"There are 4 billion cell phones in use today. Many of them are in the hands of market vendors" --Hillary Clinton“Advertising is legalized lying.” --H.G. Wells
"The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most" --Confucius
Library vendors fall into four basic categories: publishers and book vendors, service vendors, supplies vendors, and system [software] vendors. A list of such vendors can be browsed at Library Vendors -- names, addresses, phone and/or fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web pages of library vendors. There are numerous other sites listing vendors. Just Google "library vendors."
If you are in a large system, like a school district or a large public library system, you may not have to deal with vendors at all. The purchasing will all be centralized. You should know, however, where to refer vendors if they approach you. Also, be very wary of accepting gifts or meals from them. Your system may well have rules against it.
A good article is "Library-Vendor Relations" This is an excellent PDF article. Also, skim this website for additional pointers if you are dealing with vendors.
The following website is about selecting online vendors. It makes numerous excellent points.
Another excellent article is Collection Development, Acquisitions, and Vendor Relations. Skim it all, but click on "Vendors" and read carefully. A "stop list", by the way, refers to cancelling a standing order or an approval plan (Thanks to Dean Mesa for this definition).
What happens if a disaster hits your library? One route is to contact a disaster recovery vendor and ask how they can help. Google "disaster recovery vendors" and see what you can find out.
I had our Dean of Information Resources, Tina Mesa, review this unit and she recommended adding the following: "Something else to stress is that depending on their institution's policies/procedures, they may have to use only contracted vendors and be involved in the bid process when it comes time to renew contracts for particular services (i.e., periodical subscriptions, standing orders, book jobber, etc.). This wasn’t really stressed in any of the sites that you provide." Thanks to Dean Mesa for that additional information.
Once you have taken the quiz and achieved a grade with which you are satisfied, return to Canvas and address the discussion topic for this week.