Managing Acquisitions in Library and Information Services, by Liz Chapman

Liz Chapman, Managing Acquisitions in Library and Information Services. Revised edition. London: Facet Publishing, 2004. 150 pages. ISBN 1856044963.

As a fairly new division head, overseeing not only cataloging and catalog management, but also acquisitions and the systems department, I'm trying to learn more about the areas that I'm less familiar with. To that end, I've identified two books on managing acquisitions that we had in our library, including this one. I know it's a bit dated, but I wanted to read both, and I decided to read them in chronological order, so that I could see what has changed in that area.

Chapman's book is a good general overview of the acquisitions process. It's organized into ten chapters. After an introduction, there are chapters devoted to pre-order searching, the publishing environment, and ordering non-book formats. Chapman also discusses working with suppliers, the actual ordering process, and ordering items that are out of the mainstream, like standing orders, blanket orders, electronic resources, out of print and used materials, etc. She devotes a chapter to the receiving process, and then discusses issues related to finances, such as managing invoices and payments.

Much of the information is still current, but there have also been many changes since this book was published in 2004. I consider this book a useful resource if it's in your collection already, but I would seek out a more recent book on this topic if I were purchasing something. I plan to read Acquisitions in the New Information Universe: Core Competencies and Ethical Practices by Jess Holden next, and will be able to compare and contrast the two books.