The SCA Library Acquisition Process

Acquisition Policies and Guidelines

Acquisitions is the process of selecting, ordering, and receiving materials for library collections
by purchase, which may include budgeting and negotiating with outside agencies such as
publishers, dealers, vendors, etc. to obtain resources that meet the needs of the institution's
clientele in the most economical and expeditious manner.
It also refers to the department within a library responsible for selecting, ordering, and
receiving new materials and for maintaining accurate records of such transactions, usually
managed by an acquisitions librarian.
The SCA Library allocates appropriate budget for the acquisition of library materials suitable
for the program offerings of the school.
In general, one copy per title in the collection will be considered sufficient. Additional copies
may be acquired upon the discretion of the librarian. Factors that may affect the decision for
acquiring additional copies of titles are mainly the demand for the material, its availability in the
market, and budget concerns.

Criteria for Material Selection

The SCA Library has adopted the following criteria for material selection:
a. Materials shall meet the curricular needs of the school offerings based on book
evaluation records.
b. Materials shall be appropriate for the subject area and for the emotional development,
ability level, and social development of the students for whom the materials are
selected.
c. Materials that are recommended by faculty members to support specific course work.
d. Materials shall be recent following library standards as well as that of different
accrediting organizations.
e. Materials are selected by using selection tools, recommendations from administrators,
faculty, staff and students.
Collection Development
The librarian work hand in hand with the Faculty for the collection development but also
encourages the faculty, especially Coordinators in each department, to select materials to build
the collection.
The guidelines for materials selection for SCA faculty are as follows:
1. Faculty recommendations
2. Reviews of professional literature
3. Price and date of publication
4. Relation to current trends
5. Reputation of author and/or publisher
6. Strengths and weaknesses of SCA Library’s existing collection
The Library will select materials based upon researching the appropriate professional
literature, which consists primarily of:
1. Publishers’ leaflets, catalogs, brochures
2. Periodicals literature within various curricular areas
3. Standard reviewing sources
Replacement: The SCA Library will not automatically replace all materials withdrawn from the
collection because of loss, damage, or wear. Decisions to replace an item will be based on the
demand for specific titles in support of curriculum, number of copies on the shelf, subject content,
and the availability of newer and better materials on the subject.
 Copyright: SCA Library adheres with the provisions of the Philippine copyright law enshrined
in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (R.A. No. 8293). Unauthorized reproduction
(photocopy, scanning, etc.) of library materials is not allowed.
Serials: Selection and acquisition of serials and other periodicals adheres to the SCA Library’s
criteria for selecting books.
Non-Book Materials: Audio-visual materials, such as recordings, mounted pictures, slides,
microfiche, filmstrips, microfilms, films, CD’s, video cassettes and DVD’s are considered primary
materials. When acquired for the permanent collection, selection criteria are consistent with the
criteria used in selecting books. Responsibility for material selection is the same with that of
books in coordination with the Librarian.

Acquisition Process
The SCA Library collections are acquired through selection, outright purchases (requests).

Acquisition of Library Materials

A. Approval Plans (Materials for Examination)
An approval plan is a formal arrangement in which a publisher or bookseller agrees to
select and supply materials, subject to return privileges specified in advance, that fit a
library's pre-established collection development profile. Approval profiles usually specify
subject areas, levels of specialization or reading difficulty, series, formats, price ranges,
languages, etc. In SCA Library practice, we coordinate with booksellers for efficiency
purposes since they have direct contact and established credit lines with both local and
foreign publishers. We also sometimes go directly to local publishers if they have a
representative or contact person to transact with. In a slip plan, the vendor provides
advance notification slips (usually, price lists) instead of sending the actual item. In SCA
Library, selections made using this method are considered material requests wherein
recommended materials are ordered for delivery and will be processed accordingly.
The Acquisition librarian execute the following activities in facilitating acquisitions of
library materials:
1. Contact seller/s to deliver library materials for examination specifying priority
programs/subject areas.
Note: Selections from book fairs are also delivered for further examination.

