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Acquisition of Books and Non-book Materials
The acquisition of all books and non-book materials is uniformly processed by the Acquisition and Cataloging Section. This is pursued with the goal of obtaining materials in different languages and unique subjects to develop the library collections towards a diverse yet multilingual scope to satisfy the needs of patrons at all levels eventually.
- Scope
  - Books
    General entries, award winning titles, special collections of each branch, reference materials.
  - Multimedia Materials
    Social education materials, animated cartoons, musical films, local and world travelling information, pedagogical software, educational and informational and recreational audio-visual materials.
  - Periodicals
    Informational and educational magazines in Chinese, Japanese and English, government gazettes of the Republic of China.
  - Newspapers
    Local, nationwide and international newspapers focusing on general or special topics in Chinese, Japanese and English.
  - Electronic resources
    Electronic books, databases, and assorted internet resources.
- Procedures
  1.Collection Development Committee of the Library is responsible for evaluating the acquisition plan, budget allocations, scheduling the acquisition processes into several time periods.
  2.All materials are procured through open tender. Administration Office is in charge of tender procedure.
  3.In order to shorten the period of acquisition and increase the speed of circulation, the Library adopts the discount-based purchasing policy to acquire the books and multimedia materials in Chinese and foreign languages.
  4.The Acquisition and Cataloging Section initiates the acquisition policy, and divides the book lists into several batches to purchase. The dealer collects and delivers the books listed to the Library and all branches before the deadline according to the contract.
- Collecting Bibliographies
  The Acquisition and Cataloging Section is chiefly responsible for collecting bibliographies through the recommendations from the patrons. The information of recent published books from newspapers, magazines, publishers, book reviews, even on the websites of bookstores and publishers is another important source.
- Subscription of Magazines and Newspapers
  The Library and all branches subscribe magazines and newspapers every year according to the needs of patrons, communities and feature collection of each branch. In order to gather patrons’ needs, a questionnaire is used to provide the referable information.
  1.The subscription is procured through open tender on the basis of Government Procurement Law.
  2.The subscription or cancellation of each title is carried out by all branches every year, as to meet the actual needs of patrons and communities.
  3.Patrons can utilize WebPAC to search certain magazine, or browse the list of newspapers (Chinese)(PDF).
Classification and cataloging
In order to maintain and provide the quality of bibliographic information, all the preserved materials have to be classified and cataloged, then inspected and permitted by senior catalogers. The standards and rules adopted as follows:
- Classification
  - Chinese and Japanese Materials
    1. New Classification Scheme for Chinese Libraries Tables.
    2. Four Corner System by Wang Yunwu for author number.
  - Other Foreign Language Materials
    1. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC23).
    2. Cutter-Sanborn Author Table.
  - Cataloging
    1. MARC 21 format.
    2. RDA(Resource Description and Access) for Chinese and foreign language materials.
Donating Books and Materials
Except purchasing method, donation is another way to increase collections. Books and non-book materials donated by individuals or groups are welcomed by the Library.
- Request for materials
  Request for materials is processed by Acquisition and Cataloging Section to assist all the branches to collect free publications from the governments or institutions.
- Receiving donations
  The Library and all branches receive books and non-book materials from patrons as donations. The Library reserves the rights to process the donated materials without any condition.
- Transferring materials
  Donated materials as duplication or considered unacceptably will be either transferred to other libraries or discarded accordingly.

Taipei Public Library

Acquisition and Cataloging Services