REORGANIZING COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITIONS IN A MEDIUM-SIZED ACADEMIC-LIBRARY

The University of Dayton Roesch Library reorganized the collection dev elopment and acquisitions departments during 1995 and 1996 in order to improve the collection and make the process of acquiring materials mo re responsive so the needs of students and faculty. The old organizati on was department-based, with teaching faculty controlling most of the materials budget. The Associate Director for Technical Services coord inated the funds and supervised acquisitions staff. Perceived imbalanc es in the collection, student and faculty dissatisfaction with the pro cess, and the desire for public services librarians to have greater in fluence in collection decisions led to a major reorganization. The new model distributes budget authority among all librarians based on subj ects rather than academic departments. It empowers librarians to make purchasing and weeding decisions within their subject areas. Book and periodical acquisitions are combined into a single support unit that r eports to the Coordinator and Head of Collection Management. The new o rganization has streamlined acquisitions processes to make ordering si mpler, and the time between ordering and receipt has been shortened. T he new model shifts the emphasis from process to service. (C) 1998 Els evier Science Ltd.