Buying and Contracting for Resources and Services: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (How-to-do-it Manuals for Libraries)

Here is practical guidance for librarians and front-line staff on dealing effectively with everyday problems and challenges that arise when working with vendors and publishers, and for preventing many of these common problems in the first place. This invaluable new guide explains the "art"of vendor relations—how to identify potential vendors and select the best one for your library’s needs, how to negotiate the license agreement and terms of service, and how to avoid disputes—or end them quickly and amicably when they occur. Here you will find practical advice on handling sales calls, returns, issuing RFPs, and much more! Special chapters are devoted to the stickiest problems, including tracking vendor performance, dealing with unsolicited materials, and switching vendors. Incorporating changes brought on by the Internet and electronic practices, this is the first comprehensive examination of vendor relations in more than a decade.