The dramatic transformation of library practices through the rapid spread of the internet is a default opening theme to countless field surveys. Such an observation is now a statement of the obvious. What we need is a different vantage point with novel insights that give us a fuller grasp of our professional world.
Although Acquisitions in the New Information Universe: Core Competencies and Ethical Practices relies on this rather shopworn point of departure, it stakes out interesting practical ground, namely, an exploration of how the acquisitions function in libraries, often ignored in industry overviews, must proactively adapt to a society with ever‐expanding digital knowledge resources. Jesse Holden's motivating belief is the need for re‐conceptualizing acquisitions practice in light of proliferating access channels, formats, and user expectations and feedback.
This area of librarianship must still contend with daily issues of procurement, invoices, and claims processing, but its traditional book‐based linear workflow is no longer sustainable. As convincingly argued by Holden, the centrality of the information item, once synonymous with the monograph in a print collection, should be set aside. Prime concern is to turn toward the information object, “the intersection of content and format”, and how to manage these multiform objects in a situation of information abundance. This means professional attention is to be focused on an institution's “spheres of access”, understood by the author to be “all information available to the library community, whether or not it is owned by or contained in the library”. In contemporary library work, such a sphere can theoretically be almost anything perceived as an information‐bearing object. For acquisitions practitioners, the exhortation is clear. Far‐reaching changes in the creation and dissemination of information have forced a paradigm shift. To satisfy real‐time user needs – and to stay relevant – the field has to embrace a highly strategic approach to sourcing and maintaining knowledge assets.
In a little over 100 pages, the author sets out the technological, cultural, and economic factors implicated in establishing this “new information universe”. As an introduction to those not working in acquisitions, he helpfully explains several common terms, such as request for proposal, approval plan, and drop ship, in addition to the increasingly crucial role of vendor relationships, electronic resource management systems, and e‐books. Making frequent reference to the Statement on Principles and Standards of Acquisitions Practice published by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services division of the American Library Association, Holden offers an ethically‐informed primer on emerging challenges. Among the most important actions believed necessary for upholding the library service ethic in the face of these trends are: better integration of acquisitions into the overall structure of the library through a deeper collaboration with its other functional units like reference and cataloging; highly adaptable workflow practices that emphasise versatile content appropriation and patron responsiveness; and re‐evaluation of “vendoring” whereby entities such as subscription agents and database aggregators are engaged as essential “overall strategic partners” rather than mere business contacts.
Acquisitions in the New Information Universe will appeal primarily to those working in academic library acquisitions, either the novice seeking a credible conceptual mapping or the veteran in want of a fellow practitioner's insights into where the field is (or should be) heading. As a reference librarian in a private law firm, I found this work to be a worthy read. It is an informed and timely library book, period.
However, I have two points of criticism, a minor stylistic one regarding content presentation, and a more significant one involving price. For the first, the book displays prominent side boxes that highlight definitions of basic acquisitions terms. These boxes are visually distracting and the already bolded words would be better positioned in a back‐of‐the‐book glossary. My more serious reservation is the book's pricing, a factor separate from its fine intellectual value but nonetheless influential in its purchase. Being short in length, this work could have been published effectively as a longer journal article or a White paper. At £44.95 the cost is prohibitive to smaller libraries or individuals pursuing learning on their own. Despite its worthy contents, such a steep price would certainly give me pause before I added it to my collection, personal or otherwise.
