|
Library ordering procedures (Monographs)
The following general notes are for guidance of Liaison Librarians
and their School contacts on processes and procedures for ordering
monograph material for the Library.
- All requests to purchase should be submitted on an official
Library PRF form (copies of which can be forwarded from the
Library or, preferably, downloaded from the Library's Web pages)
or in an acceptable bibliographic format (e.g. Publishers catalogue
or blurb, photocopy of title page and verso) Listings of required
titles should be avoided because the verification and supplier
assignment processes involve having requests on separate forms/pages.
Where titles would previously have been forwarded as lists,
they should be submitted on PRF forms please. [Hint: if submitting
several forms, photocopy a master form with all common (requester,
school name, etc.) details already entered and then add the
separate bibliographic data for each title]
The Acquisitions Section tries to be as flexible as possible
in the acceptance of purchase requests, but we ask that you
bear in mind the possible ambiguity which may result from requests
with cover notes and instructions. Confusion and mistakes are
minimized if appropriate instructions (course codes, locations,
etc.) are noted with each title that is being requested. Library
procedures determine that material is ordered on the basis of
the best possible supplier and titles in any group of school
requests may have to be separated and sorted by supplier (with
a possible loss of internal data where it is not specified against
each title selected)
- All normal purchase requests should be addressed to the Liaison
Librarian who will, after appropriate editing and housekeeping,
forward to Acquisitions for ordering.
- Individual arrangements with your Liaison
Librarian not withstanding, prior checking of Library catalogue
is requested, and where second or duplicate copies are required,
such should be noted on the request. Where the Library finds
that titles are already held (without duplication requested)
the requests will not be activated on the assumption that the
original title's existence was overlooked. The Library system
lacks an automatic duplication alert, and whilst we try to double
check requested titles against the catalogue, the risk of ordering
unwanted duplicates is always a factor. We therefore urge all
requesters to check the catalogue before placing requests to
further reduce the possibility of unwanted duplication.
- Liaison Librarians will keep schools advised as to their budget
allocation and will advise on any arrangements to ensure fairness
and equity of selections or subject/personal quotas between
individuals and/or cross-campus groups. Once requests are submitted
to Acquisitions, and funds are available, orders will be placed
automatically and sequentially without further consideration
(unless they are duplicates as per (3) above).
Advice as to the financial position of each school will be dispatched
at regular intervals and enquiries about finances should be
directed to the Liaison Librarian, who will either collect the
necessary data from the Collection Management Librarian, or
have him contact you directly.
- Please note that the Library automatically purchases un-held
titles, which appear on course and/or readings lists and charges
them to the School library accounts. This happens even when
a school account is without funds. However, as Schools will
be required to maintain expenditure within their budgets, some
discussion between the Schools and the Liaison Librarian will
ensue if funds become low and the level of selection and/or
reading list purchases seems likely to create deficits.
- The Library cannot undertake to place orders from "wish
lists" or "order-if-not-already-held" listings.
Only firm requests for purchase of specific titles will be processed.
Liaison Librarians will be involved in preliminary checking
prior to submission of requests for purchase, but ordering staff
are not authorised to make evaluations on priority.
- Please be sure to enter the name of your school
in the appropriate place on the form, or on whatever approved
style of request you use. All sections of the PRF form should
be filled in as known/possible and where blurbs or catalogue
annotations are being sent, you should always ensure that we
know the School, requester name and course code for any items
destined for "reserve" collections. Annotations (i.e.
those required above) placed only on a covering letter are not
encouraged, as requests can become detached from the covering
letter and we are left with requests without any indication
of who-by/why it is wanted.
- For items required urgently, requests should be annotated
as URGENT in addition to other required information.
