General Information About the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs

• The Cooperative Acquisitions Programs are open to any library or research institution wishing to acquire publications from any of the following countries: Bangladesh, Burma, China (for Tibetan), India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
• Participants sign up for each country individually and can opt to receive publications from only one country or from as many countries as listed.
• Participants receive sets of publications according to a profile which they define based on predetermined subject, language, degree of selectivity and other categories available for selection.
• Profiles for Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and for twelve of the languages of India are identical as far as subject categories are concerned. The subject profile for English publications from India has the largest number of options. The following languages and formats can be acquired only in sets, i.e., they are not available for selection by subject: From India: Arabic, Assamese, European languages, Hindi dialects, Kashmiri, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali, Pali, Persian, Prakrit, Rajasthani, Sindhi, and tribal languages. From Bangladesh: Arabic and Urdu. From Sri Lanka: Pali and Tamil. From Nepal: Newari and Sanskrit. From Burma: Kachen, Karen, Mon, and Shan. From all countries: video and sound recordings.
• The Tibetan program has distinct subject profile. This program cross geographic and political boundaries -- participating libraries receive materials published in a number of countries where publishing in Tibetan takes place.

For a description of the subject profiles available see:

• Participants joining a program for the first time deposit with the Library of Congress Disbursing Office an amount estimated to cover the costs of their selected profile for one year. Profile costs are based on past history of purchases for the program. They do not represent actual prices of publications known to exist, but are an estimate of the amount needed to purchase forthcoming or newly identified books in those categories.
• For a list of cost estimates for the Current Fiscal Year see:

  Cost Estimates for English Publications from India

  Cost Estimates for Indian Vernacular Languages

  Cost Estimates for Bangladesh

  Cost Estimates for Burma

  Cost Estimates for Nepal

  Cost Estimates for Sri Lanka

  Cost Estimates for the Tibetan Program

• For a current list of libraries participating in the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs run by the New Delhi Office, see:

  Libraries Participating in the Programs run by the New Delhi Office

• Serials are selected title by title. To see the list of titles available for selection, please search the Serials Database
• New serials, reprints, expensive titles ($50.00 and above) and some materials of limited interest are offered periodically to program participants via the SACAP list serve.
• Unbound monographs acquired for the program are bound before being shipped to participants.
• Participants may choose to receive their serials on a current basis, unbound, or bound after the completion of the volume.
• Participants are billed annually for the estimated cost of publications, binding, and shipping. In addition, the office charges an indirect and overhead charge over the estimated cost of materials to be acquired in a year. The current overhead charge for the Cooperative Acquisitions Programs administered by the New Delhi Office is 36% over the cost of publications.
• Monthly reports on the status of participant accounts are mounted on the SACAP web site, maintained by the office for the benefit of the participants. Fiscal reports account for moneys deposited for the acquisition of publications, as well as for binding and shipping expenses, and include the number of pieces on order and purchased, amount disbursed and obligated, and the balances in each of the participant's accounts as of the date of the report.
• Any amount not obligated at the end of a fiscal year will be used to defray the costs of the participant's estimated bill for the following year.
• In the event that the amount billed proves insufficient to cover the cost of materials, the Library of Congress will submit a supplementary bill to the participant to cover the shortfall, or will stop ordering books for the participant depending upon the instructions of the participant. As a government agency, the Library of Congress is prohibited by law from extending credit to participants.
• All monographs, new serials and other materials are shipped to participants with cataloging data in a bibliography format enclosed with the item. Full MARC records for these materials can be downloaded by the receiving libraries from the bibliographic utilities or from the Library of Congress online catalog by using the LCCN.