By Dorothy L. Meaney, Head of Collection and Metadata Services
The Library has been able to take advantage of vendor partnerships we have through membership in the OCLC global cataloging cooperative to increase automation of new book acquisitions. In July we began purchasing shelf-ready books. Books are ordered online, catalog records are prepared for us, and the vendor sends books that they have barcoded, labeled, stamped, and readied for the Library security system. Here at Drew, we download the records, check all details, pay the invoice, and shelve the books. The results of this outsourcing should include faster turnaround time for orders, books in users’ hands more quickly, and no loss of service despite staff retirements. We started the project with our biggest book vendor and will expand to others after a successful pilot period.
Systems Librarian Guy Dobson was able to create a unique program for loading records and creating orders bypassing the need to purchase additional software, saving us more than the cost of the outsourcing. Acquisitions and Cataloging staff worked together to address all the necessary details.
This article appeared in Visions, the Library Newsletter, Fall 2011.