Providence New Media: Can Anyone Help Me! Until February this year, we ordered our Laser Discs through Providence New Media who are a United States company. On the 19/2/98 I received an e-mail message from them stating: "Effectively immediately! Providence New Media will no longer ship to AUSTRALIA". There was no explanation or personal communication regarding my outstanding orders and I have since e-mailed them several times asking for an explanation without any response. Until this time if I e-mailed them I would receive an answer within a couple of days -- however, they are definitely ignoring my e-mail messages. Their web page is still up and running; however there is no indication of the problem noted there. Can anyone help me as to what has happened to this company that they have done a complete about-face and have turned from a very reliable supplier to one who doesn't even have the decency to reply to my e-mail requesting an explanation? Any help would be appreciated as I'm not getting any from the source. With thanks, Sharon Gower Senior Library Technician - Acquisitions Bond University Library Australia (3)---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 20:17:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Mireille de Vidas Subject: Acquisitions education [Ed. note: See the above discussion!] I am currently an MLS student and I have a multiple part question which I would like to pose to the list regarding acquisitions and collection development: How important is a course in acquisitions/collection development to an MLS candidate? Is it important that a student have an understanding of acquisitions theories and practices despite the area of expertise he/she may wish to focus upon? To those currently working in acquisitions, if you hold an MLS, was there a course in acquisitions which you were required to take? Was this course useful to you? Why or why not? And, in your opinion, why do more library schools not make this course a requirement? You've all been so helpful with my past inquiries and I thank you in advance for your input on this one. Sincerely, Mireille de Vidas (4)------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21-MAY-1998 21:44:52.54 (EDT) From: Eleanor Cook (Appalachian State Univ.) Subj: Acquisitions work stations Dear Colleagues: I am preparing for a presentation at the June 1998 ALA Annual Conference dealing with the "acquisitions work station." I would like to hear from library staff and librarians about how they are using this concept in their everyday work. We hear alot about the "Cataloger's work station" but how does this concept transfer to acquisitions work? If you are utilizing unique concepts into your work flow that I should know about for this presentation, please reply to me and describe them to me. I would like to get an idea about what kinds of changes are occurring in the day-to-day work of acquisitions - both those who order monographic and serial materials. My assumption is that staff are finding opportunities to "multi-task" using Windows applications, and are using web-based products, both remote sites and local, to aid them in their daily quest for ordering information. Please respond directly to me with any innovations you would like to describe. I will summarize for ACQNET and also will make materials related to the presentation available at a later date. Thanks much, ################################################################# Eleanor I. Cook 828-262-2786 (wrk) NEW PO BOX Serials Specialist 828-262-2773 (fax) & Belk Library, PO Box 32026 Area Code! Appalachian State University Spring '98 Boone, NC 28608-2026 cookei@appstate.edu ################################################################# ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 8, No. 19 ****** END OF FILE ******