Acquisition Process By Dr.

Grace Kamau

TOPIC 6 – ACQUISITION PROCESS

INTRODUCTION

Processing requests for materials involve several activities to ensure that the library acquires the
needed items as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Libraries would waste time and money if
they simply forwarded requests to the assumed/stated publisher or vendor. Inaccurate
information, duplicate requests, unavailable material and similar problems would generate
unacceptable costs for both library and the supplier (and would probably cause considerable ill
will). Each acquisitions department develops its own set of procedures to reduce such problems.
However, the basic process includes:

- Preorder
- Ordering
- Receiving
- Fiscal managing
- Record keeping

Acquisitions departments also have internal goals. Four common goals are:

1. To acquire materials as quickly as possible.

2. To maintain a high level of accuracy in all work procedures.
3. To keep work processes simple, to achieve the lowest possible unit cost.
4. To develop close, friendly working relationships with other library units and with
vendors.

Speed is a significant factor in meeting user demands and determining user satisfaction.

An acquisition system that requires 3 or 4 months to secure items available locally will create
aserious public relations problem.

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

A system that is very fast but has a high error rate will increase operating costs and will waste
time and energy for both departmental staff and suppliers. Speed, accuracy and thrift should be
the keywords.

Certainly, online ordering, electronic invoicing and credit card payments greatly enhance the
speed with which the department can handle much of the traditional paperwork. What has not
changed very much is the speed with which items actually arrive. The label “snail mail” is still
all too often appropriate for the shipping speed, unless one is willing to pay a premium price for
faster service.

ACQUISITIONS PROCESS - PURCHASES

Diagram

1. Request for processing

The first step in the acquisition process is to organize incoming requests in order to carry
out verification. Each library has its own request format. Normally a form is used to
organize the information. The information to be put on the form include:
Author
Title
Publisher
Date of publication
Edition
ISBN/ISSN
Other information which may be of interest to the library may include :
Requester’s name
Series
Vendor
Funding sources and
Approval Signature

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

2. Pre-order work

Bibliographic verification or searching consists of two elements:

- Establishing the existence of a particular item i.e. verification

- Establishing whether the library needs to order for the item i.e. searching.

Verification is aimed at searching whether bibliographic details of the item selected are
entered correctly i.e. identifying the correct author, title, publisher and other necessary
ordering data.

Searching is aimed at checking that the materials ordered are not duplicate copies of what is
already in the collection.

Integrated automated library systems make searching quick and easy except for determining
the need for additional copies. Many systems show ordered and received status in the online
public catalog, which tends to reduce the number of duplicate requests. Knowledge of main
entry rules will be an advantage e.g. Corporate authors, Conference papers, proceedings etc.

Occasionally, it is impossible to verify an item using submitted information. In such a case,

consult with the requester. If the requester cannot provide additional information, a subject
search may produce the verification. However, this can be slow and so not useful for urgent
orders.

Searching can be done from several files. The starting point is the OPAC – with the title.
Other files would be special collections, government publications, lost, missing or damaged
items. Online systems enable downloading of bibliographic data directly from the
bibliographic utility.

3. Ordering
Libraries today use computer-generated orders and store data electronically, thus
reducing the volume of paper associated with ordering activities.
Regardless of the method used to order materials, the vendor must receive enough
information to ensure shipment of the correct materials i.e.

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

Author
Title
Publisher
Date of publication
Edition
ISBN/ISSN
Price
Number of copies
Order number
Any other instruction regarding invoicing or methods of payment.
Before placing an order, three decisions should be made:
- Which acquisition method to use
- What vendor to use
- Where to get the money

Order Placement

After selecting a vendor, the staff member assigns an order number and decides which fund to
use for payment. Order numbers assist the staff in tracking the order.

As soon as the departmental head signs the orders, they are ready to be sent to the vendor either
electronically or by mail.

A report from the vendor should be received within 90 days. If orders are not received within this
period, then claiming should be done.

4. Receiving
Receiving orders though not difficult requires careful planning:
- Find the packing slip.
- Check each item against the packing slip as it comes out of the box.
- Check the physical condition of each item. Defective materials may be returned
for credit or replacement without prior approval from the vendor. Defects could
include missing or blank pages or improperly collated texts etc.

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau

- After determining the shipment as complete, proper marking takes place e.g.
stamping with ownership stamp:

Edges

Title page

Randomly inside the book

Last numbered page

Secret page

- Accessioning i.e. giving each item a unique number. This number together with
the title of the item are recorded in an accessions log (either print or online).
Today, linking the barcode in an item to its item record in a database
accomplishes the same type of inventory control with much less effort.

- The books are then catalogued and classified.

5. Payment
The last step in processing is approving the invoice for payment. Normally this requires
the signature of the head of the department or his/her delegate.
The library passes the approved invoice to the agency that actually makes the payment
e.g. issues cheques or any other mode of payment. This can be Procurement to Finance
(Accounts department). Rarely does the library make payments.

Acquisition Process By Dr. Grace Kamau