Approval books are the method that the library receives the bulk of the new books into the library. We have profiles set up with our major book vendor, Coutts Ingrams. If new books match those profiles, the books are automatically sent to the library. The collection managers may review the approval books, before they are sent to the library, remotely through the Oasis system. The collection managers may reject an approval book up to two weeks before it will be sent.
Once a week, Coutts sends us Marc records to load for approval books. When these records are loaded, a Purchase Order is created. Separately, we will receive the invoice electronically and it will be loaded into Voyager and matched with the purchase order. The Marc records come from OCLC, go back to Coutts (who send them to Bowker) in order to have Table of Contents enhancement and then they are sent to us.
The books arrive once a week to the library. They are unpacked and arranged on a cart for review. At this point books can be flagged to be cataloged for the CMC, reference or the graphic novel collection. Once the pertinent collection managers have signed off, the books are then matched to the purchase order and received. The receiving coordinator will go over each book to match a copy-cataloging checklist. If the book passes the checklist, it is sent directly to circulation to be shelved. If the book does not pass the checklist, it is routed to cataloging. Because the approval books are shelf-ready, they come in with a bookplate, stamp and barcode already attached.
Some books have special bookplates attached and need a note added to the 500 field.
Workflows:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Coutts\Coutts EDI\Coutts EDI Invoices
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Coutts\Coutts Approval\Coutts Approval Shelf Ready Receiving Worklfow
Firm order books are titles that the collection managers order directly from the Oasis system. A searcher will place the order through Coutts and download provisional marc records. This download will also create the purchase order.
Once a week, Coutts sends us overlay Marc records to load for the firm order books. These records overlay the provisional marc records. We will receive the invoice electronically and it will be loaded into the catalog and matched with the purchase order. The Marc records come from OCLC, go back to Coutts (who sends them to Bowker) in order to have a Table of Contents enhancement and then sent to us.
The books arrive once a week to the library. The are unpacked and then matched to the purchase order and received. If firm books are ordered shelf-ready, they come in with a bookplate, stamp and barcode already attached.
Some books have special bookplates attached and need a note added to the 500 field. If the book slip has a hold/notify note on it, the receiving coordinator will place a flag in the book and put it on a special cataloging shelf. The the bookslip has any other kind of note, the slip is given to the Acquisitions librarian.
Firm books are ordered non-shelf ready for a variety of reasons. Either because we can't get what we want from a vendor that provides pre-processing, or because we do not want a new BIB record with our order (true for replacements or parts of sets). We place orders to be invoiced with a variety of vendors direct, and place credit card orders with Amazon, ABE Books and Alibris and other non traditional vendors. We have a paypal account as well.
Coutts firms
The workflow for ordering these titles can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Non-Shelf Ready Ordering\Creating Purchase Orders FOR NON.docx
The workflow for ordering non shelf-ready through Coutts OASIS can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Non-Shelf Ready Ordering\Placing Non-Shelf-Ready Firm book orders on Coutts OASIS.docx
The workflow for receiving these titles can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Receiving\Firm Order Books.doc
In 2013, we commenced a pilot program through Coutts/Ingram for a new acquisitions model called Print Purchase on Demand. It is similar to the Patron-Driven Acquisitions program we previously set up for MyiLibrary ebooks. In this pilot, MARC records for titles by select publishers, which would otherwise be provided to the collection managers as “slips,” are instead loaded into ALADIN and made available for order by clicking a link within the catalog record (similar to the way one places a CLS request), which then triggers a purchase request in a special OASIS queue (11100A04). This queue is checked daily, as these requests are meant to be prioritized and filled as quickly as possible. Once a ratifier has processed the order in OASIS, Coutts rush-processes and ships it. From there, it is treated similarly to a normal Coutts firm shelf-ready order, from record download to PO creation and approval to receiving, invoicing, and processing.
A brief, bullet-point summary of the workflow lives here: file:///I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Coutts\Coutts Print Patron Driven Acquisitions Project\Patron Driven Print A04 workflow - BRIEF
The complete, point-by-point pPDA Acq workflow document lives here: I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Coutts\Coutts Print Patron Driven Acquisitions Project/pPDA Acq Workflow
In the event that a record (or records) in the weekly file fails the bulk import process, the fix-it procedure is described here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Coutts\What to Do if an ePDA or pPDA Record Fails Bulk Import
Children's Award Plan
AU Library has an approval plan with Yankee Book Peddlar for children's books that have won specific awards throughout the year. The plan is called "Best Books for Young Adults" at YBP. Books are received as they are released and cataloged for the CMC. Duplicates are accepted & are cataloged as added copies.
A list of the awards and the specific workflow can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Yankee Book Peddler\Children's Literature Approval Plan
Music
AU Library has a Music Approval plans with Arkiv and J.W. Pepper. For Arkiv orders, we receive a spreadsheet of recommended titles monthly & it is reviewed by the Music Librarian. Approved titles are shipped to us for reciept. For J.W. Pepper orders, Books are shipped to us and are held for the Music Librairan's approval. Approved books are received and rejected books sent back.
The Arkiv workflow is found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Approval Plans (non-Coutts-YBP)\Arkiv Music Approval order plan
The J.W. Pepper workflow is found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Approval Plans (non-Coutts-YBP)
Abrams
AU Library has an approval plan for Art books through Abrams. Abrams selects certain art books based on criteria that we have given them. At the beginning of each semester, Abrams sends us a list of the titles that they have chosen for us. We review the list and can select alternative titles or reject titles. Shipments arrive about once a month. Then the titles are processed. The book jackets are now being kept on all the art books so the titles ultimately routed to processing to adhere the jackets.
The workflow can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Approval Plans (non-Coutts-YBP)\ABRAMS (Hachette book group).docx
When a new edition of a book is ordered, a descion needs to be made about the previous editions. The Acquisitions Librarian will email the Collection Managers with information on the previous editions, such as circulation data. The Collection Managers will decide to keep the previous editions, discard them or send to the WRLC storage.
The workflow can be found here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Previous Editions
Often a book is ordered for a specific patron and will have a Hold/Notify request as part of the order. These books receive expedited handling. The workflow can be foiund here:
I:\AU Technical Services Department\Acquisitions Unit\Receiving\Hold Notify documentation