Many factors need to be considered when a librarian decides on vendors for his orders. By using information from existing trade journals and from questionnaires completed by publishers, a handbook was developed to assist librarians; it discusses some 450 publishers in terms of their: (1) address, (2) promptness of delivery, (3) price discounts…

This investigation based upon a survey of 26 American and West European booksellers attemts to provide some basic information about foreign blanket orders. The characteristics of foreign blanket orders as well as the attitudes of the booksellers are summarized. (Author)

The last institute of the 1971-1972 LARC Institute Series was devoted to automated library acquisitions systems. The focus is upon a system in operation at Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Arizona State universities. The papers which discuss this automated acquisitions system are: "Computer Systems Hardware,""The Systems Approach," and…

Data collected from library acquisition records on microfiche helped ascertain the effects of the Thor Power Tool Company Supreme Court decision in 1979 on a sampling of four randomly selected schools in the Atlanta Public School System between 1978 and 1985. Prior to this decision, some publishers kept a substantial inventory of backlist titles…

Two out-of-print book buying methods, searching desiderata files against out-of print book catalogs and advertising want lists in The Library Bookseller,'' are compared based on the data collected from a sample of 168 titles. (7 references) (Author)

The widely accepted approval-plan concept has moved from a lengthy period of discussion of selection responsibility to a few recent studies of the plans' cost, efficiency, and impact on research collections. An annotated list of articles from 1958 to 1972 traces this transformation and identifies the research studies. (34 references) (Author)

Advice to neophyte librarians on dealing with purchasing agents. (MF)

Procedures for solving the problem of overordering copies of books for which fewer copies would be sufficient are discussed. (SJ)

Approval plan purchasing is related to library goals of comprehensiveness, pointing out the interrelated pressures of the university system which have contributed to making this method of purchasing possible and the defensive techniques used to justify it. (19 references) (Author)

An acquisitions guide listing sources of government documents to aid in selective purchase of materials. (JAB)

A purchase order variable format in support of computerized book ordering/acquisitions process is proposed for libraries and vendors by Subcommittee U, Computerized Ordering of Books, and National Information Standards Organization. General format structure, record content, generalized schematic, examples, and descriptions of data elements are…

Discusses actions of American Library Association's Ad Hoc Committee on Publishers' Trade Discounts on the "Resolution concerning Discounts Received by Public Libraries from Trade Publishers," highlighting libraries' portion of annual book sales, ordering practices, and legal questions. (EJS)

The Federal Library Committee through the Task Force on Procurement Procedures in Federal Libraries is examining all problems and is recommending policies, procedures, and practices which will maximize the efficient procurement of library materials. It is suggested that the vehicle for this investigation be the appropriate Commission on Government…

Presents guide intended to aid librarians who are responsible for planning coordinated and cooperative collection development arrangements between libraries and suggests possible contexts, goals, methods, organization, effects, and processes to be investigated while establishing such programs. Benefits, problems, models, preconditions, and…