"How and Where to Buy Books - Part II" Bernard Helms *

Introduction:     There is no "one best method" to acquire material. A combination of methods are used to acquire library materials. From visiting the local bookstore and paying the retail price to allowing a vendor to ship books on approval. It is important to be flexible. If you are unable to acquire an item using one resource turn to another resource. Use all the tools in your toolbox. One of the most commonly used tools is a vendor (a.k.a. jobber). Vendors will take your purchase order and go to the different publishers on your behalf and collect the material for you. The vendor can offer discount and/or free shipping. The amount of discount is often based on the amount of business the library is willing to give the vendor during a fiscal year. This a something that should be negotiated. A number of vendors are able to supply material that is fully processes and ready for the shelf eliminating the need to catalog the material after it has arrived in the library.

Some commonly used methods of purchase are:     1. Firm order The firm order is issued as an order of a known item or set. For example and order for 1 copy of "Wings over Oshkosh" by Charles Mills, published by Pacific Press, Nampa, ID. ISBN 0816320896. 2. Continuation order or Standing Order The continuation order is used to purchase an item on a continuing basis over a period of time until the purchaser request that the order be cancelled. An example would be an order for an annual publication such as a yearbook or an Almanac. 3. Subscription Subscriptions are used to purchase periodicals. Normally a subscription paid on an annual basis. An example would be publications such as: Time, Newsweek, and Guide.

Other methods include:     1. Approval Plans The vendor supplies books "on approval" based on a profile that the library has established with the vendor. If the library keeps only the books that they like. One of the drawbacks is that the vendor expects a very small percentage of books returned. This means that the library MUST have a very well defined profile. Another idea is to have the vendor ship new title notification slips based on a profile established with the vendor. The vendor expects that 10% of the slips will generate an order. 2. Blanket or Comprehensive orders If the library wants all title published by a specific publisher or a specific author the library can set-up a order with a vendor to supply everything from the publisher / author. If the library wants to set-up a blanket order for everything published by a specific publisher it would be in the libraries best interest to contact the publishing house directly. Some publishers offer deep discounts on blanket orders.

Special note on Videos     When purchasing a video for the library advise the vendor that the video will be used in an educational setting. The use of videos labeled as "Home viewing only" in the classroom may have legal implications. Some vendors will sell "educational" copies of videos with rights for the video to be circulated within the building, transmitted on closed-circuit television, or placed in the library for circulation.

General Resource     Librarians Yellow Pages The authoritative and easy-to-use buyer's guide created by librarians for librarians

Virtual Bookstores     Adventist Book Center Local ABC may be willing to give a discount to libraries Amazon.com The online "superstore" for books, videos, and everything else. Libraries can establish corporate accounts. Free shipping on orders over $25.00. Large orders take longer to ship. Break large orders up into smaller orders to take advantage of the free shipping without the delay of a large order. Barnes and Nobles The "bricks and mortar" stores offer discounts to educators. Borders Junior Library Guild JLG is a review service offering 19 reading levels from which to choose, covring hrades preschool through high school. Library & Educational Services Wide selection of educational books, audio, and videos at low prices. Teach Services Adventist publisher / distributor. Some of their titles are carried by the ABC.

Used / Out-of-Print Books     Addall This is a metasearch, searching the inventory of over 40 bookstores, 20,000 dealers. If a match is found a description of the book is give with a link to the dealer / bookstore. Abebooks Indexed by Addall. Site keeps record of past purchases. Alibris Indexed by Addall. Libraries can establish an account. Also keeps a record of books purchased through their website. I suggest placing orders for one item at a time. This will create a separate invoice for each item. Otherwise the company will create one invoice for all the items in the order even though the items are coming from different suppliers and will not arrive at the same time. Antiquarian Bookseller's Assoc. of America Biblio Bibliofind Connected with Amazon.com Bookfinder Half.com Connected with Ebay.com. Fixed prices.

Vendors     ANGEL (Adventist Network of General Education Libraries) Contact khunt@southern.edu Services offer by ANGEL include selection and purchase of books that support the curriculum and are appropriate to the students age level and interest. See the article from the December 2004 / January 2005 issue of the Journal of Adventist Education attached to the back of the handout. Baker and Taylor Baker & Taylor is a leading full-line distributor of books, videos, and music products to libraries. Representing more than 66,000 book publisher imprints and 7,500 video and music audio suppliers, Baker & Taylor also provides its customers with many value-added products and services, including customized management and outsourcing services. Ebsco Book Service Over 2,500,000 titles with easy-to-use online ordering tool. Extensive collection of audio and video products. Follett Library Resources Easy access to over one million available K-Adult Books. Full-text reviews from numerous publications. Ingram Kthrough12@ingrambook.com 1-800-937-5300 ext. 24820

Subscription Agencies     EBSCO EVA Subscription Services

Educational Videos     Teacher's video Company Claims to offer the most comprehensive collection of educational vidos and DVD on all popular curriculum topics. Libraryvideo.com Over 18,000 educational videos in stock. Each program has been previewed and selected for content.

Free Marc Records     ICONE ICONE is a freeware Z39.50 client developed in the ONE project co-funded by the European Commission Libraries Programme. You can use this software to search Library of Congress and other Library online systems. Marc records can be saved and loaded into the local system. The software is configured to be used with Scandinavian libraries but is easily modified to search the Library of Congress and other North American libraries.