Aquisition Services > Ordering Instructions for Faculty Liaisons to the Library

• Basic Responsibilities
  • Role of Faculty Liaisons
• Ordering Guidelines
  • Order Authorization
  • Order Format
  • Order Payment Policy
• How to Request New Titles
  • Order Cards
    • Book order-requests
    • Video order-requests
      • About Video Previews
  • Publications Notices
    • Choice Cards
    • Midwest Slips
  • Serials Commitment Request Form

Basic Responsibilities

Role of Faculty Liaison:

The Faculty Liaison for an academic department works with a Liaison Librarian to track and spend an annual allocation for selecting books and media, in the department's subject area, to be added to Lemieux Library's collection. The degree of personal involvement varies between individuals and internal management of departmental allocations also varies greatly across campus. Whatever arrangement you work out with your colleagues and your Liaison Librarian, we ask that you act as the primary conduit for order-requests originating from your department. Your accumulated order-requests go to your assigned Liaison Librarian for review and authorization and are then forwarded to the library's Acquisition Unit for purchasing. 

Requests for new journal and periodical subscriptions are also under the purview of the Faculty Liaison, however, the decision whether or not to fund a new subscription is made during review process by the Liaison Librarian, Library Management Committee (consisting of all librarians), and the University Librarian.

Ordering Guidelines: Order Authorization, Order Format, Order Payment Policy.

Order Authorization

The Ideal Model:

Order request cards should be signed or initialed by the Faculty Liaison before forwarding to the Liaison LibrarianOn receipt of the order request cards, the Liaison Librarian, in turn, reviews and signs or initials all order requests before forwarding them to the Acquisitions Unit for purchase.

The following policy is per University Librarian's instructions:In some cases faculty would rather only review and select titles and rely on the librarian to approve and sign the order request cards.If you don't want to sign order cards, consult with your Liaison Librarian to see if this is workable in your particular situation. If so, we will need your written acknowledgment that you don't plan to sign all the order cards from your department . To set this up, contact the Acquisitions Librarian at x6203 for a form or print this copy from our web site. This is a one-time form and does not need to be updated annually.This form provides the Library with a record of your decision if an unsigned order comes into question in the future.

Order Format   What format?

Some Liaison Librarians accept printed bibliographies or lists while others require titles submitted on order cards. Whichever arrangement you develop, by the time an order reaches Acquisitions it should be in one of the following formats: book or video order-request card or one of two publication notices described in the following instructions. The order-request cards displayed in the following instructions are available from Acquisitions. They are distributed to faculty reps at the beginnin g of the academic year in a packet that includes these instructions. Contact Library Acquisitions, x6203, at any time if you need more.Why cards?

Acquisitions staff use order cards and publication notices to encourage uniformity in the bibliographic information faculty provide for us to identify titles. Since the ultimate goal is to get the essential information in card format for quick process ing, I recommend having the original requester fill out the order card at the beginning of the process. We are not set up to receive electronic forms or e-mail orders directly in the Acquisitions Unit. 

Order Payment policy

The library will not pay for items ordered or purchased by a department or individual. Orders must be placed by the library in order to use money from a department's assigned allocation.

We appreciate your attention to these guidelines. If circumstances require special handling of an order, call the Acquisitions Librarian at x6203, and/or your Liaison Librarian and we'll see what can be arranged. Thanks.

How to request new titles

This section explains the different forms available for requesting new titles. There are two types of order cards which are distributed at the beginning of the academic year and are available as needed from Acquisitions throughout the year. In additi on two types of publication notices will periodically be sent to Faculty Liaisons for departmental review. Descriptions and instructions follow:

I. Order Cards

1. Book order-requests.

• Author
• Title
• ISBN (International Standard Book Number) (ISBN is a system of numerical identification for all published titles. Each unique ten-digit number provides that title with its own, unduplicated, internationally recognized "identity." Publishers, booksellers, libraries and other participants in the book industry use ISBN to identify publications and expedite their retrieval and handling.)
• Date Requested
• Publisher
• Year
• List Price (if known)
• Requested by: The faculty member requesting the title.
• Dept. Recommended
• Approved by: The Faculty Liaison for the department.
• Do Not fill in the FUND CHARGED box. This is for internal fund codes used in data input.

• Title
• Series, if video is produced as part of a series
• Year
• Price, if known
• ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
• (ISBN is a system of numerical identification for all published titles. Each unique ten-digit number provides that title with its own, unduplicated, internationally recognized "identity." Publishers, booksellers, libraries and other participants in the book industry use ISBN to identify publications and expedite their retrieval and handling.)
• Distributor Address and phone are particularly important if you have them. Videos usually have to be purchased directly from the producer or authorized distributor.
• Requester The faculty member requesting the title
• Dept.
• Faculty Liaison signature Sorry, there's no label on current cards. Just sign at bottom.
• Do Not fill in the FUND box. This is for internal fund codes used in data input.

Special Note About Video Previews: At this time the library is unable to arrange preview copies of video tapes. The variety of requirements among suppliers regarding deposits and return deadlines has made it impossible for the library to control the management and cost of videos provided to us on a preview basis.A department can sometimes obtain a preview copy by dealing directly with a supplier or requesting a rental through Instructional Media Services. Any financial commitments made in this process will be the sole responsibility of the department. If, after previewing, it's decided the title should be purchased with the department's library allocation, return the preview copy to the supplier and submit a video order-request to the library. We will order and pay for a copy of the video out of the departmental library allocation and catalog it for our regular collection. 

II. Publication Notices

1. Choice Cards

The Liaison Librarian will occasionally forward packets of "Choice" cards for your review. We subscribe to these cards through the monthly review magazine Choice. Each 3x5 card contains bibliographic information and a Choice review for one new book. Choice cards may be submitted for purchase instead of filling out an order card. As with any order, we need the usual signature(s) explained on page 1 in the "Authorization" section. Just sign or initial the card in the top or bottom margin. Choice cards often include information re. cloth (hard bound) and paperback editions. If you have a preference, please indicate.

2. Midwest Slips

Midwest Library Service supplies slips containing bibliographic data, price and a review or publisher's description of newly published books. Slips are shipped four times a year; two for Univ. press books and two for science, technology and medicine. Midwest Slips will be forwarded by the Liaison Librarian and may also be submitted, instead of an order card, to initiate purchase. Again, we need the usual signature(s) explained on page 1 in the "Authorization" section. Just sign or initial the slip in the top or bottom margin.

Serials Commitment Request Form

Used to suggest journal titles for the Library collection. Available from your Liaison Librarian. Fill out the "Request Section" only and submit to your Library Liaison for review. The rest of the form will be completed by library staff during the title's review process. New subscription commitments are determined by the library. Please talk to your Liaison Librarian about your interest in specific journal titles and to determine whether funds will be available for new subscriptions during a given academic year.