Acquisitions: Core Concepts and Practices, Second Edition

Jesse Holden

9780838914601

152 pages 
6" x 9"

As a discipline, acquisitions encompasses everything from purchasing and budgeting to enabling access to materials; and every format from books, monographs, and serials to e-books, subscription-based electronic resources, and beyond. In this guide, Holden boils it to down to its essentials while providing a strategic framework that introduces and integrates all aspects of acquisitions. Using a holistic, hands-on approach that’s as useful for working librarians as for those studying the profession, this book 

• provides an overview of acquisitions as a library profession, with a discussion of basic competencies, notions of ethics, and the organizing principle of “assemblage”;
• lays out a robust conceptual framework that unifies disparate aspects of acquisitions work and synthesizes its practical aspects;
• thoroughly examines content acquisitions in all formats, with an in-depth look at digital materials;
• covers such important trends as the rise of e-books, the ramifications of mobile devices as a mode of content access and interaction, demand-driven  acquisition, and shifting expectations regarding paid-for content;
• tracks advancements in technology, including the widespread implementation of discovery services for content searching;
• underscores the responsive service component of acquisitions as informed by user expectations, community feedback, and usage standards such as COUNTER and SUSHI;
• addresses budgetary issues such as changes in services offered by vendors and subscription agents, and the emergence of a “new normal” for budget constraints and expectations resulting from the recession; and
• looks ahead to what anticipated changes to acquisitions means for the future

Presenting a model that’s both comprehensive and flexible, Holden demonstrates how technical competencies and ethical imperatives can inform the day-to-day workflow of acquisition librarians.