2. Receive materials for examination delivered by seller/s.

3. Check materials delivered against delivery list.
4. Acknowledge delivery receipt.
5. Arrange delivered materials in shelves following the order in which they appear in
the delivery receipt.

6. Perform initial acquisition processing.

a. Reproduce (photocopy) delivery receipts in preparation for inputting.
b. Prepare and print control numbers (CTRL Nos.) indicating dealer company
identification (initials) and assigned book number as they appear in the delivery
receipt. We are using sticker paper in printing the CTRL Nos.
e.g. C&E
1
c. Create a general list of the delivered materials per bookseller using delivery
receipts as basis, also referred to as “list of library materials for examination”,
wherein the following activities are executed:
  Affix CTRL no. on material (usually on the spine at approx. 0.5 inch from
the bottom edge; or at the front cover at approx. 0.5 inch from the left
and bottom edge)
 Input materials delivered for examination using the MS Excel program.
Data inputted includes CTRL nos., number of title/s & volume/s, ISBN,
title of the material, author, copyright date, unit price and amount
 Collate materials to determine publishing errors/discrepancies.
Materials with publishing errors/discrepancies are subject for return or
replacement
 Identify to which allocated library collection budget will the material be
credited, e.g. Filipiniana, Professional References, Non-print, etc. This
data is also included in the general list at the column after “amount” for
easy reference.
 Perform initial book evaluation, wherein we determine as to which or
what program/department a title may serve. This is indicated at the last
column of the list.

7. Facilitate material selection.

a. Create a general list of library materials for examination per college/department
per program for dissemination to different department/colleges. This activity
involves reorganizing and revising the general list created in “step #6” by sorting
and grouping each title out per program, classifying them into different
colleges/departments. Seller information (initials) is added to the original basic
bibliographic data.
b. Coordinate with Library Director for dissemination and retrieval of lists to and
from the different Colleges/Departments.
Note: Deans and Program Chairs/Coordinators are requested to peruse the list
and select library materials for their respective programs. If selectors
would like to personally browse the materials, they are requested to visit
the TSU for this purpose; the retrieved list serves as request form.

8. Facilitate procurement of recommended titles.

a. Create a general list of materials for recommendation using the retrieved lists as
basis
b. Perform price (US $) verification on publishers’ websites
c. Coordinate list of recommended titles to the seller as well as any discrepancy in
prices
d. Request for documents (invoices, etc.) if necessary
e. Finalize list of recommended titles according to seller’s official documents
(delivery receipts, invoices, etc.)
f. Prepare summaries for materials being recommended for purchase for the
Purchasing and Accounting Offices respectively
g. Organize document attachments (lists, delivery receipts, invoices, etc.) wherein
titles being recommended for purchase are identified as to type of material
(graduate reference, professional reference, non-print, etc.) by putting
indicators (asterisk, check, etc.) at the left side of the title or highlighting titles
with different colors and creating/writing down the “legend” (what the
indicators/colors mean) on the same page for easy reference.

 Payment request is then forwarded to respective signatories’ offices

  Once and if approved, coordinate with Purchasing Office staff regarding
the Purchase Order (P.O.) of materials requested for payment
Note: A purchase order is the official record of an order placed by a library
authorizing a bookseller, jobber, dealer, or vendor to deliver
materials at a set price. In HAU Library practice, the P.O. is actually
an indicator of an approved payment request.
 Coordinate with Property Office staff for inventory of materials once
P.O. is released.
Note: The Purchasing Office directly releases the P.O. to the Property
Office.
 Coordinate with Property Office staff regarding Receiving Report/s (R.R.)
of the materials. The file copy of the materials recommended for
purchase is sent to the Property Office staff via e-mail to facilitate
printing of the R.R’s.
Note: Receiving Report is a document denoting that the materials are
considered University property, specifically that of the requesting
Library.
 Acknowledge the R.R. by signing on the space provided in the document
 The Property Office will then forward the R.R. to the Accounting Office,
if US dollar payments; and/or the Finance Office, if peso payments, for
the preparation of check payments
 Follow-up availability of payments from the Accounting

