[Web4lib] Libraries: Standing at the Wrong Platform, Waiting for the Wrong Train?

[Bonnie Tijerina]

This on-demand purchasing is happening in many academic libraries that I
know of and there's literature out there.
I first heard about it 2 years ago being done at Purdue University,
University of WI and Thomas Crane Public Library.
http://www.irandoc.ac.ir/data/E_J/vol3/acquisition.pdf

This article give cost-effectiveness of such a program:
Patron-focused services in three US libraries: collaborative *interlibrary
loan*, *collection** **development* and acquisitions
Allen, Megan; Debus-Lopez, Karl E; Ward, Suzanne M; Wray, Tanner

This program is going at NC State University where I helped set it up
between 3 departments: Acquisitions, ILL and Collection Management.

We had certain criteria and if the request met that criteria, we would make
the purchase either through Amazon, bn.com <http://bn.com> or our book
dealer and we would treat it like a rush order. ILL barcoded it and a simple
record was put in the catalog until it was returned.

On 10/26/05, K.G. Schneider <kgs at bluehighways.com> wrote:
>
> > Which opens up new avenues, if the libraries are willing to play the
> > game - e.g.
> >
> > If a library doesn't have a book in stock, it could offer to buy the
> > book (new and/or second hand via Amazon) as an alternative to ILL (and
> > the library could pocket the Amazon associate money). Also some
> > libraries have looked into the feasibility of buying books ino via
> > Amazon (again new or second hand) instead of ILL, and if the book is not
> > something they want to keep in stock when the borrower returns it sell
> > it off again via Amazon or ebay.
>
> That's not even new; Marvin Scilken promoted that idea tirelessly decades
> ago. He said if a library didn't own a book a patron asked for the library
> should buy it immediately. I agree on the buying from Amazon. A small
> obstacle is the processing, but there has to be a quick solution to that
> as
> well--maybe a preprocessing barcode or RFID chip that would put the book
> record in the ILS even though the item goes from Amazon to patron, so that
> on its return it could get slapped with its spine label. Maybe use the
> ISBN
> to munge a temp barcode to flag the item on check-in.
>
> It would probably be cheaper than most ILL!
>
> Karen G. Schneider
> kgs at bluehighways.com
>
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--
Bonnie Tijerina
Electronic Resources Coordinator, Collection Development
Georgia Institute of Technology
Library and Information Center
Atlanta, GA 30332-0900
404-385-2044
AIM: bltijerina
bonnie.tijerina at library.gatech.edu