Selecting an approval plan vendor II: Comparative vendor data

This article is the second of three which are intended to reduce the time, cost and risk of selecting a domestic approval plan vendor for a college or university library. The authors compare data collected from eight major United States approval plan vendors covering nine areas: company background, employee background, customer service, profile and title selection, profile maintenance, materials forms/slips/returns handling, financial practices, statistical reporting and miscellaneous data. The authors caution that these comparative data cannot substitute for the specific, timely inquiry which should be made when a vendor selection decision is imminent.     

The evolving approval plan: how academic librarians evaluate services for vendor selection and performance

A survey of 291 academic librarians addressed the question of how libraries choose approval plan vendors, specifically how much emphasis is placed on various approval plan services and product features in choosing between competing approval plan vendors and how vendor performance is rated in those areas. Traditional services, including expertise in managing approval plans, e.g., profiling, and acquisitions services, customer service, and discount rate, along with corporate reputation and business practices, retained their core status. Electronic financial transactions was found to be very important to the libraries already using these services. Outsourcing services, e.g., cataloging or physical processing, with approval plan vendors, although newer, appear established and of considerable interest to some segments. Vendor performance was rated highest in corporate reputation, approval plan management, and in electronic financial transactions. Libraries with approval budgets under $100,000 expressed a degree of satisfaction with approval plan vendors on a level similar to larger libraries.     

The approval plan profiling session

The approval plan profiling session, when vendor and library meet to establish specifications for a new approval plan, has received little attention in the literature. Preparation for the session requires decisions on a range of issues bearing upon the ultimate success of an approval plan such as publisher scope, subject specifications, duplication control, and budget. Organization of the session itself is also important. In addition to creation of a new profile, the profiling session is an excellent opportunity for library staff and the vendor, working together closely for a day or more, to lay the foundation for a strong and lasting relationship. This article is primarily intended for librarians new to the administration of approval plans. It outlines the steps necessary to organize a successful profiling session, whether for an entirely new approval plan, or for a new plan replacing a plan with another vendor.     

An expert system for predicting approval plan receipts

This paper explores the use of expert systems technology in one aspect of library acquisitions, the approval plan profile. The methodologies for determining whether a requested title would be received on approval were encoded in an expert system. The system design and test is described. Some of the advantages to using expert system technologies and the difficulties which were encountered are described. The future potential of expert systems for library acquisitions is addressed. A selected bibliography is included.     

The origin of the library approval plan

The approval plan is a widely used method of getting scholarly and scientific books into scholarly and research libraries immediately upon publication at minimal cost to the libraries. It was developed in the early 1960s by the former library book-selling firm of Richard Abel & Co., now Blackwell North America. It is a quite sophisticated and complex computer-based system which grew out of a radical, and hence risky, solution to a related set of long-term unresolved difficulties in the building and maintenance of scholarly library collections. The history of the evolution of the system within the context of resolving many of these problems is traced here.     

Improving approval plan performance: A case study

An efficient approval plan should enable libraries to save on acquisitions costs while achieving higher use satisfaction by making new materials available sooner. Two internal systems for handling approval plans are compared to show that approval plan performance can be improved significantly by taking full advantage of automation capabilities.     

The pregnant pause: The time between profiling an approval plan and receiving books

In the selection of a new approval plan vendor, most of the library's attention is on pricing, selection procedures, publisher coverage, and profiling. In most cases, less thought is given to what events will actually take place between the time profiles are completed and books are shipped to the library. Decisions surrounding this time period can make the difference between a successful and problematic approval plan implementation. This article, developed by a bookseller, explores these issues and the options libraries have in the implementation phase of approval plans.     

Monitoring a business approval plan for balance and numbers

This paper describes the steps taken to adjust the profile for business and economics for an approval plan at Bowling Green State University. It posits that characteristics of business publishing—the role of academic writing in a subject field heavily weighted toward selling books to professionals, the tendency toward buzzwords and managerial panaceas, and the rate and number of titles published—complicate writing an effective approval profile for business. The paper enumerates situational factors and steps taken, including the importance of vendor-library cooperation, in developing a profile that better matched the university user communities.     

Vendor studies redux: Evaluating the approval plan option from within

Exploring the question, “Once approval plans are established, how does one know whether they are preferable to firm ordering?”, this paper questions traditional assumptions about discounts and staff savings in a library with numerous approval plan agreements. Analyzing the acquisitions patterns of four different groups of selectors at a large research library, it concludes that approval plans profiled to obtain core essentials are preferred by many selectors over firm ordering these materials. Profiles implementing this approach appear to be more difficult to establish for European than for domestic materials. Levels and types of services expected from vendors in a budgetarily constrained environment are enumerated.     

The five blind men and the elephant: differing perceptions of the institution of an approval plan

This paper discusses the first-time implementation of a book-in-hand approval plan in a major university library system, with special attention to the expectations of the major groups involved (library administration, technical services, collection development, teaching faculty, and the vendor) and to how these expectations were met. The initial reactions saw the plan as either a panacea to the problems of having to downsize and the escalating cost of processing, or as a sinister form of outsourcing that would lead professional skills to be less prized and attenuate collections so that they no longer fulfilled the University’s needs. Two years later, all these positions have been moderated, but the fears persist, and, as long as they persist, the approval plan will not be used to its full capacity.     

Which worked better for Mississippi State: standing orders or an approval plan?

When Mississippi State University Libraries established a university press approval plan, the Collection Development Department was asked to decide whether to cancel existing standing orders with seven university presses or block these presses from the approval plan. Books were received through both avenues for eight months so that cost, timeliness of delivery, and receipt of titles most appropriate for the Libraries’ needs could be compared. Findings showed a 4.72% cost savings with the approval plan, but 82% of the titles were received earlier through the standing orders. Of books received through the standing orders, 29% were not received through the approval plan, with more than half not matching departmental profiles. Return privileges with the approval plan meant unsuitable titles could be returned, a significant advantage not possible with the standing orders. As a result of the study, the libraries chose to cancel the standing orders and receive books selectively through a university press approval plan.     

Edging toward perfection: Analysis of a new approval plan in a health sciences library

Collection management librarians seek to refine an approval plan in order to minimize the number of returns. The University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Libraries created a new plan and spent 18 months evaluating and fine tuning the plan so that returns could be reduced. After that time, it was decided that, given the amount of literature in the health sciences, that the goal of no (or few) returns is not achievable.     

Collection development in a multi-system cooperative: An acquisition policy and plan

Four libraries in Colorado through a cooperative agreement (Arapahoe Public Access to Libraries, or APAL) hired a contractor to produce a plan for cooperative collection development and acquisitions. The study included analysis of the collection by subject categories, collection use by reference, circulation and in-house study. This supply/demand analysis provided data for use with the ALA/RTSD Guidelines for Collection Development. The result was a plan for joint acquisition of materials and a schedule of purchases for stressed subject categories for the subsequent five-year period. A category was considered stressed if proportional demand exceeded proportional supply determined in the collection and use analyses. The model developed is applicable in any library.     

高校图书馆机构设置的调查与分析

文章通过网上、文献调研，对我国高校图书馆机构设置现状进行调查与分析。为适应网络环境下高校图书馆服务内容、服务模式、服务方式等多方面变革，着重对高校图书馆机构重组的依据、原则、形式等诸问题进行深入探讨。