ACQNET v3n041 (April 8, 1993) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/acq-v3n041 ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 3, No. 41, April 8, 1993 ===================================== (1) FROM: Christian SUBJECT: Who's new on ACQNET today (15 lines) (2) FROM: Tom Leonhardt SUBJECT: Staff use of the Internet (69 lines) (3) FROM: Floyd Zula SUBJECT: Mexican books suppliers (39 lines) (4) FROM: Mary Wesche SUBJECT: Staff morale, invoicing requirements, credit cards (44 lines) (1)------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: April 8, 1993 From: Christian Subject: Who's new on ACQNET today Kathy Robinson Hillman Helen Anderson Acquisitions Librarian Slavic Bibliographer Baylor University Libraries McGill University Libraries E-mail: HILLMANK@BAYLOR.BITNET E-mail: CXEB@MCGILLA.BITNET Beth Whiting Mary H. Kay Librarian Acquisitions/Coll. Dev. Librarian NIST/OIS Humboldt State University Library E-mail: WHITING@ENH.NIST.GOV E-mail: KAYMARY@AXE.HUMBOLDT.EDU (2)------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 12:41 CDT From: Tom Leonhardt (Univ. of Oklahoma) Subject: Use of Internet for Acquisitions In response to Ron Ray's concern that using the Internet for acquisitions is prohibited: The NSF allows use of the NSFnet (and therefore the Internet) for many things. Here is its list: General Principle: NSFNET Backbone services are provided to support open research and education in and among U.S. research and instructional institutions, plus research aims of for-profit firms when engaged in open scholarly communication and research. Use for other purposes is not acceptable. Specifically Acceptable Uses: -- Communication with foreign researchers and educators in connection with research or instruction, as long as any network that the foreign user employs for such communication provides reciprocal access to U.S. researchers and educators. -- Communication and exchange for professional development, to maintain currency, or to debate issues in a field or subfield of knowledge. -- Use for disciplinary-society, university-association, government- advisory, or standards activities related to the user's research and instructional activities. -- Use in applying for or administering grants or contracts for research or instruction, but not for other fund-raising or public-relations activities. -- Any other administrative communications or activities in direct support of research and instruction [here is what allows libraries to order books via the Internet, University or college libraries, for sure]. -- Announcements of new products or services for use in research or instruction, but not advertising of any kind. -- Any traffic originating from a network of another member agency of the Federal Networking Council if the traffic meets the acceptable use policy of that agency. -- Communication incidental to otherwise acceptable use, except for illegal or specifically unacceptable use. Unacceptable use: -- For-profit activities, unless covered by the General Principle or as a specifically acceptable use. So you see, in direct support of teaching and research (and isn't that what we do for a living in academic libraries?) we can search the database of a vendor, we can order from that vendor, we can send claims, and so on. We can announce ALA and other meetings, even those run by Meckler because they are part of our professional service and our own teaching and research. There is one final forbidden use: -- Extensive use for private or personal use. Note here, that personal and private use are not strictly prohibited but the extensive use is. Do not abuse a privilege is the message. We should use common sense in all we do, including using the Internet. Ron, you are not violating Internet rules when you order electronically via the Internet. You are, in fact, saving your university money. As for staff use, if you trust your staff and allow them to follow the rules above, there should be no problem. (3)------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 06 Apr 93 19:45:28 CDT From: Floyd Zula (Tulane University) Subject: Distributors of Mexican Books Because of the vagaries of the Mexican postal system many of the dealers in the following list have U.S. mailing addresses and many insist that their checks be forwarded to U.S. destinations. The dealers themselves periodically plunge into Mexico on extended buying trips, both to secure new publications and to try to locate library requests: Books from Mexico Apartado Postal 22-037 Delegacion Tlalpan 14000 Mexico, D.F., Mexico Libros Latinos P.O. Box 1103 Redlands, CA 92373 T: 714-798-1342 Mexico Sur P.O. Box 1682 Redlands, CA 92373 T: 714-793-7842 F: 714-792-6434 Puvill Mexico Division Empresa 109-Col. Mixcoac 03910 Mexico, D.F., Mexico T: (52)(5)611-1513 F: (52)(5)598-4378 Scripta Apartado Postal UNAM 04510 Mexico, D.F., Mexico T: (52)(5)548-3616 F: (52)(5)548-1716 (4)------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Apr 93 09:41:52 EDT From: Mary Wesche (Cornell University) Subject: Invoice requirements... etc... First of all, I would like to thank everyone who responded to my question on staff morale. All responses were very enlightening, some were fun and zany, some more down to earth, all showed me how much people care about their staff and it made feel better to know that I have basically been on the right track and "in tune" with others. Some of the things that we have done, I was surprised to discover others would have called morale boosters and I thought they were "just fun". Like when we decorated paper bags as faces, put them over our heads and went to the catalog department trick-or- treating", the time we all went outside and had a snowball fight or when we had the photo contest where everyone who wanted brought in a baby picture of themselves and others guessed who was who. (Many people guessed my baby picture to be Christian) [I am 6 feet tall, big and bearded, and Mary is all of 5'2", beardless and giggles. Go figure. -- C.] Then we had a photo contest where everyone brought in pictures of their parents and we had to guess who belonged to which parents. Fun, or moral boosters, I guess perhaps they are one and the same. Now for invoice requirements. Here in the Receiving Section at Cornell we process approximately 50,000 monographic titles through our Section in a year. This breaks down into between 400 and 500 invoices a week. I have five full-time staff members, receiving books for a majority of their time. We are required to supply two copies of all invoices, three copies for all prepayments or for all invoices which we alter (i.e. if we line off an entry because we are not keeping the book for one reason or another). Each person who actually does any part of the processing of that invoice must date stamp and initial the invoice. No one else, neither myself or the department head is required to initial or sign the invoice. It has been this way since at least 1977 when I started processing invoices in the Acquisitions Department. I have a question for all you invoice processors. We seem to be getting more and more foreign invoices where there is an option of paying by visa or mastercard. Are any of you using this option? If yes, how does it work? Do you have a department card, a library card, a university card, or what? It seems to me that it would be cheaper than cutting a check and paying bank charges for converting foreign monies, but I don't know. If no, why not, was it checked into and determined that it was not a good idea? Have some of you done it in the past and discontinued because there were problems? ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 3, No. 41 ****** END OF FILE ******