Message-Id: <sb0b75ad.046@judge.syr.edu> Date: sag, 23 rea 2001 08:32:15 -0400 From: "Andrea Rabbia" <arrabbia@law.syr.edu> Subject: Re: Voyager acquisitions module
Katie:
We "scrapped" the acquisitions module (and cataloging) for firm orders this past year.
We found it too time consuming to import a record for ordering purposes, create the PO, then send off the printed PO - when we could simply order the book using a university credit card, add a title added entry for it on a generic bibliographic record that informs patrons that the title is on order [as of month,year] - thereby keeping track of the titles we ordered and making their availability known in the catalog.
We do also create a continuation PO for the generic bibliographic record to create the invoice for recording payments for the books on the bibliographic record. Although the invoice does not actually make the payment, it keeps us straight as far as the ledger in the acquisitions module is concerned.
Granted that the acquisitions module is also time consuming for serials, we have not found an easier alternative for making serials receipts known in the OPAC. Doing the work in cataloging alone would lose the potential of claiming, order maintenance. However, we are using EDI to cut down on the time required to create serials POs [for Hein and soon Faxon].
I hope this helps you in your decision. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Andrea
Andrea Rabbia
Technical Services Librarian
H. Douglas Barclay Law Library
Syracuse University College of Law
E.I. White Hall
Syracuse, New York 13244-1030
315-443-9562
315-443-9567 (fax)
arrabbia@law.syr.edu
><}}'> ><}}'> ><}}'> ><}}'>
"Where there is no vision, the people perish..."
Prov. 29:18 (KJV)
><}}'> ><}}'> ><}}'> ><}}'>
>>> Katie.Kerr@pepperdine.edu 05/22/01 07:18PM >>>
We are a smaller-sized law library that has used Voyager for nearly two
years. We are now considering scrapping the acquisitions/serials module for
serials maintenance and invoicing.
We have found that the process of setting up purchase orders for nearly
every item for invoicing and for serials check-in is just too time-consuming
and fraught with peril. Law serials are notoriously irregular, so that once
a frequency pattern is established, it must either be deleted and re-created
fairly soon, or the check-in record for new issues must be edited and
updated. Much of the invoicing process is duplicated in the University's
financial reporting system. Our staff is fairly small, and we simply do not
have the resources needed to maintain a system that really isn't doing much
for us.
As an alternative, we are considering going directly into the cataloging
module to keep up-to-date serials records. We will rely solely on our
University's accounting system to keep track of invoices, rather than use
the built-in invoicing function.
My purpose in writing to the list(s) is to find out if any other
smaller-sized universities are having similar problems and to find out what
you are doing. Have others quit using the acquisitions module? Are you
using other systems to keep track of this information? Are you only using
the module in a limited capacity, say, for some types of records but not for
others?
If there is sufficient response, I will be happy to summarize for the list.
Thanks,
Katie Kerr
**************************************************
Katie Kerr
Associate Director for Library Services
and Assistant Professor of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu CA 90263
Voice: (310) 506-4641
Fax: (310) 506-4836
Email: katie.kerr@pepperdine.edu
**************************************************
------------------------------------------------------------
LawVoyage is an email list for the Law Voyager User's Group
Archives: http://law.pepperdine.edu/lawvoyage/
To join or leave the list, send a message to
lawvoyage-request@law.pepperdine.edu
with the message 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe'
------------------------------------------------------------
.