Fundamentals of Acquisitions 2023 - Session 5.0
Six-week online course that is a basic primer for library acquisitions concepts common to all library material formats. It covers:
- goals and methods of acquiring monographs and serials in all formats
- theoretical foundations and workflows of basic acquisitions functions
- financial management of library collections budgets
- relationships among acquisitions librarians, library booksellers, subscription agents, and publishers.
This course provides a broad overview of the operations involved in acquiring materials after the selection decision is made.
In FOA, we distinguish between collection development, which involves the selection of materials for the library; and acquisitions, which orders, receives, and pays for those materials. In many libraries, selecting and acquiring materials may be done in the same department—in the smallest libraries perhaps even by the same person. In larger libraries, selection may be done by a collection development department and/or designated subject specialists, while a separate department acquires the selected materials. In essence, acquisitions is the business operation, bringing materials into the library and licensing access to library collections and resources.
Because success in acquisitions depends on ability to collaborate, negotiate, and be flexible to work out win-win solutions with others, this course includes collaborative and social elements.
Format:
Students receive login instructions one week prior to the course start date. Students have 24/7 access to the course site for the six-week period, and aside from assignment and quiz deadlines, the course may be completed at their own pace. Instructors provide guidance and feedback as students work their way through the course material. Weekly, instructor-moderated chat sessions are the only live course events that students are asked to attend.
Registration for each course is limited to 20 people. For courses that are not sold out, online and fax registration ends at 12 noon CDT on the Monday before the course begins. Mailed registration forms must be postmarked by two Mondays prior to the course start date.
Core Code of Conduct:
Please review the Statement of Conduct before registering.
Tech Requirements:
A Moodle-developed site is composed of self-paced modules with facilitated interaction led by the instructors. There are predetermined start and end dates and a suggested pace which include interaction with the instructors and your classmates. Students regularly use the forum and chat room functions to facilitate their class participation. Section quizzes are offered and feedback given, however, there is no final class grade.
The course web site will be open for 1 week prior to the start date for students to have access to Moodle instructions and set their browser correctly. The course site will remain open 1 week after the end date for students to complete any sections and submit the course evaluation survey.
Credits:
Contact Hours - 24 hours
Core defines contact hours in line with the IACET standards on Continuing Education Units.
Certificates of completion are sent upon successful completion (passing score of 70% or higher) of the course.
Questions?
For questions about registration, contact ALA Registration by calling 1-800-545-2433 or email registration@ala.org.
If you are registering using a Purchase Order, please email registration@ala.org. Our registration department will send you an invoice for payment.
If you need a registration form, please email registration@ala.org. They will email you a PDF registration form.
For all other questions or comments related to this course, please contact Mia Blixt-Shehan, Core CE Assistant at mblixtshehan@ala.org.