ACQUISITIONS GUIDELINES FOR PURCHASING LIBRARY BOOKS

The importance of the Library in the educational process of the University depends largely on those concerned with building the collection. Responsible selection policies, guided by a sincere desire to provide library patrons with needed research materials to supplement classroom instruction and provide impetus for independent study, will ensure the development of a high-quality selection of library materials in your discipline.
 

Selection

It is important that only the best and most necessary items be purchased. Titles reviewed favorably in professional journals in your discipline are excellent items to be acquired. Recommended bibliographies might also be consulted. The reference librarians will be happy to assist you in locating special bibliographies which may be helpful for selection purposes. Reviews in Choice and Library Journal are other sources which you may wish to consult.

 

Ordering Procedure

To ensure that requested items can be ordered as soon as possible after they have been sent to the acquisitions department, please adhere to the following procedure:

• If you wish to order books, videos, etc., please e-mail the information to Ann Tenglund. You can also send brochures, advertisements, and catalogs listing the item(s) you wish to request via campus mail. 
• Please supply complete bibliographical information, including author, title, copyright date, price, and ISBN number. Should complete bibliographical information be unavailable, please send advertisements with the requisition or cite the source of the information given on the requisition form.
• When possible, check your department on order file (if the department maintains a file) and the FRIAR Online Public Access Catalog before submitting a request to determine whether or not the library already has the title.
• Please note that in some cases, the library will purchase an eBook instead of a print book, especially if the material is likely to be utilized in an online course or on the course reserve shelf.

 

Deadline For Library Orders

The deadline for submitting department book orders is March of the current fiscal year. Any unencumbered funds after this date will be used for library materials at the discretion of the librarians.

 

New Courses

If a new course is to be offered (or a course that has not been taught for a long period of time), it is recommended that library holdings in the subject area be surveyed far enough in advance to allow time for needed titles to be ordered and processed. If the number of titles to be ordered is large and represents a major portion of the department's library book budget, the department chairperson should consider a request for supplementary funds.

 

Current Endowments

The library is fortunate to have benefited from a number of endowments to support its collections and work over the years. Please see our list of current endowments for more information.