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Examines the challenge of defining future library service requirements. Describes the processes and models being used by an American university to analyse user group needs prior to the planning of a new library building.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a conference and the individual presentations, as well as to make general observations, and relate them to important issues in acquisitions and collection development.

The design is to describe the conference by individual presentations and general observations at this conference and preceding Charleston conferences from the viewpoint of an attendee.

The findings are that acquisitions and collection development are undergoing fundamental changes that are changing operations and services rendered to faculty and students.

The reporting of conference presentations on the important changes, both formal presentations and informal discussions, furthers the knowledge of the important current challenges in the field. Through these means information will be relayed to readers to help them enact their own changes.

Reporting on this conference cites the new trends and important issues in the fields of acquisitions and collection development from the perspectives of the conference presenters and attendees.

Most libraries use a combination of three methods for acquiring serials: purchase through subscription agencies and other vendors, purchase direct from publishers, and the exchange of materials with other institutions. Subscription agencies and vendors dominate serial acquisitions, handling between half and two‐thirds of the annual serial expenditures of U.S. libraries. Subscription agents can avail themselves of economies of scale, discounts from publishers, and sophisticated automated systems, to provide basic subscription services — order placement and renewal, publisher prepayment, and support for the claiming of missing issues. Beyond these basics, agents offer a variety of ad‐ditional services ranging from printed catalogs and customized invoices to online files of serial pricing data, and electronic messaging systems. Although some agencies offer discounts on certain types of publications and services, they usually levy service or handling fees to cover the cost of service provision.