1. LIB 630 Classification & Cataloging
Spring 2012
SELECTION & ACQUISITION
What difference
does it make,
and why should
I care?

2. What is the difference?
• Selection
– The process of deciding which materials should be
added to a library collection. Selection decisions are
usually made on the basis of reviews and standard
collection development tools by librarians designated as
selectors in specific subject areas, based on their
interests and fields of specialization. In academic
libraries, selection may also be done by members of the
teaching faculty in their disciplines. Very large
academic and public libraries may use an approval plan
or blanket order plan to assist selectors. Library
patrons also recommend titles for purchase, especially
in libraries that provide a suggestion box. The opposite
of deselection. See also: selection aid and selection
criteria.

3. And the other one?
• Acquisitions [note the plural!]
– The process of selecting, ordering, and
receiving materials for library or
archival collections by purchase,
exchange, or gift, which may include
budgeting and negotiating with outside
agencies, such as publishers, dealers, and
vendors, to obtain resources to meet the
needs of the institution's clientele in the
most economical and expeditious
manner.

4. So the one includes the other?
• Depends on who’s doing the definition!
– Selection of Library Materials
• Selection is at the heart of the collection development
process. This core function builds the library’s
collection for a particular user community. Skill,
knowledge, and the right tools are required to select
appropriate library materials and sources that meet
the needs of the community.
Collection
Development – Acquisitions
Training for
Arizona • After you have selected the library materials you
Public would like to add to your collection, you must acquire
Libraries them. The acquisitions process involves confirming
the details of price and publication, locating the item,
ordering it, and processing the item and the
paperwork once they arrive.
– Overview of Collection Development, Basic Functions

5. The Selection Process
• Not a blind,
random choosing
–Every school system should have a comprehensive
policy on the selection of instructional materials. It
should relate to and include all materials; for
example, textbooks, library books, periodicals,
films, videocassettes, records, audiocassettes, and
CDs. The reason should be obvious: haphazard
patterns of acquisition will result in waste because
some—perhaps many—materials will overlap in
content, or will be unrelated to changing patterns
of instruction.
• WHY DO I NEED A POLICY?, American Library
Association Workbook for Selection Policy Writing

6. Basic components of a selection policy
• Objectives
• Responsibility for Selection
• Criteria
• Procedures
• Special Areas
• Policies on Controversial Materials
• Reconsideration
– ALA Workbook for Selection Policy
Writing

7. Sample selection objective
• Primary objective:
–to assist in the implementation,
enrichment, and support of the educational
program of the school system by selecting and
providing:
• Educational materials that reflect today's society
• Educational materials in all formats (printed, nonprint,
electronic) on all levels of difficulty, with diversity of
appeal, which reflect a variety of viewpoints
• Educational materials that satisfy the curricular needs as
well as the individual recreational and research needs of
the student, faculty and staff
– Provided by Becky Nelson of Hearn Elementary School in
Frankfort, KY. See the Kentucky School Media Association
website for Sample Policies

8. AASL’s official view
• AASL guideline
– Graphic from “The Collection,” by David
Loertscher, Library Media Connection, Nov./Dec. 2009.

9. Legal responsibility
• In most states, the locally elected or
appointed school board, by law, has
broad powers and responsibilities in
the selection of instructional materials.
This authority should be delegated by
policy to appropriate professionals for
day-to-day exercise.
– Responsibility for Selection, ALA
Workbook for Selection Policy Writing

10. Who does the actual work?
• The school librarian alone?
• The teachers or school administration
alone?
• Or is it a collaboration?
– “Materials review and selection go hand in
hand. To make the best use of funding, the
media specialist must work collaboratively with
the teachers to identify needs, review existing
resources, select new materials, and build
effective learning environments.”
• Information Access & Delivery: Materials Review
and Selection

11. Who has the professional expertise?
• Teaching faculty?
• School Administration?
• School Librarian?

12. Loertscher on collaborative selection

13. What about parents?

14. Criteria for selection
• Criteria (plural—the singular is
criterion)
– For the subject matter covered, your policy will
include criteria, and the application of criteria,
relevant to your objectives: excellence (artistic,
literary, etc.), appropriateness to level of user,
superiority in treatment of controversial issues,
and ability to stimulate further intellectual and
social development. Consider authenticity,
appropriateness, interest, content, and
circumstances of use.
• ALA Workbook for Selection Policy Writing
• See General and Specific Selection Criteria in
the KSMA Sample Selection Policy