- Urgent requests to purchase titles can be sent via the Acquisitions
generic e-mail address (Acquisitions@lib.utas.edu.au)
although this should be avoided for more than 2-3 items at a
time and should give reasonable bibliographic detail about the
items being requested. If using e-mail requests, please try
to format the request so as to avoid ambiguity and confusion
and be sure to include the other details required (see para
7 above)
Other specific issues/procedures:
- Videos and DVDs: The Library, like the general community,
has moved to DVDs as the preferred format for video material
and will purchase material in that format where available. We
will normally buy DVDs in region 4 (Australia) format where
available, but will purchase other regional formats as an alternative
(given the ready and growing availability of de-regionalised
players) Where it remains necessary to purchase video tapes,
we will normally buy PAL versions, although NTSC versions--where
they are the only option--will be purchased (again, as many
modern VCRs have the capacity to play both PAL and NTSC formats)
- Non-current titles: Requesters should be aware that the publishing
industry now allows for significantly smaller print runs, and
many titles are effectively out-of-print within four years.
Depending on the subject/type of material, the older the title
being requested, the less likely it is to be available. Please
consider this when requesting material, especially where it
is being considered as required reading.
- There is a recognised requirement for the University to provide
"required" reading (e.g. textbooks etc.) in a format
suitable for disabled students. Teaching staff should consider
the possible requirements by such students and alert the Library
to the existence of any disabled students (especially sight-impaired
students) for courses associated with the particular purchase
request(s). The Library will then acquire additional copy(s)
in the appropriate format for the disabled student.
Library ordering procedures (Serials)
Schools may select serial titles for purchase by the Library,
which are ”ascribed” to the serials budget line of
the selecting school. Total serial costs should not exceed 80%
of the formal annual allocation for any school. Various other
factors may influence the ability or need for a school to purchase
a serial title and these will be outlined on a case by case basis.
Contact with the Library about serial purchase and collection
issues should be addressed to the Collection Management Librarian
through your Liaison Librarian in the first instance.
Financial Statements
Format and interpretation
a) Statement lines
The statements comprise several lines as follows:
· First line is a summary line of all subsequent lines.
The available amount in the last column indicates the overall
position for the school (including any supplementary funds contributed
by the school)
· Second line is the line for monographs (B***M) Funds
allocated ("amount") to this line are based on the formal
allocation less the amounts required for serial subscriptions
(B***S) and serial prepayments (B***SP)
· Third line (B***S) indicates the allocation apportioned
to serial subscription payments for 2004 receipts.
· Fourth line (B***SP) indicates the accrual account prepayment
for serials for invoices received last but as an impost against
the current year’s budget (i.e. the year the titles will
actually be received)
· Any subsequent lines (B***X) are separate account lines
for school contributed supplementary funds, usually for special
materials, purchases etc.)
b) Statement columns
The statement columns indicate as follows:
· Column one (Amount) is the application of the formula
allocation for that component of library material (Monographs,
serials, prepayments and, sometimes, supplementary deposits)
· Column two (On order) indicates all outstanding and unpaid
orders for each line.
· Column three (Spent) indicates payments for each line.
(either serial subscriptions or monograph receipts/payments)
· Column four (Available) indicates remaining funds available
(i.e. unspent and uncommitted)
General
Statements will be distributed each month to Heads of School
and Liaison Librarians. Liaison Librarians will be responsible
for initial contact with schools about the statement and budget
in relation to orders, subscriptions and possible budget corrective
actions (where problems of over/under expenditure develop or can
be foreshadowed) Liaison Librarians will confer with the Collection
Management Librarian as necessary to clarify issues and interpretations.
The Library must ensure that its allocations are expended by
the end of each year and we will be monitoring all school accounts
with a view to achieving this aim. Some over commitment of funds
may be allowed towards the end of the year to ensure enough receipt
and payment of material (monographs) to expend all monies by the
close of account books towards the end of December.
Initial contact about this memo, Library collections, ordering
and financial matters should be addressed to your Liaison Librarian
for discussion with, or advice from, the Collection Management
Librarian as necessary {although follow-up matters regarding orders/receipts
can be addressed to the Collection Management Librarian or either
of the two Acquisitions Librarians (as appropriate)}
Staff
Graeme Rayner, Collection Management Librarian: phone
6226 2231 e-mail: Graeme.Rayner@utas.edu.au
Debra Wilson, Acquisitions Librarian--Physical resources:
phone 6226 2207 e-mail: Debra.Wilson@utas.edu.au
Linda Forbes, Acquisitions Librarian--Electronic resources:
phone 6226 2822 e-mail: Linda.Forbes@utas.edu.au
|
|
