This book, first published in 1991, addresses the relationship between acquisitions librarians and the jobbers with whom they work. Various issues are explored to establish the most efficient methods of selecting a vendor, the way to gain expertise in evaluating the system, and the best ways to reach a successful relationship.

1. Preface Bill Katz Selection and Evaluation of Vendors: The Vendor Speaks 2. The Wondrous Web: Reflections on Library Acquisitions and Vendor Relationships Gary M. Shirk 3. The Bookseller and the Dynamo R. Charles Wittenberg 4. BCL3 (Books for College Libraries) and the Book Jobber: The Marketing of a New Collection Development Service Forrest E. Link 5. Book Wholesaling: Looking Toward the 21st Century Larry Price 6. The 1990s: Is There any Room Left? Leonard Schrift Selection and Evaluation of Vendors: The Librarian Speaks 7. A Method for Evaluating Vendor Performance Charles W. Brownson 8. Trends Affecting Vendor Selection: One Academic Library's Experience Twyla Mueller Racz and Trudie A. Root 9. Awarding Acquisitions Contracts by Bid or the Perils and Rewards of Shopping by Mail Frank B. Dowd 10. Foreign Acquisitions: Frustration and Fun! Linda S. Vertrees 11. Academic Libraries and Firm Order Vendors: What They Want of Each Other Richard P. Jasper 12. Order Consolidation: One Step in Containing Serials Prices Jan Anderson 13. Centralized Collection Development and Branch Library Acquisitions Don Lanier 14. Managing Pre-order Inventory Files Online: In Pursuit of Integrated Workflows William E. Jarvis Approval Plans and Vendors 15. Approval Acquisitions and Vendor Relations: An Overview Mary J. Bostic 16. Approval Plans: The Multi-Vendor Approach Peggy Chalaron and Anna Perrault 17. A Comparison of Two Approval Plan Profiles: A Study in Success and Failure Sally W. Somers 18. Approval Plan Profiling in the Small Academic Library Gary J. Rossi 19. Library/Vendor Cooperation in Collection Development Lauren K. Lee 20. Using an Economic Development Approach to Improve Budget Forecasting Techniques, Collection Allocation Methods, and Library Budgeting Decisions Glen J. Kelly Special Reports 21. Choice at a Distance: A Footnote for an Official History Robert S. Bravard 22. Resource Sharing in African Libraries: Problems and Recommendations A.A. Alemna