15. Developing and understanding criteria
• Materials review
– These are projects that focus on particular
learning standards, thematic topics, or
instructional units.
• Regular Selection Practices
– Library media specialists are constantly
accessing review sources, attending
conferences, and reading review periodicals.
These are a regular part of locating current
materials.
• Short Term and Long Term Goals
• Information Access & Delivery: Materials Review
and Selection

16. Specific criteria for evaluation
• Authority
• Scope
• Format & Technical Quality
• Authenticity
• Treatment & Arrangement
• Aesthetics
• Price
• Suitability
• Special Features
– For definitions see Hearn Elementary Library
Media Center Selection Policy on KSMA

17. Problem
• How do we evaluate when we don’t have the
material in our hot little hands?
– Professional Review Journals
• [Several] online sources are recommended as
tools to locate reviews. Most are considered
professional review journals, e.g. Booklist,
Booklinks, [Multicultural Review], and School
Library Journal; however, some are
considered general popular review sources.
Keep this in mind when using these sources.
– Adapted and corrected from Garces Memorial High
School: Selection Criteria for School Library Media
Center Collection [there are errors in their list;
corrections and additions on the next couple of pages]

18. Other review links
From the
Assembly on
Literature for
Adolescents

19. More review links
This is Follett’s TitleWave

20. Another useful series ($$$, though!)

21. Selection Procedures
• Advice from
– Your procedures should describe all steps from
initial screening to final selection. They also
should include provisions for coordinating
among departments and professionals working
at different learning levels, etc.; for handling
recommendations from other faculty and
students; and for reviewing existing materials
(for possible replacement, etc.).
– Include at least a partial list of selection aids
(e.g., reviewing sources). You also may want to
list sources that should not be used.
• Procedures, Workbook for Selection Policy Writing

22. Crucial Caveat
• The Collection Isn’t Yours
– Each librarian leaves his or her mark
on a collection over a period of time, and it’s
impossible not to have opinions and
preferences—after all, as librarians we’re
asked to make judgment calls each time we
order something. We need to be aware,
however, of who we are and why we’re
ordering something. The important thing to do
is to support the community. After all, that’s
one of the main reasons I became a librarian: to
help people find the information they want and
need, even if it’s not what we want them to
want.

23. Censorship or selection?
• A classic article from 1953
– The real question of censorship versus selection
arises when the librarian, exercising his own
judgment, decides against a book which has
every legal right to representation on his
shelves. In other words, we should not have
been concerned with the librarian who refused
to buy Ulysses for his library before 1933—but
we do have an interest in his refusal after the
courts cleared it for general circulation in the
United States.
• Lester Asheim, “Not Censorship But Selection.”
Originally published in the Wilson Library Bulletin,
28 (September 1953), 63-67. Now available on the
website of ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

24. A Dirty Little Secret
• Self-Censorship Happens!

25. Don’t go nuts about a book!

26. Librarian, Know Thyself!
• Four Questions to Ask Yourself
1. Why should I make my selection
process transparent?
2. What can I do to protect both students
and the First Amendment?
3. How can I help students understand
global censorship without imposing
American values?
4. Why must I confront my deeply held
beliefs?
• Debbie Abilock, HomePage, Knowledge
Quest, 36, no. 2 (Nov/Dec 2007)

27. What is “Acquisitions” really?
• What is involved with acquisition?
– Acquisition involves a number of tasks. First,
develop a knowledge of the suppliers and select
a jobber. A positive relationship with your
vendors can be very important. Next, process
requests and monitor the expenditures. Finally,
maintain clear records of your purchases. You'll
want to acquire materials quickly and keep the
process simple.
• Program Administration:
Acquisition

28. The Nitty-Gritty of Acquisitions
• The process
1. Collect Orders
2. Search and Verify Bibliographic
Information
3. Choose an Option for Placing Orders
4. Assign a Purchase Order
5. Place the Order
6. Bookkeeping
7. Receive Materials
8. Return Books (if necessary)
9. Process the Books
10. Make Payment
• Acquisitions

29. Learning &
Media v. 35 no. 2
(Spring 2007)
MARC= Machine
Readable Cataloging
(used by computer
catalog)

30. The big dilemma

31. THE END