The evolving approval plan: How academic librarians evaluate services for vendor selection and performance

A survey of 291 academic librarians addressed the question of how libraries choose approval plan vendors, specifically how much emphasis is placed on various approval plan services and product features in choosing between com peting approval plan vendors and how vendor performance is rated in those a reas. Traditional services, including expertise in managing approval plans, e.g., profiling, and acquisitions services, customer service, and discount rate, along with corporate reputation. and business practices retained the ir core status. Electronic financial transactions was found to be very impo rtant to the libraries already using these services. Outsourcing services, e.g., cataloging or physical processing, with approval plan vendors, althou gh newer, appear established and of considerable interest to some segments. Vendor performance was rated highest in corporate reputation, approval pla n management, and in electronic financial transactions. Libraries with appr oval budgets under $100,000 expressed a degree of satisfaction with approva l plan vendors on a level similar to larger libraries. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd.