Approval Plans: The Multi-Vendor Approach

Since approval plans were first offered in the mid- 1960's as an alternative acquisitions method to title-by-title selection and firm ordering, they have become the predominant method of library acquisitions. The literature on approval plans follows several major themes: prolong the merits of approval plans; how to choose the right vendor; and vendor performance studies. Less frequent topics include specialty approval plans; surveys of approval plan use; and bibliographies of approval plan literature. The majority of articles [real the approval plan as a one-dimensional topic, i.e., as if all libraries have only one approval plan and vendor when in actuality many libraries' total approval program involves the use of several vendors. This article reviews the literature with respect to the maintenance of multiple approval plans. The experience a1 Louisiana Slate University which has maintained a multiplicity of approval , plans for thirteen years is described. The studies and re-examinations of the multi-ve...