ABSTRACT
Do academic libraries expect too much of their firm order vendors? To find out, a number of current and former acquisitions librarians were contacted. They provided opinions and insights regarding: What academic libraries want from their firm order vendors, what acquisitions librarians think firm order vendors want from academic libraries, what vendors think academic libraries want, and what the vendors want from academic libraries. Their answers revealed a complex, changing relationship. Both groups raised issues about levels of expectations, costs of new technology, and the direction in which the academic library-firm order vendor relationship appears to be headed. From these issues, the author concludes acquisitions librarians must become more attuned to their own needs, better at communicating these needs to their firm order vendors, more realistic about the costs of meeting these needs, and more aggressive in pursuing standardization of acquisitions processes.
