Library/Vendor Relationships

Book excerpt: A view of the mutual dependence between libraries and vendors As technology advances, libraries are forced to reach beyond their own resources to find effective ways to maintain accuracy and superior service levels. Vendors provide databases and integrated library systems that perform those functions for profit. Library/Vendor Relationships examines the increasing cooperation in which libraries find they must participate in, and vice versa, with the vendors that provide system infrastructure and software. Expert contributors provide insights from all sides of this unique collaboration, offering cogent perspectives on the give and take process that every librarian, publisher, and database provider/producer can use. The symbiosis between libraries and vendors of databases relies heavily upon open communication to achieve each one’s beneficial results. Library/Vendor Relationships explores this partnership between profit and nonprofit entities in detail, focusing on issues of crucial importance for both sides. A variety of diverse types of libraries and vendors give voice to the multitude of issues facing them. Several charts, graphs, and other helpful visuals are included. Topics in Library/Vendor Relationships include: options for preventing systematic downloading of material benefits and challenges of delivering products on multiple platforms—using the American Psychological Association’s experiences as a case study book vendors’ efforts to help libraries become more efficient comprehensive online support services to help increase interaction between libraries and academic publishers Anatolian University Libraries Consortium’s effective relationship with vendors publisher and vendor use of library advisory boards to provide needed feedback a review of the database marketplace fostering a good relationship between library and vendor the future of government libraries in an increasingly technological age collaboration in standards development integrated ecommerce the relationship between OCLC and member institutions libraries’ position between commerce and science vendor/community college library relationships e-mail discussion lists and more! Library/Vendor Relationships is stimulating, insightful reading for academic librarians, government librarians, public librarians, deans, directors, reference librarians, publishers, and database providers.