ACQNET v4n017 (March 22, 1994) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/serials/stacks/acqnet/acqnet-v4n017 ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 4, No. 17, March 22, 1994 ====================================== (1) FROM: Barbara Winters SUBJECT: Acquisitions profession (46 lines) (2) FROM: Steve Murden SUBJECT: Acquisitions profession (22 lines) (3) FROM: Catherine Wolfson SUBJECT: Acquisitions profession, LC's series tracing proposal (38 lines) (4) FROM: Alison Hunter SUBJECT: _BIP_ searching (22 lines) (5) FROM: Nancy Boggess-Korekach SUBJECT: _BIP_ searching (16 lines) (6) FROM: Catherine Wolfson SUBJECT: STBS (23 lines) (7) FROM: Special Libraries Association SUBJECT: SLA Job Service (20 lines) (1)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Barbara Winters (Wright State Univ.) Subject: Whither acquisitions librarians? Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 23:09:17 -0500 Christian, you've raised a very important question. I sat down to frame a response and then realized that I'd actually have to THINK about the issues first. (It seems to me that one characteristic of acquisitions librarians -- let me be more precise -- one of MY characteristics is that I can be such a "take action" person that I sometimes forget to think about what we're doing. I used to have a quotation taped to my desk to remind me of my propensity to do this; it said, "Don't just get a job done; think about what you're doing.") Big changes ARE in the air. I too have been trying to keep on top of them. It has also been my experience that acquisitions librarians are noticeable by their absence in discussions of the issues. I do not understand why this is so, since it is we who are best positioned to MANAGE the change, to take the lead as information mediators. It's not easy. What I'm writing here has almost no substance, and yet it has taken me 2 hours to get this far in my thinking....My whole cosmology is going to have to change. I will no longer be able to hand a copy of the Joe Hewitt article (as worthwhile as it still is) to "outsiders" to justify my own existence. Have we become passionless? Or unable to think about things in a different way? Are we demonstrating passive resistance? It almost seems to me that we have been -- you know, I'll just ask people which music vendor they prefer so I won't have to think about where I'll be when the change comes....I do know in all my reading of the re-engineering literature that _thoughtful_ people can often resist change. We are poised on the verge of a whole new definition of librarianship -- one which we can help write. We have the opportunity to make librarianship (notice that I didn't say "acquisitions librarianship") extraordinary. I realize, as I write this, that I don't have any answers yet -- just more questions. I need help gathering answers. The ALCTS/AS Acquisitions Organization and Management Committee is going to poll acquisitions librarians in the next couple of weeks to see how jobs are changing so that we can be "in front" of the change, preparing ourselves and our colleagues to manage it rather than to be swept away by it. My hope is that, together (in community), we will be able to find our own voice. (2)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Steve Murden (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.) Subject: Acquisitions profession Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 09:36:56 -0500 This is in response to Christian's query about what acquisitions librarians are doing these days. I agree with Barbara Winters and her tyranny of the urgent; I have to agree with her - I learned it at her feet. And yes, other specialists are faced with too much to do and too many urgent needs. One of the big differences, I believe, is in the failure of administrators to appreciate the complexities of what the average acquisitions librarian actually does. Most people had cataloging in school, and even if they absolutely hated it (and most people seemed to), they developed an appreciation for the intricate, detailed, and time-consuming aspects of that specialty. Too few librarians were ever taught anything substantive about the acquisitions process in library school. I think there is a perceived belief that _all_ we do is order and receive materials, with no recognition of the complexities involved in obtaining the kinds of materials that we do acquire. And if we are doing our jobs well, they are never aware of that complexity. Does anybody else buy into this theory? (3)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Catherine Wolfson (Univ. of Arizona) Subject: Acquisitions profession, LC series tracing proposal Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 14:53:25 -0500 [For those who may not know, the Library of Congress introduced a proposal this winter to discontinue the tracing of most numbered and unnumbered series and asked for comments from the library community. -- C.] I did post a message about the LC series and possible lack of tracing, to SERIALST, pointing out that I am aware of at least two different ways that people need to search serials--at least those that are both serial and monographic in nature. An example is _ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES_. If you are working in acquisitions, you need the full bibliographic citation, author(s)/editor(s), title, date, AND full