Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory, Vol. 16, pp. 243-246, 1992 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

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ACQUISITIONS IN AUSTRALIA

1991 Seminars of the National Acquisitions Section, Australian Library and Information Association

DEREK WHITEHEAD

Director, Collection Management

State Library of Victoria

328 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Australia, 3000

INTRODUCTION

The Acquisitions Section of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) turned thirteen in 1991. At the section’s national seminar, Managing Money, the section was reminded by Carol Mills (William Merrylees Librarian, Charles Sturt University) of its not-so-distant origins in a protest at Robert Maxwell’s pricing policies.

In the past few years the main interest of Australian acquisitions librarians has been in col- lection development issues. In 1991, however, there was a return to the basic interest of ac- quisitions librarians in the business side of acquisitions: issues of price, efficiency and the operation of the book trade. This was reflected in two seminars: Managing Money (Canberra, 5-6 September) and The Electronics of Acquisitions- Standard Answers (Melbourne, 14 No- vember). Both dealt with the ways in which library acquisitions can become more business- like and featured speakers from outside the professional library world. Both looked at factors that affect the cost of goods and the costs of acquiring them.

The seminars demonstrated the current interests of Australian acquisitions librarians and particularly their interest in price and efficiency. Automation is seen as a means by which li- braries do and can use new technical developments to develop leaner acquisitions operations. Pricing and supply are increasingly scrutinised to find ways of making the library dollar go further. A major issue for 1992 is likely to be differential (and discriminatory) pricing by over- seas publishers.

MANAGING MONEY, CANBERRA, 5-6 SEPTEMBER 1991

The seminar covered five main themes: pricing, discounts, price indexes, acquisition by con- tract, and dealing overseas. It began with a dinner addressed by Kevin Ring, Faxon’s recently appointed managing director for the Asia/Pacific region.

Australia constitutes a small part of the world market for English-language books and se-

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rials, and the great bulk of Australian library acquisitions originate overseas. The cost of ma- terials to Australian libraries is affected by price increases, fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar, the pricing policies of publishers and library suppliers, and the ways in which libraries buy their books. A guide to cost changes is given in an index compiled by Monash University Library; the University Librarian, Edward Lim, provided a view of some problems in constructing an index, and outlined plans for change.

Two other sessions looked directly at prices. “Pricing Issues in the Nineties” had an empha- sis on serials and dealt with pricing from the viewpoint of a publisher (Lyndal Coote, Butter- worths), a supplier (Val Hemingway, Bennett Ebsco), and a librarian (Paul Wilkins, University of New South Wales). The three papers discussed, from different viewpoints, the major fac- tors involved in pricing in Australia: exclusive agencies, dominance of publishing and distri- bution by a small number of large companies, the role of fluctuating exchange rates, and, perhaps most important of all, the role of differential pricing. Paul Wilkins presented a co- gent and definitive paper outlining the state of the art on the last issue.

“Discounts: What Are They?” was subtitled “Prices: what are they?” and had an empha- sis on monographs. It dealt with the particular Australian problem that almost everything is priced twice: an Australian retail price, and a real (overseas) retail price, since most books come from overseas. Papers by Jerelynn Brown (James Bennett Library Services) and Judy Ryan (NSW TAFE Library Services) probed in fine detail the meaning of the concept and its significance for libraries.

Two ways in which libraries attempt to manage their book budgets more effectively were dealt with in the two remaining sessions. A panel of four (two librarians, a serials supplier, and an officer of the Commonwealth Department of Administrative Services) dealt with “Ac- quiring by Contract and Tender”; and canvassed the advantages and disadvantages of putting library supply out to tender. They provoked a rather spirited discussion, without any agree- ment on whether tendering for library supply reduced overall costs to libraries. The other method is buying directly from overseas sources. Again, a panel of four looked at both the undoubted price advantages and some of the offsetting administrative difficulties involved in buying overseas. Both of these sessions attempted to balance price advantage against the less readily measurable overheads and staff costs.

THE ELECTRONICS OF ACQUISITIONS, MELBOURNE, 14 NOVEMBER 1991

The Electronics of Acquisitions combined speakers from libraries, vendors of electronic data sources, a bank, an accountancy firm, General Electric, and library monograph and serial ven- dors. Like Managing Money, it was concerned with the business of acquisitions: “the oppor- tunity and challenge of reviewing traditional procedures to capitalize on new developments.” The seminar was divided into three broad areas: bibliographic records, data transmission, and electronic payment. A second theme- “Standard Answers”-dealt with the importance of in- dustry standards in creating new economies and facilitating electronic acquisitions procedures.

