Presents the vendor's perspective on how libraries choose and evaluate a vendor's performance. Characteristics of vendors are described, including being profit-oriented, market-driven, and highly competitive; issues in the three basic areas of service, price, and automation are discussed; and the influence of personality is considered. (LRW)

The Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library contains 200,000 volumes and 900 serial subscriptions and operates with an annual budget as of 1974-75 of $235,000. It serves 2000 undergraduates in a 4 year liberal arts college. Library automation is used in the following areas: (1) bibliographic compilations; (2) cataloging of books, octavo choral…

With the saturation of traditional markets for their services, subscription agents have evolved from orders and invoices to serving customers by communicating with librarians and publishers and making automated and paper products available. Magazine fulfillment centers, publisher discounts, and electronic publishing will influence the subscription…

Describes the role of automation in library acquisitions and serials departments in support of collection development. Highlights include workstations and expert systems; links to external databases; vendor services, including serials services and online review and selection of approval books; and automated access to collection development…

This paper examines the relocation of Athabasca University, an open-access, distance education institution, from Edmonton to Athabasca, Alberta, Canada, and the effect of that move on the library. Factors that helped make the move successful are discussed, including the 5-year institutional planning process; a government grant for the purchase of…

Computer output microfilm/fiche (COM) combines the speed and laborsaving aspects of computer-based systems with the economy and physical compactness of microforms to provide the medium of the future for library management and information retrieval. The traditional card catalog and printed lists found in every library can be replaced in multiple…

Presents remarks of the Secretary of State and State Librarian of Illinois concerning the Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET) which was created in 1965. Effective use of developing technology (online catalogs, interlibrary loan, automated circulation systems, collection development), anticipating changing needs of library users, and…

Discusses the role of the acquisitions librarian in planning for changes occurring in information services. Topics discussed include future prospects for electronic publishing and online services; scholarly communication and the role of the library in publishing; and two fundamental categories of information services, i.e., delivery and mediation.…

This paper provides background on The National Library of Estonia (NLE), discusses a fellowship project for developing the National Library, and presents the impressions of the author, an Estonian American, who traveled to Estonia. The NLE looks to the West for automation, information, and institutional modeling. The NLE is Estonia's equivalent of…

These two papers on the subjects of videodisc technology and medical library networking were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference. The first, "Videodisc Technology and Applications" by Earl Henderson (United States), examines the videodisc player and the premastering (five-function…

Summaries of presentations made at the Technology at the Library of Congress conference held in May 1986 describe new technologies that the library is applying to its programs and services, including advances in bibliographic control; automated acquisitions systems; computer-to-computer communications; linking of national bibliographic utilities;…

This theme issue contains eight papers that were originally presented at a conference sponsored by the University of Oklahoma Libraries on library acquisitions. Highlights include budgeting problems in academic libraries; maintaining research library collections; monograph collections in scientific libraries; vendors' perspectives; electronic…

Discusses budgets for library materials and how to select and evaluate book and serial vendors. Trends in automation, publishing, and economics that affect both libraries and vendors are discussed; and examples from the University of California at Berkeley that include serials service charges and approval plan discounts are presented. (six…

Based on the experiences of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) library in employing dial access to the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Acquisition Subsystem (ACQS), this paper presents an overview of dial access systems as an alternative to the use of OCLC dedicated terminals. Dial access into online systems is briefly described,…

Discusses need to consider political context of decision-making process and describes how cost data were presented to obtain management approval for implementation planning for integrated online acquisitions and fund accounting system involving Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, and University of Victoria. Cost, budget, and…