9. Processing materials for return.

Returns refer to materials not recommended for purchase. They also include
duplicate titles and disapproved payment requests. The following activities are
performed for this purpose:
a. Create a general list of materials that were not recommended for purchase per
bookseller
b. Segregate and organize in shelves the titles for return using general lists as
bases
c. Verify titles in shelves by checking against the list of returns in preparation for
pull-out
d. Finalize the list and print two (2) copies (one copy to be issued to the seller
upon pull-out and the other copy for the library’s records)
e. Inform seller/s on the availability of returns for pull-out
f. On the day of pull-out, have the seller/s check the titles against the list and
acknowledge receipt of returns in the library’s copy.

B. Request for Library Materials

The Acquisitions Unit accommodates and accepts request for the procurement of
library materials from administrators, faculty, students and other members of the SCA
community.
Requests may be made at the Office of the School Directress through the following
mediums:
 letter or e-mail – addressed to the librarian
 personal visit – fill out the “Request Form”
Written request for library materials should have the following information:
 Required: title, author, edition and/or copyright date
 Optional: ISBN, source/bookstore, quantity
 Note: The SCA Library is bound to acquire one (1) copy per materials unless
otherwise indicated.

Processing of Requests
Once request is received, the following activities are performed by the Acquisitions
Librarian:
1. Consolidate requests
 create a general list of the materials being requested incorporating
information on the requester
2. Pre-order searching
This activity is accomplished prior to ordering an item, including a search of
the library catalog for duplicate and related titles; verifying the name of the
publisher and/or distributor, price, availability, and standard number; and
locating other pertinent information. Duplicate titles are removed from the
general list.
a. Online (Internet)
 verify given information (title, author, edition/c-date) from publishers
and online stores
 complete bibliographic data (title, author, edition c-date, ISBN,
publisher)
b. Library collections
 perform duplicate verification in the existing library collections
 search the Catalog Master File Module,
 search/verify in book lists such as library materials for examination,
materials being requested for payment, outstanding order file, etc.

3. Ordering
Firm order is an order placed with a bookseller, jobber, or dealer for a specific
title and number of copies, specifying a maximum price and time limit for delivery,
not to be exceeded without prior approval of the ordering library. Firm orders are
placed for materials requested by individual selectors responsible for collection
development.
Blanket order is an agreement in which a publisher or dealer supplies to a library
or library system one copy of each title as issued, on the basis of a profile
established in advance by the purchaser. Blanket order plans are used mainly to
reduce the amount of time required for selection and acquisition and to speed the
process of getting new titles into circulation. Unlike approval plans, most blanket
order plans do not allow returns.
Open order, also referred to as outstanding order, is an order for library
materials that remains active because it could not be completely filled by the seller
at the time it was placed, usually because one or more items are temporarily out of
stock.
On order is a term used in library acquisitions to describe an item ordered but
not yet received from the vendor. Once the item is received and processed, the
order record created by the library at the time the order was placed can be
removed.
 Special order is a request to purchase a single copy of a publication,
requiring special handling by the publisher or bookseller, usually because
the item is not in stock. Special orders are generally sold at no discount or a
small discount, and a modest service charge may be added to compensate
the seller for the extra effort.
 In ordering materials for the Library, the Acquisitions Librarian performs the
following activities:
a. Coordinate with booksellers for the availability of materials through letters
(faxed or e-mailed), telephone calls or SMS (text messaging)
b. If the material is available, a confirmation letter is sent to the dealer/
bookseller thru fax or e-mail to request for the delivery of the material
c. Write down status (duplicate, ordered, served/delivered, etc.) of request on
the general list (computer file) as well as the filled-out request form under
“Remarks”
Note: Updates on the status of requests are forwarded to the Library Director
to provide feedback to the requester.
d. Receiving ordered materials
 Check materials delivered against delivery list.
 Acknowledge delivery receipt.
 Arrange delivered materials in shelves following the order in which they
appear in the delivery receipt.

