Main LibraryAcquisitions Division

Function

The Division is responsible for the acquisition of library materials in the form of books, serials (printed and electronic), non-book materials (audio/video tapes, microforms, CD-ROM etc.) and newspapers (local and international). Acquisition is done through purchase, subscription and gift and exchange arrangements. Purchases and subscriptions are mainly through local agents or directly from publishers.  The Division is also responsible for maintaining the fiscal records of library funds for the purchase of materials.

Collection Development Policy

Overall, the library’s collection was acquired using the following guidelines:

• All scholarly Malaysiana materials to be acquired.
• At least 80% of the titles from the reading list for all courses offered to be made available.
• Fund allocation to follow a ratio of 60% for science and 40% for the arts and social sciences.
• To acquire free range reading materials consisting of novels, biographies, general knowledge, hobbies, recreation, etc.
• To purchase materials for research.
• Access, currency and cost factors will be considered in order to purchase/subscribe to the electronic materials.

Acquisitions Reference Sources

The Library subscribes to an important online reference work for collection development, Nielsen BookData (http://www.nielsenbookdata.com), which is accessible only by library staff. Other reference sources are:

• Books In Print/Out-of-Print Resources
• AbeBooks (http://www.abebooks.com)
• Alibris (http://www.alibris.com/search/cart.cfm)
• Amazon (www.amazon.com)
• Bookfinder4U (http://www.bookfinder4u.com)
• BookWire : Inside the book business (http://www.bookwire.com)
• Kinokuniya Bookweb Malaysia (http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=05)
• MPH (http://www.mph.com.my/welcome/welcome.cfm)
• The Internet Bookshop (http://www.whsmith.co.uk/whs/go.asp?Menu=Books&pagedef=/books/home/index.htm)