Foreign Acquisitions: Frustration and Fun!

Foreign acquisitions of books and related materials is a series of complex problems, frustrations, accomplishments, and fun. The policies and procedures developed over the last five years by the Chicago Public Library are presented as one library's solution to these problems. Turning these frustrations into successes with the help of public service librarians and vendors is one aspect of the solution. Two different ordering methods: title-by-title purchase orders and profile orders arc also discussed: while the advantages and disadvantages of each method are analyzed. Also mentioned is the Lilmry of Congress 0verseas Operations Division and how the Chicago Public Library uses this organization lo expand its holdings of difficult-to-obtain foreign languages. The acquisitions problem of limited information in general is addressed in a series of suggestions in the conclusion.