e. Perform initial acquisition processing

 Reproduce (photocopy) delivery receipts in preparation for inputting.
 Prepare and print control numbers (CTRL Nos.) indicating dealer
company identification (initials) and book number as they appear in the
delivery receipt. We are using sticker paper in printing the CTRL Nos.
e.g. C&E
1

 Create a general list of the delivered materials per bookseller using

delivery receipts as basis, also referred to as “list of library materials for
recommendation”, wherein the following activities are executed:
 Affix CTRL no. on materials (usually on the spine at approx. 0.5 inch
from the bottom edge; or at the front cover at approx. 0.5 inch
from the left and bottom edge)
 Input books delivered using the MS Excel program. Data inputted
includes CTRL nos., number of title/s & volume/s, ISBN, title of the
material, author, copyright date, unit price and amount
 Collate delivered library materials to determine publishing
errors/discrepancies.
Note: Materials with errors/discrepancies are coordinated with sellers
for replacement or return.
 Identify to which allocated library collection budget will the
material be credited, e.g. Filipiniana, Professional References, Non-
print, etc.
 Perform initial book evaluation, wherein we refer to the
requester’s department or subject area to determine which or
what program/department a title may serve
g. Facilitate procurement of recommended titles.
 Organize document attachments
 Prepare/finalize list/s of library materials and summaries for the
Purchasing and the Accounting Offices
 Identify in the delivery receipt, invoice, etc. as to type of material
(graduate reference, professional reference, non-print, etc.) by
putting indicators (asterisk, check, etc.) at the left side of the title
or highlighting titles with different colors
  Facilitate payment request
 Fill-out Capital Expenditure
 Submit request form to the School Directress and Business office
 Payment request is then forwarded to respective signatories’
offices
 Once and if approved, coordinate with Purchasing Office staff
regarding the Purchase Order (P.O.) of materials requested for
payment
 Coordinate with Property Office staff for inventory of materials
once P.O. is released
 Coordinate with Property Office staff regarding Receiving Report/s
(R.R.) of the materials. The file copy of the materials
recommended for purchase is sent to the Property Office staff via
e-mail to facilitate printing of the R.R’s.
 Acknowledge the R.R. by signing on the space provided in the
document
 The Property Office will then forward the R.R. to the Accounting
Office, if US dollar payments; and/or the Finance Office, if peso
payments, for the preparation of check payments
 Follow-up availability of payments from the Accounting Office

4. Outright Purchases
An outright purchase is paying the full price amount charged for materials in
cash. This is another method in procuring library materials. There are instances
that the Acquisitions Librarian scout and purchase needed materials “on-the-spot”,
especially when the materials are already available in local bookstores.
The SCA Library often make outright purchases during bookfairs where the
Library Director has available budget on-hand, requested as cash advance from the
institution and is subject for cash liquidation. .
Also, there are occasional instances that the Library procures materials and
reimburse the amount from the institution. This practice applies if budget is not yet
available at the time the material is found, and (a) there is an urgent need for the
material (request); (b) newly published material which is relevant to the collection
but limited copies are available in the market, especially in the case of Filipiniana
materials; (c) “must-have” materials or bestsellers; (d) hard-to-find materials; and,
(e) bookseller/bookstore only accepts cash-basis payments, as in the case of
University Presses.