series with the series number. If you are working in Reference, you will help patrons who have citations from online or CD-ROM-bases databases, which will cite _ANNALS_ just like any journal, giving only _ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY_... plus a volume number. Our OPACs need to have full enough information to satisfy both ways of searching. This leads me to the next point. I know about Reference and patrons needs first-hand. Why? I work 8 hours per week on our Reference Desk. Why do I do that? Partially because I enjoy it. But also I have basically been told to do so by my immediate supervisor, our Associate Librarian, and by our Head Librarian. Again, why? Because my day-to-day unglamorous slogging (but oh, so necessary) acquisitions work is not "professional". How about that, all you out there in ACQNET land? Have you ever been told that our work is unprofessional? So I spend a fifth of my nominal 40 hours per week doing something not directly related to my primary responsibilities. And just as my 40 hour week is most often more, the Reference part often is more than 8 hours. So between acquisitions's "tyranny of the urgent" and the Reference Desk, I feel like a sandwich. So I don't contribute as much as I would like to, to ACQNET, to print literature, to creating and leading workshops at conferences, etc. (4)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Alison Hunter (James Cook University) Subject: _BIP_ searching Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 20:44:17 -0500 There are all sorts of factors to consider here, and obviously my situation (eg. who requests material, what sources they have access to) is different from others, but I would be extremely reluctant to stop pre-order checking (Ours are checked on BTLink World edition, Whitakers, Bibliofile and other bibliographic sources, by experienced para-professionals. Giving our library suppliers a guaranteed correct ISBN, I'm sure, enables FASTER supply by them, and avoids the need for to-ing and fro-ing with them about O.P. titles, variant editions. We also find enough variations in author's names, title/subtitles etc to justify a pre-order check, for the sake of suppliers, our users (who have access to on-order material in our OPAC), and to avoid double ordering by mistake. The key to it is the speed and effectiveness of our pre-order checkers. I'm not a fiend for accuracy for its own sake, but believe that in verifying, I can supply a better overall service for our users and suppliers. (5)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From:Nancy Boggess-Korekach (Vanderbilt U.) Subject: _BIP_ searching Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 09:08:07 -0500 This is in response to the question: do you search orders in _BIP_ if publication date is over 3 years ago? We search _BIP_ (domestic and foreign) only if we found no record for the title on OCLC and/or the bibliographer did not supply a price on the request form. Since our bibliographers are very good about supplying us with a price, our BIP searching is minimal. We have not had a problem with our vendors not sending us a title just because a particular edition is out of print. Usually they will supply us with another edition and we just make the changes to our bibliographic record when we verify the title at the point of receipt. (6)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Catherine Wolfson (Univ. of Arizona) Subject: STBS Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 14:53:25 -0500 This is a comment on the message from Mary McLaren about Gordon & Breach titles. We, too, use Faxon. Our quick and dirty (as far as I am concerned, VERY dirty) solution is to obtain proof of payment from Faxon for our G & B/STBS titles, and claim them direct. We also started 2 new subscriptions with 1994 which Faxon had not yet paid for. We are asking G & B to invoice us direct. We only have 7 titles published by G & B/STBS. We consolidated all our journals with Faxon beginning in 1993. It's not worth it to us to put these 7 titles with another vendor. Besides, I don't trust G & B not to pull the same thing with another vendor. I have already put a plea in with our Collection Development officer, and our Head Librarian, to scrutinize the use of these 7 titles VERY CAREFULLY. I am going to continue to scream, cry, gnash my teeth, etc., in hopes that these titles will be seen as no longer worth the effort. (7)------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Special Libraries Association Subject: SLA Job Services Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 16:44:54 -0500 Do you want to make a career change? Are you seeking career advice? Register for SLA's Career Advisory Service and Employment Clearinghouse. Offered during Special Libraries Association's Annual Conference, June 11)16, 1994 in Atlanta, GA, the Employment Clearinghouse and the Career Advisory Service provide you with strategies to meet your career goals. A compilation of job openings will be sold immediately after the Conference. Conference attendance is not necessary to register with the Clearinghouse. To post a job announcement with the Clearinghouse or for more information concerning SLA's career and employment services, contact the Professional Development Section at (202) 234-4700. ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 4, No. 17 ****** END OF FILE ******