A major area of economy is in the use of electronic records for acquisitions. Whereas li- braries once created or transcribed bibliographic data for acquisitions purposes, it is now pos- sible to obtain electronic records for use in both acquisitions and cataloguing processes; records are increasingly available early enough and with enough information for use in acqui- sitions. Amelia McKenzie and Linda Groom (National Library of Australia) showed how this was particularly true for Australian titles; it has been made possible by the widespread use in

Acquisitions in Australia 245

Australia of ISBNs and CIP data, and their online national availability through the National Library’s Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN). Caroline Beatty (CD-ROM Associates) described the development of book trade data on CD-ROM, perhaps culminating in Book- data’s Bookfind CD-ROM, which from January 1992 will include both U.S. and U.K. data, with over one million records. Bookfind data are enhanced, and usually appear in advance of publication; a drawback is that the database does not include all major publishers. Finally, Craig Anderson (Aldis/CLSI) described Bibliofile, a comprehensive data source for library operations with over four million records. All three can provide the library with download- able data for use in a library’s own system to provide a single record for all purposes.

The second session dealt with the electronic transmission of data: replacing transmission by post by either direct system to system communication-electronic data interchange (EDI) - or other means. John Clarke (General Electric Information Services), who is currently con- ducting a functional requirements study for the Australian book trade, described his work. The Australian book trade has yet to adopt a common standard for the exchange of infor- mation, and ED1 is not advanced. From 1992, it is hoped, Booklink will provide an electronic link between booksellers and publishers. It will enable the transmission from system to sys- tem of data, including orders, order acknowledgments, order variations, order status, deliv- ery status, changes in titles, invoicing, delivery acceptance, remittances, and general electronic mail. The benefits of the new system will include reduced data entry, accuracy, speed, and a better idea of stock availability.

Two librarians described their experience with the electronic systems used by two of Aus- tralia’s largest overseas book suppliers. Meg Larkin (Eastern Regional Libraries) discussed Baker and Taylor Link, which is supplied on CD-ROM; and Gretchen Sleeman (Charles Sturt University-Riverina) discussed Blackwells PC Order system. Both systems have the advantages of speed, accuracy and efficiency; and the disadvantages that they are supplier specific, do not interface with the library’s own system, and may pose audit problems.

The final trio of speakers dealt with electronic payment. Philip Kent (CSIRO) is responsi- ble for the acquisition of all serials for Australia’s main scientific research organisation and its network of 45 libraries. Several years ago CSIRO moved to tape invoicing and has found that it results in a clear efficiency gain. This is through reduced need for data entry, better speed and accuracy, and reduction in paper and postage. It is seen as an intermediate step to system to system transfer of data and funds-electronic funds transfer (EFT). The speaker acknowledged that some libraries would have problems with this payment method because of insufficient volume of business, lack of expertise, or lack of an adequate in-house system.

Trent Moy (Commonwealth Bank) described current developments in EDI. He set out the main problem of EFT- that it does not transfer data, such as remittance information-and described the way in which EFT plus ED1 makes this possible. For institutions that are not EDI-capable, EFT can be accompanied by conventional remittance and other information using mail or fax. Graham Collier (KPMG Peat Marwick) introduced some of the issues of controls in EDI, and some of the risks; a range of new controls is necessary to provide an ad- equate capacity for audit.

The seminar was concluded by Sharon Cline McKay, Director of Library Automation with Ebsco Subscription Services, who has been closely involved with the development of the SISAC code. She rounded off the day with a brief overview of the likely future and a scenario for a paperless acquisitions operation. Virtually all of this can be done now, and, as the speak- ers demonstrated, it is almost with us not only as a theoretical possibility but as a practical reality.

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The Electronics of Acquisitions concluded with an end of year dinner of the section. Readers wishing to contact speakers from the seminars can obtain names and addresses

from the following:

For Managing Money: Derek Whitehead Director, Collection Management State Library of Victoria 328 Swanston Street Melbourne, Vie., Australia 3000 Fax: (03) 663-1480

For The Electronics of Acquisitions: Philip Kent Manager, Acquisitions Information Resources Unit CSIRO 314 Albert Street East Melbourne, Vie., Australia 3002 Fax: (03) 418 7311