Processing Outright Purchases

a. Organize materials on shelves in the order that they appear on the sales
invoice and/or official receipt per bookseller/bookstore.
b. Perform initial acquisition processing
 Reproduce (photocopy) pertinent documents (invoices, receipts, etc.)
 Create a general list of the procured materials per bookseller using
delivery receipts as basis, also referred to as “list of purchased library
materials”, wherein the following activities are executed:
 Input books delivered using the MS Excel program. Data inputted
includes number of title/s & volume/s, ISBN, title of the material,
author, copyright date, unit price and amount
  Perform initial book evaluation, wherein we refer to the
requester’s department or subject area to determine which or
what program/department a title may serve
 Identify to which allocated library collection budget will the
material be credited, e.g. Filipiniana, Professional References, Non-
print, etc.
c. Facilitate cash liquidation/reimbursement
 Organize document attachments
 Prepare/finalize list/s of library materials and summaries for the
Purchasing and the Accounting Offices
 Identify in the delivery receipt, invoice, etc. as to type of material
(graduate reference, professional reference, non-print, etc.) by
putting indicators (asterisk, check, etc.) at the left side of the title
or highlighting titles with different colors
 Create/write down the “legend” (what the indicators/colors mean)
on the same page for easy reference.
Note: For reimbursements, a letter is usually attached in addition to the
documents stated above.
 The documents will then be forwarded to respective signatories’ offices
 Coordinate with Purchasing Office staff regarding the Purchase Order
(P.O.) of materials liquidated
 Coordinate with Property Office staff for inventory of materials once P.O.
is released
 Coordinate with Property Office staff regarding Receiving Report/s (R.R.)
of the materials
 Acknowledge the Receiving Report; the Property Office will then forward
the R.R. to the Accounting Office with the Cash Liquidation form.
 For reimbursements: Follow-up on the availability of the amount being
reimbursed at the Finance Office once R.R. is received.

A. Stamping/affixing the inset label

The inset label contains information on the assigned accession number, call number,
date received/purchased, source and cost of the book. It is usually stamped/affixed at the
upper left (verso) and upper right (recto) of the book cover ensuring that no pertinent
information will be covered up.
Note: For materials that were recommended for purchase, the date of payment request
(CAPEX) is indicated as the date received.

B. Assigning the accession number

An accession number is a unique number assigned to a material as it is added to the
library collection. The Librarian assigns accession numbers in continuous numerical
sequence recorded in an accession record and penned on the inset label affixed to the
material.
The Acquisitions Librarian is responsible for accessioning acquired print materials. The
following activities are executed in accessioning:
1. Fill-out required information indicated in the accession record. Write down the
accession number, date received, author, title, edition, volume, pages, source of
fund, cost price, publisher, and year.
 Note: For materials that were recommended for purchase, the date of payment
request is indicated as the date received.

2. Record necessary information on the material.

a. Books: fill-out required information on the inset label stamped/affixed on the
verso of the book cover – write down the assigned accession number, date
received, source and cost, wherein this information should be in congruent
with that entered in the accession record; the accession number is also
entered/written down on the verso of the title page (copyright page) and the
secret pages. For titles with accompanying materials, the type of material is
indicated at the “Remarks” column, e.g. w/ CD

Newly acquired library materials are entered in the accession books regardless of the
mode of acquisition used. An update to the accession record is also executed once they
have been cataloged, classified and mechanically processed in the Cataloging &
Classification Unit wherein the Acquisitions Librarians are tasked to enter/write down the
assigned call number in the accession record under “class” column using the catalog cards
as bases. The catalog cards are then forwarded to the Systems Librarian for final encoding
of data in the library system.
Moreover, appropriate notes such as “missing”, “worn-out”, “discarded”, “lost and
replaced” are entered on the “Remarks” column appropriately with the date of
occurrence/report date. The following may be duly noted:
1. Inventory results/reports as well as advisory from Unit Heads are the bases of the
Acquisitions Librarians in labeling materials in the accession book as “missing”,
“worn-out”, and “discarded”.
2. For lost materials replaced with the same material–which means the same title,
author, edition, and type (for non-print)–the accession number and other data in
the inset label as well as the barcode number are retained and will be transcribed
in the replacement material. Otherwise, replacements are entered in the
accession record as an addition to the library’s collection; thus, given a different
accession number. Appropriate indicator will then be entered in the “Remarks”
column of the lost material as well as its replacement.
e.g. Lost & replaced with Acc No. 85283