Module 3 discusses important aspects of acquiring and accessioning resources for the school library. Firstly budgeting is considered. Secondly acquisitions workflow and finally licensing arrangements for digital resources.

Section 1 encourages us to think about the budgeting procedures in our libraries. Sufficient funds are needed to purchase resources selected for inclusion, and to maintain a balanced collection. Teacher librarians are responsible for the considered use of funds available, and are sometimes to be involved in the setting of those budgets with the school leadership. In my school library, the teacher librarian sets out a list of requests for the following year’s budget, and this is then considered by the Principal and SAM in conjunction with the requirements of all the other programs operating within the school.

In section 2 we are encouraged to evaluate library suppliers and consider the features one should look for in developing a working relationship with a particular supplier. Possible outsourcing activities are also considered. Some suppliers offer pre-curated and selected collections. Some offer shelf-ready books, some offer downloadable MARC records etc. In my library, we use downloadable SCIS records for cataloging, and Australian Standing Orders for general collection building. It is important to review subscriptions such as the Standing Orders regularly. This particular service is offered by a specific publisher and exclusively provides content from that publisher. While the selections included are usually quality resources that do meet the needs of the school community, it is important to also consider the offerings of other suppliers.

In section 3: e-resources, we are encouraged to read about and ask questions such as:

• Can I use this in a school?
• Can I copy this content and distribute to multiple devices? How many copies? Can users distribute the content? Am I liable if they do?
• Can I convert this content into a different format?
• Can I share it with another school, eg interlibrary loan?
• Will I own this content if I stop subscribing? What if the publisher removes it from sale? What if the content is superseded by a newer version of itself?
• Can I preview this content, or receive a refund if it is not what I was led to believe