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…

This examination of the relationships between bibliographic utilities, online vendors, and local systems in the automated library environment, discusses library autonomy and standards, as well as customized options and quality of service offered by utilities and vendors. Suggestions are offered for maintaining relationships in a changing…