[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] collaborative acquisitions

[John Kintree]

On Sunday 25 March 2007 06:54 pm, arhyno at uwindsor.ca wrote:
> >What kinds of features are being discussed for the acquisitions module of 
> >Evergreen that would support collaborative acquisitions? 
>
> Do you mean "collaborative" in terms of multiple sites funding purchases? 
> Could you expand on this a bit?

I mean in terms of avoiding excessive duplication, and in terms of filling in  
the gaps in the collection.  

The PINES catalog already has a nice feature of showing that there are copies  
"on order" in the page that shows detailed information for an item that is in  
the collection.  If someone doing acquisitions can see that another library  
or two in the consortium already has the item on order, they might refrain  
from placing another order.  

I guess for some items that are more expensive, multiple sites funding the  
purchases would be another example of collaboration.  

Just brain storming here; at Amazon, when one looks at the detailed  
information for an item, a list of similar items is shown.  Maybe Evergreen  
could use the Amazon API so that when a patron is looking at a page with  
detailed information for an item in the PINES collection, a list of similar  
items that are not in the PINES collection could be shown, with links to  
place requests for those items.   

One would think that the resources of a consortium would be enough that most 
items that are not already in the collection could be  purchased when 
requested.  So, it should be as easy as possible for patrons  to locate, 
identify, and request items that are not already in the collection.   
John Kintree