acquisitiondate

Acquisitiondate is a metadata field or data attribute used to record the date on which a resource, asset, or item was acquired by the custodian. It indicates when the entity came under the control of the organization or individual responsible for its management, and it is distinct from manufacturing date, purchase date, or receipt date in some contexts.

In libraries, archives, museums, and asset management, acquisition date is essential for provenance, inventory control, and lifecycle planning. It supports tracking of when items enter a collection, eligibility for certain programs or grants, and calculations for depreciation or programmatic impact. In digital asset management and metadata schemas, acquisitiondate is often stored in a standardized date format such as ISO 8601, commonly as YYYY-MM-DD, or as a timestamp. Some systems permit partial dates (year or year-month) when exact day information is unavailable.

Best practices include using a consistent time zone, documenting the definition of acquisitiondate for the dataset, and distinguishing it from other related dates (creation, publication, shelving, or delivery). When multiple acquisitions occur, systems may record an acquisition history or multiple acquisition date entries linked to the same item.

In data governance, acquisitiondate should be defined in data dictionaries, with validation rules to prevent invalid dates, and with permissions and privacy considerations where acquisition information might reveal sensitive procurement details.