Forest,
Thank you for raising this issue. Let me be more specific.
1. JTacq has the ability to compare large lists of titles against your local database electronically. In less than a minute it can take of file of 500 titles and tell you which ones you already have, which ones you don't have, and which one you might have. For those titles that you already have it will also display the Status of the attached item records and the Number of Checkouts so that a selector can quickly see if they need to order another copy. This feature saves money by making it easy to avoid purchasing unwanted duplicates. To try to accomplish this manually would most certainly take hundreds of personnel hours over the course of a budget year.
2. JTacq has the ability to apply Order Data to batches of records with a minimum of key strokes. Within the JTacq environment this order data can be added as 9XX tags that the library defines, to MARC records pulled from OCLC or from any available Z39.50 database. OR, JTAcq can actually create temporary MARC records based on data it has compiled. These records can then be imported into your local database and/or Acquisitions module to initiate orders. The pulling of OCLC records and the application of order data are paid services by the big vendors. This method takes no more time and costs less than the paid for services.
3. JTacq has a feature which allows patrons and/or selectors to request titles on the web. The JTacq operator receives this information automatically and it is streamed seamlessly into the ordering and selecting workflow.
4. JTacq has a feature that allows compiled lists of titles that have already been pre-screened for duplicates to be sent to a website where one or more selectors can "vote" for a title. These votes are then received automatically by the JTacq operator and it is again steamed seamlessly into the ordering and selecting workflow.
5. JTacq makes it very easy to purchase titles from used book vendors. For example JTacq can pull offers from Amazon.com 3rd party vendors. These offers can then be sorted by cost and by the vendor's user rating. Selected titles can then be placed in the Amazon.com shopping basket in batches. When our library has a choice between buying a $150 Brill book for retail or buying the same title in mint condition from a used book dealer for $70 ... guess which one we buy.
6. This ability to quickly identify and purchase used books is extremely helpful when a library wants to fill lacuna. For example one can go to FirstSearch and quickly create text files of titles based on specific subject areas. These files can then be loaded into JTacq, searched against your current holdings, and offers searched for. In a matter of one business day it is possible to identify hundreds of titles that your library can purchase that are available from major book suppliers or that are only available from used suppliers. We have used this method extensively to identify materials and purchase titles for Ph.D. level course offerings.
Believe me when I say that JTacq really does save us hundreds of hours of personnel time and thousands of dollars in purchasing costs annually. Also, JTacq is not just for small libraries. JTacq's effectiveness become more profound the larger the volume of purchases made.
We very much appreciate the many great services that the major book vendors offer. And we are happy to do business with them. But with JTacq Freeware now available, the idea that " vendor consolidation is the most efficient use of staff time because of the obvious advantages of consistent work flow in invoicing and customer service . " can certainly be challenged. JTacq is robust, full featured software that can make a significant difference in your budget. Because it is so full featured there is a slight learning curve ... but it is so worth the effort.
Best Regards,
Don Butterworth
Technical Services Librarian
B.L. Fisher Library
Asbury Theological Seminary
(859) 858-2227
don.butterworth_at_asburyseminary.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
To: acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 10:36:37 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [ACQNET-L] Stretching your Acquistions budget
Don,
While I understand and respect your desire to stretch you acquisitions budget, I cannot imagine that shopping each title "saves...hundreds of hours in personnel time." While, I suppose, you might find some cheaper individual title prices via your method, f or all but the smallest of libraries, vendor consolidation is the most efficient use of staff time because of the obvious advantages of consistent work flow in invoicing and customer service.
Add to this the negotiating strength a library has by consolidating and you might find you are saving less than you think.
Cheers!
Forrest Link
Blackwell
Regional Sales Manger, Northeast
From: acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 8:14 AM
To: ACQNET-L
Subject: [ACQNET-L] Stretching your Acquistions budget
Colleagues,
Nowadays when consumers shop online they frequently use sites like PriceGrabber, NexTag, and Shopping.com to compare prices among a host of vendors. With our economy the way it is right now doesn't it make sense to do the same thing with book purchases? Last year at the Charleston Conference I demonstrated a freeware product that does price comparisons plus a whole lot more. It is called JTacq (pronounced Jay-tack)
Click a button and it will check to see what titles are already in your database. Click another button and it will compare price offers for batches of titles from any vendor you care to name, including B&T, YBP, Emery Pratt, Blackwell, Coutts, Amazon, Barnes & Nobel. Plus it will even include offers for used titles from Amazon, ABEBooks, and Alibris. Click another button and it will list the titles by the cheapest vendor.
This is a great piece of software that will enhance your current Acquisitions Module. It annually saves us thousands of dollars in purchasing costs and hundreds of hours in personnel time. I urge you to help your library out, during these times of economic uncertainty, by giving it a try. The product is available from Jim Taylor at http://www.jtdata.com/
Best regards,
Don
Don Butterworth
Technical Services Librarian
B.L. Fisher Library
Asbury Theological Seminary
(859) 858-2227
don.butterworth_at_asburyseminary.edu
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