ABSTRACT
My experience in two large research libraries has been that multiple serials vendors — both department stores and boutiques —are needed. I will be addressing my remarks to fellow serials managers, but I hope that others in the audience will find them of interest as well. I will first outline the philosophy or reasons for using multiple vendors. Next, I will discuss the circumstances under which existing vendor assignment would be questioned, and some situations when a vendor cannot or should not be used. Following these introductory comments, I will describe ideas for evaluating factual and subjective information about present vendor use. Next, the decision process for determining how many and which vendors to employ will be considered. In conclusion, I will discuss planning and implementing a project of vendor reassignment.
