- Acquisitions
- Cataloging Tools, Documentation
- Catalogs, Authority Records
- Classification and Shelflisting
- Cooperative Cataloging Programs
- General, Descriptive Cataloging
- Products for Purchase
- Professional Activities
- Publications, Reports
- Subject & Genre/Form Headings
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The Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate provides acquisitions and bibliographic access services to the Library of Congress and leadership in bibliographic access collaborations and standards for the library and information service communities, nationally and internationally, and training and instructional design for the Library Services service unit of the Library of Congress.
Office of the Director
In addition to providing administrative and technical support for the directorate, the Office of the Director oversees digital initiatives and the Acquisitions Fiscal and Support Office, responsibilities of which include mail functions and the Duplicate Materials Exchange and Surplus Books Programs.
Beacher Wiggins, Director
Phone: (202) 707-5325
bwig@loc.gov
Acquisitions Mission: To acquire materials for the Library's collections in the most timely and cost effective manner and make them accessible.
Acquisitions acquires materials for the Library of Congress in all formats -- books, periodicals, maps, music, prints, photographs, recorded sound, videos, etc. -- and in all subjects, except technical agriculture and clinical medicine, from all over the world.
Bibliographic Access Mission: To provide innovative and effective bibliographic access to library materials and leadership to the library and information communities.
The Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Divisions are responsible for the descriptive cataloging (physical attributes of the book, assignment of intellectual responsibility for the creation of the content, and the forms of names by which those responsible are to be represented in the catalog) of books, microforms, and computer files; and the subject analysis, Library of Congress classification, shelflisting (to provide unique call numbers), and Dewey Decimal classification of books, special formats, and some serials. The divisions provide leadership in cataloging policy for the national and international library communities and the secretariat for the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, an international consortium which promotes the creation of shared cataloging which meets international standards. The ABA Divisions include the Cataloging Distribution Service, which develops and disseminates cataloging documentation and distributes cataloging data to customers worldwide.
The Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate includes the following divisions and offices.
Acquisitions Fiscal and Support Office
The Acquisitions Fiscal and Support Office administers the expenditure of funds and provides centralized accounting for the acquisitions budget.
African, Latin American and Western European Division
The African, Latin American and Western European Division acquires (via purchase and non-purchase), processes and catalogs materials from all sub-Saharan African, Iberian, Latin American, South American (including the Rio Overseas Office), and Caribbean countries, and from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy and processes and/or catalogs some materials from the Rio and Nairobi Offices; also ECIPs that require expertise in the languages, history, religion or culture of Africa, Latin America and the Western European countries covered by the division.
Chief, Angela Kinney
Asian and Middle Eastern Division
The Asian and Middle Eastern Division acquires (via purchase and non-purchase), processes and catalogs materials from Asia and the Middle East and processes and/or catalogs materials from the Cairo, Jakarta, Islamabad and New Delhi Overseas Offices; also ECIPs that require expertise in the languages, history, religion or culture of Asia and the Middle East, including Judaica.
Chief, Philip Melzer
Cooperative and Instructional Programs Division
The Cooperative and Instructional Programs Division trains and coordinates internal and external training; cooperative cataloging programs, including serving as the Secretariat for the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC); the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC); and oversight of the PCC fund.
Chief, Judith Cannan
Germanic and Slavic Division
The Germanic and Slavic Division acquires (via purchase and non-purchase), processes and catalogs materials from Scandinavian, Baltic and Germanic countries, Russia, and East Central and Southeast Europe; also ECIPs that require expertise in the languages, history, religion or culture of the countries covered by the division.
Chief, Linda Stubbs
Overseas Operations Division
The Overseas Operations Division provides administrative oversight (including budget, travel and fiscal responsibilities) for the six overseas offices (Nairobi, Cairo, Jakarta, Islamabad, Rio de Janeiro, and New Delhi) and the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs, as well as serving as liaison with the Department of State in all matters concerning the Library's overseas offices.
Chief, James N. Gentner
Visit the Overseas Offices home page.
Policy and Standards Division
The Policy and Standards Division (PSD) provides cataloging and acquisitions policy library wide; product support and development functions for bibliographic products and tools; processing of subject and classification proposals; LC database record maintenance and error/conflict resolution; and documentation and website maintenance.
Chief, Barbara Tillett
Information about the work of PSD can be found throughout the ABA site.
U.S./Anglo Division
The U.S./Anglo Division acquires (via purchase and non-purchase), processes and catalogs materials from the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Oceania; catalogs rare materials; accessions and disposes of multiple copies of government documents; and coordinates major gifts to the Library, as well as the acquisition of special collections.
Chief, Judith A. Mansfield
U.S. and Publisher Liaison Division
U.S. and Publisher Liaison Division catalogs Copyright and CIP materials and materials coming in through the ISSN application process; provides CIP and ISSN infrastructure support; and catalogs law materials.
Questions about copyright registration should be directed to the Copyright Office, http://www.copyright.gov
Acting Chief, Karl Debus-López
U.S. General Division
U.S. General Division catalogs Copyright and CIP materials and provides Dewey Decimal Classification infrastructure support.
Questions about copyright registration should be directed to the Copyright Office, http://www.copyright.gov
Chief, Karl Debus-López
Other Library of Congress divisions involved in cataloging and acquisitions activities:
- Geography and Map Division Acquisitions
- Geography and Map Division Cataloging
- Prints and Photographs Cataloging and Digitizing Toolbox
Previous Organizational Divisions and Offices
On October 1, 2008, the Directorate reorganized into the above named divisions and offices. The following organizational units were all realligned into the above named divisions and offices:
Anglo-American Acquisitions Division
European & Latin American Acquisitions Division
Serial Record Division
Arts and Sciences Cataloging Division
History and Literature Cataloging Division
Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division
Social Sciences Cataloging Division
Cataloging Distribution Service (portions now part of Policy and Standards Division)
Cataloging in Publication Division (now part of U.S. and Publisher Liaison Division)
Decimal Classification Division (now part of U.S. General Division)
Cataloging Policy and Support Office (now Policy and Standards Division)
Special Materials Cataloging Division (Music Teams now with Music Division outside of ABA, others in U.S./Anglo Division and Cooperative and Instructional Programs Division)