ABSTRACT
In the late 1990s, integrated library systems (ILS) managed the ordering, invoicing, and cataloging of e-resources that libraries purchased or accessed freely on the Web. At Kansas State University (K-State), once negotiations for an e-title were completed, it followed a path similar to its print counterparts: a bibliographic record was imported into the ILS and readily displayed “on order” or “in process” in the online catalog. Additional notes about the title might be included in nondisplaying fields in the holdings, bibliographic, or acquisitions records where resourceful staff might discover that information by looking in the staff clients of the library system. However, tracking the licensing process with a vendor or publisher and providing up-to-date, readily accessible information to staff-from initiating contact to negotiations to license terms to activation-was much more elusive.
