How can today's acquisition librarians keep current on the output of hundreds of publishers? The answer, of course, is that they cannot. For over 30 years, approval plans have been used by librarians to acquire current titles, save staff time, and build core collections. Even today, these reasons seem appropriate, as libraries try to maintain up-to-date collections and control personnel and operating budgets. However, as shown in Approval Plans: Issues and Innovations, the use of approval plans is not so simple and straightforward; their use is subject to complex procedures and policiesand even politics. This book presents research by librarians from academic libraries and professionals from approval vendors to provide necessary insight on the major approval plan issues and to show some of the innovative approaches to solving the problems associated with approval plans.

Contents Introduction